I really didn't get this for about the first 20% of the book - it seemed so formulaic and I wasn't sure if it was anything special, but then something happened and all of a sudden I was just so invested in the characters, that I suddenly didn't care if things felt a bit contrived and predictable because I wanted them to get to a good place. 
 The story is a love story about Fern, a former ugly duckling and Ambrose, the former All American, model esque boy she has been in love with since she was a child. Ambrose joins the army out of high school, Fern stays behind and whilst he's away, he is in a roadside explosion and is permanently scarred and his best friends are all killed. So far, so predictable, right? And it is - I won't lie that there are loads of twists and turns going on, because there isn't, but somehow we get to a predictable place in a way that feels natural. You never doubt that this is a natural progression for these characters. Fern was perhaps a bit idealistic and naive, but I liked her. I loved Ambrose and I LOVED Bailey, Fern's cousin. The characters were likeable, and it helped when they delivered lines that were perhaps a bit cringey that you liked them. 
 It was a lovely story - I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed it and when I was finished, I wished that I didn't have to say goodbye to the characters. It was a wonderful book.