I love Miriam Toews' characters, and the ones in this novel are no exception. They have a sense of humour even in the face of trauma. They are like dandelions: cheerful and plucky and surviving, in spite of difficult circumstances.

I loved Swiv's relationship with her grandma, and I adored her grandma (as did all the characters in the novel).

The ending in the novel is inevitable, but is handled with such love and sensitivity and grace that it softens the blow, and the reader is left with a sense of hope and a recognition of the unending circle of life.