This novel can be considered a coming-of-age novel, even though my two protagonists probably should have "come of age" about five years ago, and are just trying their best to manage the expectations of adulthood. Nicole is a young trans woman, abandoned by her ultra-religious family and trying to make ends meet in her drab hometown of Wild Rose, Minnesota. Umbriel is a well-to-do heiress who decides to escape to the same town to live the true "writer's life" in the sprawling mansion that her reclusive grandmother left her. The pair couldn't be more opposite, and yet, they are brought together out of pure boredom. (There's nothing to do in this god damn town). When the death of Claire Iversen, a local woman who seemed to care about nothing more than her demanding job, permeates the community, Nicole and Umbriel have enough time on their hands to begin to piece together that there's something off about her death being a run-of-the-mill car accident. The Wild Rose Alliance is a coming-of-age novel for those who feel like they missed a step entirely, and never actually "came of age" in the first place.