Before that awful Saturday, Molly used to be inseparable from her brother, Hank, and his best friend, Tray. The indoor climbing accident that left Hank with a traumatic brain injury filled Molly with anger.

While she knows the accident wasn’t Tray’s fault, she will never forgive him for being there and failing to stop the damage. But she can’t forgive herself for not being there either.

Determined to go on the trio’s post-graduation hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, even without Hank, Molly packs her bag. But when her parents put Tray in charge of looking out for her, she is stuck backpacking with the person who incites her easy anger.

Despite all her planning, the trail she’ll walk has a few more twists and turns ahead. . . .

This is truly a coming of age story among a group of friends who have planned a hike along the Pacific Crest Trail. All of the friends are kind of in different places in their lives and journeys as they navigate the trail. There were a lot of heavier and valid topics that are very current, but at some points some of this felt a little more in your face than it should have been, perhaps a little too intense. With most of the characters you can feel their struggle and it feels very authentic, but some don’t feel as fully fledged or connect as well. Still, this was a great coming of age novel that I think a lot of people will connect with.

Happy reading!