In this story of intense friendship and grit, two down-and-out teens escape the hopelessness of their lives and chase a different future through rock-climbing — from the New York Times bestselling author of My Absolute Darling.

Dan and Tamma are two teenagers in their last year of high school in the southern Mojave Desert. One is a gifted golden child, the other a mouthy burnout. Climbing boulders in trash-strewn parking lots during cold desert nights, they seal their unique bond and dream of a life of adventure.

As the year progresses and adult reality looms, they are rocked by change and pulled apart by irreconcilable obligations. Differences of class, talent, and prospects take on new importance; options dwindle, and their decisions grow ever more consequential and perilous. It feels inevitable, finally, that something must give.

With a magnificent gift for nature writing and a joyful appreciation for the redemptive power of friendship, Gabriel Tallent gives readers a rollicking, adrenaline-filled, and soul-searching novel about risking everything to change your life.

This book was a total whim pick for me from Book of the Month, and it ended up being one of those reads that sneaks up on you. I went in knowing absolutely nothing about rock climbing and with zero desire to ever try it myself. None of that mattered. What Tallent captures here isn’t really about climbing. It’s about longing, escape, and what it feels like to be young and desperate for a life that seems more exciting than the one you’re currently trapped in.

The story follows Dan and Tamma, two teenagers in their final year of high school in the southern Mojave Desert. They’re bonded by climbing, spending their nights scrambling up boulders in desolate parking lots and dreaming about a future where they can live as “dirt bags.” Traveling the country. Living off-grid. Climbing everything they can get their hands on. It’s a dream born out of constraint and dissatisfaction, and it feels painfully believable.

Dan’s parents expect him to go to college and make something of himself, and those expectations sit heavily on his shoulders. Tamma, on the other hand, comes from chaos. Her mother is disengaged, more invested in her latest boyfriend than in her kids, and Tamma has learned to fend for herself in a way that’s sharp-edged and exhausting.

What struck me most is how real these characters felt. I knew these kids. They annoyed me. They made impulsive, sometimes infuriating choices. And still, I wanted them to succeed. I wanted more for them, even when it felt like the world they were growing up in wasn’t built to offer it. Tallent doesn’t romanticize their struggles, but he doesn’t flatten them either. He allows their flaws to coexist with their hope.

The climbing scenes are where the book truly comes alive. Tallent’s writing makes these moments visceral and intense, even for someone like me who has no interest in the sport itself. I could feel the adrenaline, the focus, the way everything else drops away when you’re hanging onto a rock face with nothing but your hands and trust in your own body. It became clear why climbing feels like freedom to Dan and Tamma. Up there, the noise of their lives goes quiet.

That freedom is starkly contrasted with their home lives, especially Tamma’s. Both teens are carrying heavy emotional weight, surrounded by adults who are too wrapped up in their own disappointments to really see them. The neglect isn’t always loud or dramatic. Often it’s subtle, which makes it hit harder. The sense that no one is really watching out for you can be just as damaging as overt cruelty.

As graduation looms, reality presses in, and future prospects start to matter in ways they can no longer ignore. The dreams they’ve been clinging to feel more fragile, and every choice starts to carry real consequences. There’s a constant sense that something has to give, and that inevitability hangs over the book in a way that’s quietly devastating.

This is a coming-of-age story that doesn’t offer easy answers. It’s probing, empathetic, and deeply human. Tallent has a gift for writing about place, about bodies in motion, and about the emotional intensity of youth without tipping into nostalgia or sentimentality.

This book won’t be for everyone, but if you love literary fiction and stories that dig deep into friendship, class, and the painful transition into adulthood, this one is absolutely worth your time. I was surprised by how much I liked it.

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