When I finished this book, I gave it 2 stars but then I went to sleep before writing my review and decided to give it 1 star because of every little detail I remembered that pissed me off. I am not a fan of insta-love and if I had known this book was insta-love before reading it, I would not have continued. However, I gave it the benefit of the doubt (I now wish I didn’t) because even if the trope isn’t my cup of tea, doesn’t mean the book is bad. However, in this case, the book was horrendous. 

To start, the whole main conflict about Hayes keeping the fake relationship nonsense a secret was so stupid and unnecessary because they were not fake dating they were just actual dating. Hayes should’ve told her on their first date to avoid all the unnecessary drama, especially since every time they hung out he was feeling guilty in his mind about not telling her. 

Next, the breakup after the fake dating nonsense thing was revealed was so unbelievably out of left field. It was made clear that Roden had depression and never felt accepted, so to reduce his suicide to one moment when Hayes (who didn’t know him and had no idea what he was going through) yelled at him was completely insensitive and honestly disrespectful. Roden was mentally ill, he had a lot of issues he was going through and to reduce mental illness to one instance is disgusting and I can’t believe the author had the audacity to write it, actually. I was trying to give this book some grace and not be too judgemental, but this unnecessary and disrespectful addition came out of nowhere and rubbed me the wrong way. It basically just made Roden’s depression and suicide a plot device that wasn’t needed and took away from the seriousness of the topics.

Another thing that I was trying to ignore throughout the book to give it some grace is how the author treated Aeris’s eating disorder. In the beginning, it seemed like it was going to be well done and a very serious matter in the book. This was not the case because the minute that she and Hayes got together, she was suddenly cured. She no longer had any apprehension about eating, food, or calories. It makes it seem like all you need is a man and your problems will be solved. The author took very serious topics and boiled them down to seem insignificant and pointless. 
Another thing that wasn’t harmful but seemed insane was the proposal scene? Hayes’s proposal speech was sweet, but before it Aeris choked on the ring and Hayes had to give her the helmich ?? and then he just continued the proposal without letting her recover ?? Insane way to the end book and completely unnecessary.

I think the book should’ve ended 70 pages earlier and ended after they said I love you at Hayes’s birthday party. The last part of the book was bad at best and offensive at worst.