This book was so twee. It was so tiny and little and contained. And the thing is, there are set ups that pay off. There are character flaws that annoyed me that are treated as flaws, and work is done to overcome them. So it's competent, but it is trying to focus on these meaning of life things and it just does not reach the height it's ambitions imply. 
 But this is a very emotional exploration that feels like speculating. It is the worst of the "Best Friend takes Girl For Granted" trope. And it's over a boy that I was praying she would get over by page five. 
 What annoys me is it is not Alice's story. Alice's active involvement in the plot ended just about when she turned down a cut of the money. That's it. She was sidelined because this was Teddy's story and for some reason is told through her point of view. Alice's choices are taking a backseat and it is all about Teddy's growth. Sure, Alice does things, but she chooses between colleges and realizes her dead parents aren't saints. She is the most well-rounded grieving teenager I have ever seen. Her grief manifests in a contained nature and a compulsive need to volunteer at homeless shelters, and that fixation on feeling like a good person is less about her misplaced priorities and more that she is slave to this selfless legacy her parents left behind? Where is the misplaced anger or self-destructive tendencies? Let her be actually flawed, if this has to be about her trauma. And her turning point is digging up a repressed memory that her parents fought a lot and were human? That, after nine years, just seems like a very simplistic way to get the character to move on. It also doesn't help that this is hinging on staying closer to home for a romance that is mediocre and honestly didn't sell me for a second. Teddy wasn't a prize, even before the money changed his life. 
 It also doesn't handle plot well. There's a huge pacing issue where tension is faltering and loses all buildup by the ended of the story. Teddy's arc falters after an incident with trusting his gambling-addict father (which annoyed me how trusting Teddy was over being immersed in all of his vices) and then he makes up this business that sounds like the worst idea that basically gives out money for other people to do Random Acts of Kindness. Which sounds like an impossible thing to get receipts for and really easy for people to say "Oh yeah, I overtipped a waitress, can I have another $500 to do it again?" He also still hans't...lost anything from his hubris? I kept waiting for the money to vanish of for him to learn a horrible lesson for all the crap he was buying. His mother is the competent nurse but there's no moment for her where she points out her husband's gambling addiction destroyed this family and her son is overspending money like it's meaningless? That's how lottery winners have ended up broke. But the ending just treats money like it's this meaningless thing in a very odd way. Alice and Teddy just have infinite funds now. And she's staying close to home for college. Happy ending? 
 The romance was cliched and really did not give us enough to make us root for this couple, neither did any of the characters give me anything that piqued my interest. This premise really could have contained a decent romcom but instead the pacing and plot is super dull.