Rosario has been gone for a year, but when she appears in Nico’s dream about his own death, Nico becomes determined to find out why she died in an attempt to prevent his own demise. The official word was an overdose, but Rosario had plans, big plans, to become a writer and get out of town. Nico is frustrated trying to get answers, trying to prevent the death in his dream, trying to keep his tween brother out of the local gang and help his mother, a single parent. As he starts to paint a picture of the days leading to Rosario’s death, he begins to see how easy it would be to give up and accept his fate.
The book is written in journal entries as part of a class, and as such, Nico is an unreliable narrator, where sometimes answers are just not found. His entries include triggers such as death of a loved one, drug overdose, suicide and suicidal thoughts, underage drinking, and gun violence. This is a meaningful story of a young man who feels like he has lost it all, but finds hope in the darkness from unexpected places.
