The story is deliver in a very subtle way. That's why it's not boring even though it is slow place. All the inner thoughts and events in the story contributes to the characters' unique sense of self and identity. It serves as a firsthand explanation as to why the characters are who they are.
To simply put it, it is character development. But more than just character development, we get to see the development in their perspective and in their mind. We're not just simply following a character around or tell the story in an overview. We actually get different perspectives from different characters all at the same time which adds on to the richness of the development.
Most authors tend to avoid this kind of story telling cause it gets confusing as to who's inner thoughts is speaking. But the author here has done such a great job at keeping the inner thoughts to its rightful owner that we hardly have any problem at all.
Idk why but i really like this story and how slow paced it is, even though a lot of Ethan's thoughts and just how he acts in general reminds me of how i was when i was fifteen. (I was emo as fuck and kinda just miserable tbh)
i can still appreciate his character and read about how complex he feels without finding it too emo or cringy. And honestly both Ethan and Jimmy are adorable lmao