Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them-a one encounter and everything that matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose everything: in one spectacular evening, a reckless drivers shatters Ezra’s leg, his athletic career, and his interpersonal life.

No longer a front-runner for Homecoming King, Ezra finds himself on the desk of misfits, where he encounters new female Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy can be unlike anyone Ezra’s ever met, about The Beginning of Everything achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her behalf endless adventures.

Together, Ezra and Cassidy discover flash mobs, buried treasure, secret movie screenings, and a poodle that may you need to be the reincarnation of Jay Gatsby. But as Ezra dives into his brand-new studies, new friendships, and fresh love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And today he must consider: if one’s singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what goes on when more misfortune strikes?

Robyn Schneider’s The start of Everything is a lyrical, witty, and heart-wrenching novel about how exactly difficult it is to play the part that folks expect, and how new beginnings can stem from abrupt and tragic endings.