I started reading this on the day my boyfriend and I broke up (I had gotten it in the mail the night before). It hit too close to home and I had to put it down for a few days, though it’s really good so far. It’s about a couple who have a very unstable relationship and have a list of things they want to do before they break up for good. The woman, Isabel, is so afraid of never leaving an imprint on Al’s heart, of just disappearing and ceasing to exist for him after the final parting. It’s something I can fully relate to. I started it again today at work, when I came to this passage, I had to put it down again:

“Now she pressed up against him, dabbing his shoulder with the one tear on her face, the one she’d missed, hoping he might absorb something of her. Hoping, somehow, to leave part of her inside.”

I started tearing up. I’ll need to restart it when I’m at home.