"The university experience is a risky business in fiction. Generally, the feelings are intense, but the stakes are low; it's all very formative for the individual character, but it can feel a bit trivial to anyone else. In fact, reading an account of someone's university days is surely only one or two stages removed from having to hear about the dream they had last night."
"In her hands, this story of first love between college kids is vivid, moving and witty. It unspools into a searching exploration of loss, mortality and the inexorability of time. It's just this long tender farewell to youth, the narrator says early on, referring to a short story she has read. King's novel got me straight in the heart. It hurt."
The unnamed narrator recounts her college years, beginning with meeting Sam and his friend Yash. A passionate first love unfolds amid academic fervor, fast banter, and social card games. The relationship and campus life evolve into a searching meditation on loss, mortality and the inexorability of time. The narrative functions as a long, tender farewell to youth, mixing wit with vivid, moving scenes. A late, slightly perplexing reveal reframes parts of the narrator's past and may surprise readers. The prose carries many literary references and sustains emotional depth while remaining accessible.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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