Don't get me wrong, I love alot of young adult fiction, but it frequently seems to lead you to the point where guy and girl get together, and walk into a sunset- the end. But... what about the next morning, when the sun rises, and the days and weeks and years after? What happens to guy and girl? What happens when that exciting, unpredictable relationship becomes... routine? That is the starting point for this adult novel with shadows of YA throughout- Georgie and Neal love each other very much, but after 15 or so years together, things have gotten rough. Communication is nonexistent and they both have pretty significant issues that are threatening to end the marriage. When Neal takes their daughters to Omaha for Christmas without Georgie, she has to do alot of reflecting and weigh out whether their relationship is one that can be saved.
Something that I felt was pretty powerful in this book was the honesty surrounding long-term relationships. They are... hard. Rowell pulled on all of my heart strings when she described it as such: "It's like... you're tossing a ball between you, and you're just hoping you can keep it in the air. And it has nothing to do with whether you love each other or not. If you didn't love each other, you wouldn't be playing this stupid game with the ball. You love each other- and you just hope you can keep the ball in play."
And I don't think this spoils the book/ending in any way, but... there's no perfect ending to this story. We have two people who love each other very much promising to keep trying harder. Do we, the readers, know if they'll keep their promises the next day, or in 5 years? No, we don't- but... isn't that what relationships and that "stupid game with the ball" is all about? There are no guarantees, no way to know how they will end... so you just need to try to enjoy every minute that the ball is still in play.
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