this is the same author of Tiny Beautiful Things and so I was already primed to be irritated by her style of writing: lots of hyperbole and continued use of contrast as in: I felt so 'one thing', but also felt 'the opposite thing'. it feels like how I wrote in university, for one: immature and certain this small thing happening before me was filled with significance and trying so earnestly to express it's unique moment.
but the biggest annoyance was her lack of true growth. in the last 1-2 pages of the book she fast forwards to being a mature, married, mother of 2 that has obviously gotten past her mother's death, but we don't get to see how that came to be. the story really ends with her successfully surviving the trail even though she was incredibly unprepared for it and, on many occasions, could have been severely injured or even died