I like this book even better than book one in the series. The main issue I had with book one was the lack of exploration of much of the world (the press, the campaign, Meg's life in general). Despite the fact that this book is more than 60 pages shorter, I don't have that issue here. The scope is much smaller. Instead of covering over a year, it only spans a few weeks around the assassination attempt of the president (Meg's mother). Everything that I wanted explored in The President's Daughter is in this book. Meg deals with the secret service on a personal level, she deals with the media- both in giving interviews and consuming the media herself, she deals with relationships changing in her family. I didn't finish this book wish it was more the way I did The President's Daughter.

Most of my thoughts of positives are the same from the first book. The focus on family, both parents and siblings, is wonderful. I love the way they bicker with each other and it's how they show love. I love the way Meg is there for her siblings, even when they have fights. I love that she struggles in relationships with her parents because her mother's job impacts them all in a very direct way.

New things in this book include her romantic relationship with Josh and it's one of the healthiest relationships I've seen in YA. Josh is her boyfriend, but for most of the book she talks of her friendship with him. Not because she's denying the romance, but because the friendship is a part of the romance and more important to her overall. She talks to her father and he says he feels the same way toward her mother (in regards to the friendship). It's so lovely and wholesome.

Another thing is Meg's flaws. She has a tendency to be standoffish, very in her head, and assume the worst from people, especially in stressful situations. She struggles with taking any kind of criticism. Her best friend actually calls her out on this and Meg works to change. Instead of continuing to treat Josh poorly, the next time she notices she's being a jerk to him, she literally stops herself and asks him to explain. It's not a huge change in her character, it's just a little self awareness and it's wonderful.

I think the only negative for me in this book is that the storytelling is the tiniest bit generic at points. For example, she's sitting in class taking a test she wasn't prepared for and wishing for something anything to get her out of it, and that's when she gets pulled out of class to receive bad news. There's nothing wrong with that, but when I read it, it was just kind of 'of course that's how it happened.' It didn't happen much, but there were a couple of times when the storytelling just felt a little too obvious.

I also prefer this book because at this point in the series, we're getting into more serious topics. Meg's mother gets shot. This isn't just Meg adjusting to life as the daughter of the president, the consequences are so much higher. There were a few points I got a heart jolt from the foreshadowing, just knowing where this series is going. I didn't cry, but I did tear up at a few points (especially when she was talking to her English teacher and kind of imagining how her life could be different and normal).

One thing I particularly love about this series is that there's almost no arc in any of these books. Plenty of important events happen and it's always interesting, but it's written more as 'day in the life.' It just happens to be a day in the life of a person who happens to live an exciting life. I love it so much because I think that makes the series feel so much more real.

I also think White does an amazing job of capturing life in the political world. It feels so complete. Meg is only politically adjacent and she could easily have avoided most things political, but instead White embraces it and makes it part of the story. I love these books for that. It wouldn't make sense for Meg, a smart young woman surrounded by politics, to ignore it. And it also would have been so easy for the book to feel like cheap propaganda, but it doesn't. It's not about political views so much as it is the way everything they do carries some kind of political weight. (The way Meg dresses, how her mother leaves the hospital, Meg's friends, Meg's school, etc) The politics is just a natural part of Meg's world and a natural part of the story, and it's so wonderfully done. I don't know of any other YA books (or honestly any adult fiction) that capture politics or the political world so well.

Once again, highly highly recommend. Please go read these books because they're so wonderful and worthwhile.