Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses death.

Following the death of her fiancé two years prior, Sloan is emotionally paralyzed by grief, struggling to envision a future without him. Sloan’s grief is all-encompassing, leaving her detached and resigned to a life without love. She lives in the shadow of her past relationship, unable to truly let go of the person she lost, as evidenced by her inability to clean out his belongings from her house. Jason describes her state, reflecting that “[s]ometimes the hardest place to live is the one in-between” (34). This grief isolates her, impacting her relationships and sense of identity as she goes long periods without contacting her best friend Kristen and stops creating art. Sloan’s character underscores the difficulty of managing grief in the long term, especially when friends and family assert it’s time to move on. Through her journey, Sloan learns that new romance doesn’t replace the loss but expands her capacity to feel and love. She must find the courage to embrace love again, which requires overcoming fear, accepting vulnerability, and allowing herself to hope despite the potential for more heartbreak.

Meeting Jason through

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