2.5 Stars.
When I read Letters to the Lost earlier this year (twice) I absolutely loved it. I was so excited for this companion, especially knowing it was about Rev, who is Declan’s best friend in LTTL.
Unfortunately, I don’t feel like it quite lived up to the hype I’d created in my own mind. It ended up being just okay for me.

What I liked:
Rev. I still liked Rev quite a bit. He does do things in this book that were incredibly frustrating, but when you dig into the psychology of it, his reactions are totally understandable. He experienced severe trauma over the course of the first seven years of his life at the hands of a biological father who was pure evil. That kind of abuse is going to stick with you, I don’t care who you are. It would make sense that he wouldn’t want to let anyone in on what was going on.
I also liked the subplot of his parents bringing in a foster child who was close in age with Rev. I like that Rev was given a glimpse into what his life could’ve been if he hadn’t had his parents take him in. Now, I wouldn’t say he was ‘lucky’, like some of the characters in the book say. A lucky child wouldn’t have been consistently abused over the course of his childhood. But seeing how much worse it could’ve been, I think getting to know Matthew (the foster brother) ended up giving Rev some perspective. I do wish we would’ve had a bit more development in their relationship.
Also, I love Geoff and Kristin and how much they love and accept Rev, Matthew, and every child they take in. I wish that more foster parents were like that in real life. I wish more BIO parents were like that in real life. It would be a much happier world.

2. Declan. I loved Declan in LTTL, and he was great in this book as well. I love that their roles have reversed a bit, with Declan being the emotional support for Rev this time around. Like Rev’s parents, I love that Declan accepts Rev, no questions asked. Even after Rev lashes out, Declan’s first reaction is to make sure his friend is okay because he know that it isn’t like him to act that way. They are friendship goals.

What I didn’t like:

1. Emma. My problems with this book pretty much boil down to my distaste for Emma. Maybe I’m just getting too old, but I couldn’t stand her. She was thoroughly unlikeable for about 80% of the book. It’s too bad, because I liked the idea that she was a gamer and into coding and all of that. Unfortunately, the bits that I liked were totally overshadowed by her incessant whining and self-pitying nonsense.
She treats everyone around her — her parents, Rev, her best friend Cait — like garbage. I get that she is going through a stressful time. She is being harassed by someone online. I totally get that it could be stressful, not to mention scary, to have someone sending vaguely threatening messages that get worse and worse over time.
But, and this is a big but, she doesn’t tell her parents or her supposed best friend because...reasons...and then gets snarky and petulant when they try to have a conversation with her. It just doesn’t make sense. Her reasoning for keeping quiet just didn’t sit with me. She was afraid her mother wouldn’t let her game anymore if she told her someone was harassing her. Okay. That’s a case of needing to straighten out her priorities, but whatever. But to not tell her friend, and then snipe at her friend every chance she gets...Emma is a shitty friend. Sorry, not sorry. She spends the entire book acting petty and jealous toward Cait because of her assumption that Cait has a ‘perfect life’. She doesn’t even tell her best friend when her parents split up.
And then the way she talks to her mother. Oh my goodness. At one point, her mother disconnects the router so Emma can’t get on the internet. Later in the book, after she’s been a rude little B-face to her mother for the 625th time, she says, “If you turn off the internet again I’ll hack into your computer and delete everything.” No. Hell no. I would not only take my child’s computer away, but I would also take her door. That shit is a privilege, not a right. Again, maybe it’s the mom in me, but that would not fly in my house. Anyway, Emma spends the entire book lamenting her awful situation, meanwhile Rev is actually going through some incredibly traumatic stuff. And the thing is, a character being cyber-stalked/bullied is a great idea for a novel. But so little of Emma’s focus is actually on the bully. Most of it is her complaining that her mom is making her miserable by wanting her to be a productive member of society and refusing to stay in a marriage that is a complete dumpster fire. And when the ‘twist’ at the end happens (a twist I called from almost the first page) it just goes to prove her mother right. But of course, that’s never really brought up.
I just don’t like her. I think Rev deserves better than her. Yes, she did have a slight redemption, but very slight. I feel like her character at its core is very selfish and spoiled.

2. Repetition. This book felt very repetitive to me in a number of ways. First off, in the narrative itself. Emma/Rev would receive threatening note. Emma/Rev would be found obsessing over the note by one of their loved ones. Instead of telling loved one what was going on, they would lie. Then they would freak out and have a melt down and then apologize. Over and over again.
They were able to tell each other, sometimes. But then they would start sniping at one another and fight. Then they’d make up. Then they’d fight. Then make up. It was ridiculous.
There was also repetition in the way Emma and Rev’s stories mirrored each other. I am assuming this was done intentionally, but it didn’t work for me, for a number of reasons. One, it became boring. It seemed unnecessary to have both Emma’s and Rev’s POV when their stories and actions were so similar. True, the specific motivations for those actions differed, but not much. They were both afraid because they were being harassed via the Internet. Neither one wanted to confide in anyone. Neither had the emotional capacity to deal with their situations. I feel like 50 pages could’ve been cut from this book and it would’ve been the same book.

3. The romance. I wanted good things for Rev. He is such a sweet person and deserves so much good. I really didn’t like Emma, so I had a difficult time rooting for these two. I also felt like they jumped into a very serious and intense relationship very quickly. And to be honest, even though they could be honest with each other before anyone else, there wasn’t much in their relationship that could be labeled ‘functional’. Maybe if we’d gotten a chapter or two or at least an epilogue of Emma not being a selfish, petty person and the two of them having a real relationship I would’ve liked it more. But as it was, I was very dissatisfied.

This review bums me out. I really thought I was going to love this book. And there are parts I still think are well-written. If this book had focused on just Rev and his family dynamic, I think it would’ve been much stronger.