I just started Memory Burns Quietly, and I really like the atmosphere already. Sofia feels isolated, but not in a simple “lonely girl” way — more like her mind is always catching details other people miss, and that makes the ordinary world feel slightly unstable around her.
In my own YA romance, Lou also feels different, but she covers it with humor and messy energy, while JJ is the one who starts noticing the little things she tries to hide. From a writer’s perspective, how do you keep an introverted or unusual character emotionally engaging without explaining too much too soon? And do you think romance works better when someone accepts the character’s strangeness immediately, or when they slowly learn how to read it?
