像是Normal People和Heartstopper的结合

A beautiful and heartbreaking novel of first love.

The book starts with the narrator making detailed observations of Thomas, his first love, who also has us mesmerized. The story of their relationship felt like a combination of Normal People and Heartstopper - honest, passionate, desperately hopeful, and giving each other the capacity to inflict pain. Later in the book we shifted our focus to the inner struggle of Thomas with his sexuality, and the narrator showed incredible understanding and reflection on this issue:

“I persist in thinking that he put the same stubborn application into this as he did to his work. The same desire to forget himself, to return to the righteous path set out by his mother, the only one permissible. Does he end up believing it himself? That’s the fundamental question. If the answer is yes, then moving forward in life would be possible. If the answer is no, then it is a life condemned to interminable misery.”

The pace of the book is perfect, and the ending where Thomas’ feelings regarding this relationship surface through an old letter brought tears to my eyes and beautifully gives the story closure, “I just wanted to write to tell you that I have been happy during these months together, that I have never been so happy, and that I already know I will never be so happy again.”