This Is Not a Love Story

Barely 3 stars. I'm glad this wasn't my first Suki Fleet novel, because it probably would have been my last. I almost DNF'd, but skimmed my way through the last 50% hoping that it would get better (it didn't). I have no problems reading dark stories, and teenage homelessness is an important issue that shouldn't be ignored. BUT. The novel is unrelentingly bleak, and the plot doesn't really build to anything. Bad things happen, more bad things happen, and then slightly less bad things happen. And then it's over very suddenly, with a time jump that gave me whiplash. I feel like Fleet owed the readers a few glimpses of Julian and Romeo happy together, or building their lives together but we were denied that grace. Also, there was a plot twist at the end that was resolved off the page after a lot of buildup that would have benefited from a few chapters of additional development. It felt like the author hit her word count and then just stopped, with an epilogue tacked on at the end to let us know everything was okay now.I've enjoyed many of Fleet's other books including [b:Foxes 44778912 Foxes Suki Fleet https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1554316819s/44778912.jpg 46229530] and [b:Light Up the Dark 43424860 Light Up the Dark Suki Fleet https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1546289073s/43424860.jpg 53954816], and I was so excited that this book was finally back in print. But sadly it was disappointing.