I have so many thoughts on this book I feel like its inadequate to write about how much I want to gush over this book.

Easy to say that one of my highly anticipated reads for 2025 did not disappoint.

Hollis Brown is inherently lonely even if he phyiscally is not. Down on himself with a smart mouth, Hollis picks fights to egg guys to beat him up just to feel something. Set in a desolate, rural America, Hollis is sure he'll be stuck in this lonely town forever. Half in love with one best friend, in full awe of the other, Hollis is still lonely in the end. Til one day, Hollis meets Walt...a fellow down on their luck boy who promises Hollis how to change his ways in exchange for for food and shelter.

The premise of this book is insane. You're telling me that Hollis gets possessed by Walt and falls in love with him? Yes. That's exactly what happens and it's done so beautifully that I'm convinced something in my DNA has been shifted. Ancrum's writing is full of yearning, not just between Hollis and Walt, but for change, more to life, and the feeling of belonging to someone - even your community.

The attraction between Hollis and Walt is truly like nothing else. The way these two know each other, from sharing a body and also just by talking to one another makes the emotions between them so charged. Everytime they talked about the shock and vibrations between them, I felt like I was experiencing it as well. The intimacy these two show one another is such a huge part of the story, I was obsessed over every details.

I loved Hollis' friendship with Annie and Yuli is so well done. As someone who loves platonic intimacy, I adored their friendship. They showed a different type of love between friends that I feel like isn't always depicted in stories. The casual hand holding, heads in laps and so on, really made the intimacy between Hollis and Walt that much more potent.

UGHH I love them so much. I truly don't think I'll stop thinking of them.