I have so many thoughts on this book, and I’m going to attempt to lay them all out in a way that doesn’t make me sound like a rambling fool.  To begin, normally, if I give a book three stars I probably liked it, but didn’t love it.  This is a different case.  I loved this book.  It was engrossing to me and I finished it QUICKLY.  In this situation we have found ourselves, I discovered an entertaining and interesting book- with a setting I loved, and dialogue I could hardly stand.

I feel like the whole “twenty something brunch date bohemian millennial blah blah blah” thing was WAY TOO OVERDONE HERE.  I might be biased, because that form of speaking (or general theme, really…) has always annoyed me more than the average person, but that’s precisely why it took away from my experience.  The “I love yous,” however comforting between friends, got to a point where they seemed disingenuous.  I didn’t feel like our story really got a full resolution, either, but that wasn’t the biggest problem.  I was alright with the ending.  I just… didn’t like the way these character spoke.

Even so, I found myself yearning to learn more about their drama, what it was that truly happened to Julie, and how the “girls trip” at the inn would ultimately pan out.  As priorly stated, I LOVED the atmospheric descriptions of the ornate rooms at the inn, they were so easy and fun to picture and I would’ve loved to stay there myself.  

I will admit I had the truth about Julie spoiled for me… by skimming reviews and not being careful enough.  I won’t do that to anyone here, but I’ll say I missed the hints and probably would not have picked up on anything until later had I not read the spoilers.  Some think it should have been obvious.  At first, it did go over my head, so for a moment there, the mystery was more than alive.  

I found Mae to be the only truly likable character, and though I deeply despised the fact they called her “Maebs,” I found myself rooting for her the most.  I could understand her a fair amount.  Molly was okay at times, though her aggression seemed a bit over the top.  My opinion of her often shifted.

Without becoming too scatterbrained, I thoroughly LOVED reading this story.  But I have to be honest, and I have to be fair.  The dialogue really could’ve killed it, but overall, it did not.  I still had myself a lot of fun, my favorite part easily being Elise’s inner monologues about how much she has learned to appreciate life.  That struck a chord with me, and ultimately, this was worth the read!