Emotional rollercoaster from beginning to the end

I picked up this book from the library after reading Under The Whispering Door earlier this year. And boy am I glad that I took another chance on TJ Klune. I was so frustrated that this was a library book, because this book seriously made me want to annotate, which I never do. I definitely put this book on my wishlist, because I want a physical copy of this story on my bookshelves sooner rather than later.

The story follows Oxnard, Ox for short, from his teen years to adulthood. At the age of twelve, his father leaves him and his mother, giving him a bit of misplaced 'advice' that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Ox gets called, dumb, retard and slow by his father and people at school, but he comes to life at Gordo's garage, where he works as a mechanic from an early age. And maybe Ox isn't the smartest character ever, but he definitely has a heart of gold. From the moment he meets Joe (short for Joseph) the two boys immediately click and become fast friends. So much so that Ox and his mother get invited to Sunday family dinners with the Bennett's. Slowly the secrets of the Bennett family unravel for Ox, but can he keep himself grounded in the special life he lives?

This book people, this book made me feel feelings. I laughed out loud, wanted to annotate and got goosebumps multiple times when reading this story. Ox was just such a precious character and the people he surrounded himself with were so well thought out too. I never has struggles recognizing who was who, which I sometimes have. The side characters were so lovely too. I especially loved the mechanic trio Chris, Tanner and my boy Rico. They were so unbelievably funny.

And this book wasn't all positive feels. When Joe returns to Ox, Ox is actually angry with Joe. And it takes a while to resolve their issues, which made the story so much more believable. Not everything is sunshine and rainbows and I think this book captured that immensely well. A whole bunch of struggles were serenely depicted in this book: think about coming of age on one hand, grief in various forms of the word and finding the family you want to belong to, blood or no blood. The relationships Ox is in are just so meaningful and his own loyalty is so endearing to read. But all of this didn't take away from the hurt the characters experience, which I thought was exceptionally beautiful.

I did see a couple people struggled with the repetition in this book. I honestly got to say I didn't mind them at all. It's just how Ox experiences this and it fits his character so well. I didn't mind the age gap in this thing either, because nothing really happens until the characters are older. Seeing them grow up brought a sense of reality too, which I really appreciated a lot.

Close your eyes if you haven't read this book yet, because I have a bunch of quotes that spoke to me that I accumulated along the way that I want to keep for a lack of being able to mark or write in this book.
‘People don’t like to be reminded of sad things.’

‘Someone, my mother had said. Make someone very happy. Not a her. But someone.’
‘“I could never be mad at you for being who you are.’” (Ox's mom deserves a mother of the year award tbh)
‘“But he had better treat you like you hung the moon or I will tear him from this earth.”’
‘“I know karate,” Chris said. “I took it for three months when I was ten.”’ (LMAO)

Conclusion? Whoa, I love love loved this book a lot. It was something right up my alley and I can't wait to get to the other three books as soon as I can. If you need a sign to read this book: this is it!