ultimately, the book tells classic tales of codependent group of people that lose grip of reality because they only surround themselves with enablers that think too much alike.

they are young and eccentric and melodramatic, so being in an institution that didn’t just enable those qualities but also indulge and celebrate it makes it very easy for them to get lost in that state. it’s probably very hard for them to regulate their feelings and emotion in a normal and healthy way when they have been conditioned to amplify and exaggerate it.

a lot of decisions that the characters made in this book might seems odd to us, an outsider, but paralleling their lives with Shakespearean play are probably the only thing make sense for them—hell, they always find a way to reference shakespear in their day to day life. it’s like self-fulfilling prophecy. the fact that these people don’t have any other meaningful relationship outside the group doesn’t help their case.

with that being said, my favorite thing in this book is the relationship between james and oliver. what can i say, i love me some slow burn romance. i really love it when book describes the feeling of falling in love in a somewhat clinical way at first (especially because the character hasn’t realize their feelings yet) and then it slowly progress into a more romantic description. the angst, the yearning, i felt it since the very beginning of this book. i can even feel the fondness and protectiveness toward james bcs i empathize with oliver so much.

overall, i really love this book. it really stimulates me—makes me feel a vast range of emotions and it triggers a lot of thoughts from me.