I wanted to love it. It read just like the best parts of the Netflix series, but with a greater depth to the characters and their thoughts/perspectives.

SPOILER: In both the show and this book, Daphne explicitly goes against Simon’s wishes and assaults him. Neither of them were perfect in this situation. Simon lied to her face, but that is in no way a reason for her to push him sexually like she did. IF this moment would have led to more conversations about what happened, it may have been a great conversation starter about marital rape. But it, along with every other issue that came up between Simon and Daphne, was swept under the rug.

Only a few pages after this, Simon and Daphne talk about having children and he goes from never wanting children to promising her they’ll have some. Then in the epilogue we find out that they had 4 in the first 4 years of their marriage. As someone who’s struggled with whether or not I want kids, that seemed like a quick and unrealistic jump brought on more by her pressuring him than anything else.

Again, I wanted to fall in love with this book/series, and did up until that point. Too many things were ignored and avoided. This isn’t a healthy relationship, and it certainly isn’t one that makes me swoon. Daphne turned into a bit of a manipulator, and even though Quinn wrote Simon as happy, I imagine there would be some resentment over all that happened and was left unsaid in a real relationship.