Valerie Williamson is known as the Anti-social Social Worker by her colleagues at Lawrenceville Regional Hospital. After a traumatic event, she closed off her world sixteen years ago to everyone, except her cat, Gabriel. She is more comfortable with the dead than the living and her job as deceased patient coordinator keeps her content. Everything changes when she is forced to start a trauma support group. How can she comfort people with trauma, when she can’t even talk about her past? And then, the death of 19-year-old Carmen Davidson leaves questions that eat away at her every thought. With her walls down, she let the detective she’s been pushing away get close to her. With all of this, can Valerie keep her boundaries from blurring? It’s heavy yet inspiring; it’s dark but it’s beautiful, equipped with the right pacing, angst, and a bit of comedy. -Risah Salazar for Readers’ Favorite