Rose and Tate are your average high-school seniors from California, but they're also legacy mountain climbers embarking on the trip of a lifetime. As they prepare to climb Mount Everest along with Tate's father, the two teens are simultaneously riddled with life's "big questions" where they'll go to college and whom they want to date. These are soon overshadowed by more dire questions, however, as a tragedy befalls the Sherpas right before the scheduled climb. Tate's PTSD is triggered, and the dynamics between family and friends begin to unravel. Levy's fast-paced novel mirrors the frantic, heartrending, and blood-pumping journey undertaken by her characters. Thanks to a detailed map of the mountain routes, readers can track Rose and Tate's adventures as they wind around each other like climbing ropes, their stories dovetailing into a passionate, climactic romance. As they explore their reciprocated feelings, they must put aside disagreements and work together to survive the climb. A physical and emotional expedition, filled with danger, death, disease, and above all else, sacrifice.

--Booklist


Equal parts high-stakes adventure and introspective teen drama, Levy's YA debut is an examination of a commercialized natural world and the burden of unchecked expectations. In fast-paced, alternating first person chapters, readers follow two teenaged best friends as they attempt to summit Mount Everest. Tate, unfocused and brash, is (to his chagrin) known as the "Master of Disaster," while Rose is calculated and driven. Though both protagonists are seasoned climbers, their ascent becomes increasingly complicated--most notably by Tate's debilitating PTSD after a recent fall, Rose's nonstop fear (identified as "the Dread") for her sick mother, and the normally platonic pair's burgeioning sexual relationship. A large cast of secondary characters weaves in and out of the story, providing effective springboards to address issues such as racism, sexism, labor exploitation, and mental health. A confluence of events at the novel's climax pushes Tate and Rose apart and past their reconceived limits, with tragic results that call into question the ethics of their once-shared goal. A hopeful epilogue narrated by Tate balances out the harrowing conclusion; back matter includes information about the Sherpa people and an author's note with further reading.
--The Horn Book