This book was fine. I didn’t have huge expectations for it, but it doesn’t contain a trope I tend to like: the fake relationship. For the most part, it was cute and I definitely found myself grinning at times. But at the end of the day it felt like it didn’t dig deep enough.

What I liked:
1. Fake relationship trope. Yes, it’s a trope. But it just happens to be one that works for me. Is it realistic? Heck no. But it’s fun to read.

2. Taylor’s relationship with her stepdad. I thought it was very sweet how close she was with her stepdad. I feel like you don’t see that often in YA literature.

3. The pacing. I zoomed through this book. It was a quick, light read.


What I didn’t like.

1. The normalization of abusive relationships. Evan’s stepfather verbally badgers him constantly. He is also very controlling over Evan’s mother. However, we are constantly told that he treats her so well and life with him is ‘perfect’. Even when she admits that he treats Evan like garbage. I’m sorry, but what kind of mother stays in a relationship with a man who treats her kid that way? But it’s literally never looked at as something problematic.

2. Taylor is a Mary Sue to the extreme. The number of times we are told that she is practically perfect in every way is nauseating. It got real old, real fast. Then, when I thought we couldn’t possibly get any more clichéd, we were treated to the following gem: “I thought I told you before that Taylor’s not like other girls?”
Let’s forget for a moment that this is written as a question instead of the statement it is. But OMG, this line is such a nope for me. What’s wrong with ‘other girls?’
And that’s another problem. There is so much girl-on-girl hate in this book. And not even hate, but endless comparison and jealousy. And it wasn’t just between Taylor and the ‘hot girls’, but also Taylor and the other ‘smart girls’. But of course, Taylor is super special and always comes out on top.
One other thing. We are told alllll the way through this book how amazing and smart and amazing and did I mention smart Taylor is, but she doesn’t realize that Brian and Evan both like her when they start acting like dogs trying to mark their territory.

3. The writing. I wasn’t looking for some award-winning piece of literary fiction, but even going in with zero expectations, the writing in this book felt very simplistic. The author tries to tackle some heavy issues: abusive relationships, divorce, cheating, bullying, and abandonment, among others I’m sure I’m forgetting. But because there isn’t any depth to these conversations, it all feels very one-dimensional. I wasn’t able to empathize or sympathize with these characters because of the way they faced these issues. It all fell a little flat for me. I was hoping for a little more complexity. Also, there were times when certain word choices confused me. I understood what the author was saying, but the words used didn’t quite fit. Also, there were so many instances where the author would bring in some random thought or fact to the story with little to no context or setup just to never address it or mention it again.

At the end of the day, this was what I needed at the moment I read it, after tackling a couple of heavier books immediately preceding this book. It was light and fluffy. Unfortunately, I feel like it was trying to be more, but the execution just wasn’t there.