Five students, four years, one freshman orientation group. Infinite in Between by Carolyn Mackler tells the story of how four years of high school can impact five different people. She artfully tells the story from five different perspectives that all intertwine.

Infinite in Between follows five kids through the first day of freshman year to high school graduation. They all start out in the same freshman orientation group and decide to write letters to their future selves and hide them somewhere in the school to read at graduation. It is amazing to see how the goals of 14 year olds change when they graduate at 18.

The best thing about this book is the timeline. It can be very difficult to write a novel that takes place over four years without making it too long and well, boring. Mackler, however, does an incredible job at highlighting the key points of each character’s life without dragging on for multiple chapters. As a result, the story moves relatively fast, but it never seems rushed.

Another great thing about Infinite in Between is how relatable the characters are. The three stand out characters are Jake, Whitney, and Mia. Jake was able to come to terms with his sexuality and deal with the acceptance from others. Whitney had to go through a lot of internal conflicts throughout the four years and I admire her for how she dealt with everything. Mia went from being the less attractive friend to being one of the prettiest girls in school who all the guys wanted and it was interesting to see how her appearance and popularity affected her personality.

This book is definitely great for people of all ages, but I especially appreciated reading it during my senior year of high school because I can imagine myself in their shoes in each year. I found myself comparing my personal experiences from freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year to what the characters experienced…which added a whole new level of relatability that I really enjoyed.

Overall, Infinite in Between maintained my interest from start to finish. The book itself appears large–over 400 pages–but the flow is very quick; I easily read it in one week, even while juggling school work.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading from different perspectives or relating to characters. It shows many different points of views from a variety of personalities that still somehow intertwine to tell an incredible story.