June’s relationship with her uncle Finn

I just finished reading the book. Overall, I liked it, and it brought me to tears at times. However, I had mixed feelings about June’s romantic feelings for her uncle. When it was expressly stated in the book, either because June was admitting it to herself or confronted by Greta or Toby, I just found it cringy. I think the whole novel could’ve worked just as well had she just been a niece who loved her uncle and had a special relationship with him (as they were both romantic souls who loved art and music).  I don’t know that the romantic feelings were needed. It felt somewhat unrealistic to me because June was 14, in high school, and understood that her uncle was gay.  A romantic crush on her uncle might’ve made more sense if June was a younger child.

I don’t think it’s common for teenagers to harbor romantic feelings for an older, close relative. I think that would be highly unusual. It might be less unusual for a younger child to have child-like feelings such as “I’m going to marry daddy” or “Uncle Finn is my boyfriend.”  But seemed unbelievable and kind of odd coming from a 14 year old.

June was an interesting character. In some ways, she seemed mature and self assured, but in other ways, very dense and emotionally childish.