An extraordinary friendship. A lifetime of stories. Their last one begins here.
MY REVIEW
This book will destroy you in the best ways, emotionally. Lenni is 17 in the hospital and it’s doubtful whether she’ll ever know a life outside of it or one much longer than what she’s lived. Margot is 83, and she’s been giving a grim diagnosis as well. but as the two connect and form an amazing friendship that is formed of 100 years of living despite what the future might not hold.
I think there’s something that really warms the heart when we have friendships from different backgrounds and generations, especially when there’s such simplistic understanding and acceptance. Lenni is 17, Margot is 83, Lenni has never been in love and Margo has loved and lost in various ways. The connection between them may be founded on the fact that they’re both in the hospital for bleak reasons but it goes beyond that. And as they bond in art class they’re making a mark in the world no matter how small with the combined 100 years they’ve been alive.
It’s hard to talk about this book without giving away things and so I’m being super vague in this. But just know, it has the opportunity to make you laugh, cry, and feel all fuzzy inside. Margot’s life is so wonderful to learn about and Lenni’s attitude and humorous way of approaching things was something I really enjoyed.
It was also nice to see that even when you are alone, that can change. The friendships they made in their lives, in the hospital, not just with each other are also central to the story again why I’m being so vague. It’s not a very long book (or I just flew through it) so I don’t want to risk saying something that could take away from finding it out in this one.
The writing style is very easy to fall into and hard to put down; the set up of the book is done well too we skip about their lives but it feels right to do it that way with their art project. And I was very glad to have read this book as part of my local library’s book club. The author has a great flow and I will definitely look at her other works. This was also pretty impressively, her debut novel.
(There’s LGBTQ+ rep too so another little bonus) 5/5 cups of coffee from me! I’ll go cry in a corner some where and just drown in my feels now.
The Caffeinated Reader 
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