Teenager Autumn navigates her way through high school beside loyal friends and a loving boyfriend. Throughout the book she reflects on her relationship with her former best friend and boy next door Phineas Smith, or Finny as she calls him. Finny and her were closer than siblings, but popularity and unspoken truths pushed them apart. Autumn's realization that she is in love with Finny causes problems as they rekindle their friendship. They are both in loving relationships, but that does not make their love nonexistent. Autumn grows and changes throughout her four years in high school and searches for happiness, perhaps realizing that could come from Finny.
This story is not for someone who believes in picture perfect love stories with happy endings. This book contains more realistic examples of love, the ups and downs of mental health and becoming an adult. At times in the book I wanted to scream, “Tell him! Be honest!”, but love is complicated. Autumn feels everything will be as it should be if she were with Finny, but it takes her a long time to be brave enough to get there.