I've got complex, mixed feelings about this book and I haven't sorted through them all yet. There are also some things I really liked about the story. I thought the treatment of the challenges for poor students of color in college settings surrounded by white rich kids was given a lot of complexity and nuance. I wanted Rafi to have more allies, was so frustrated with the isolation he was experiencing, but I did think it felt realistic. I felt for Rafi a lot, even though he also frustrated me. 
 Here's a brief description of my sticking points (some spoilers, but not details): 
 There's some stuff in the story about abusive dynamics & sexual coercion that didn't feel like it got enough textual criticism, and that made me uncomfortable. Especially when it was implied that the anger of a character of color was scary and out of control. I wanted the text to make it clear how intensely racialized that stuff is, to complicate it more. 
 Relatedly, I also was so frustrated by the character of color being set up to be the reluctant one, the conflicted one, the one who kept messing up and the white character to be patient and good. Why wasn't Denny's (white and class) privilege actually challenged, and why couldn't Rafi call him on it? Why was Rafi the only one that had to work through hard stuff? 
 And the way disabling injury was handled, the amount of internalized ableism that didn't get any textual criticism...it was hard to read. I'm fine with characters working through stuff and struggling, but I didn't see the author disrupting the ableism or showing that it wasn't ok. 
 I got pretty annoyed when after such a slow frustrating burn, I never got to savor the actual relationship, never got to sit with them being good to each other. At one point, I got lost as a reader, tossed my kindle on the bed and didn't pick it up again for a while.