I think this is one of those books that was solid in general, but hit a couple of tropes I really don't like. Like I'd definitely recommend this and would honestly consider looking into reading more Christina Lauren, but I'm not entirely sure I like the genre and types of books they usually write.

My first issue is one of my super petty pet peeves. It's the whole trope of writers in fiction writing thinly veiled memoirs of their lives. It's so unbelievably common, but I don't understand. The people who write all these things are writers and know that's not all writers write, but it seems like 90% of the writers in fiction (whether it's McGee from NCIS or the teenagers in this book) are only capable of writing about their own lives. It was actually used intentionally in this so it irritated me less, but I'm still not a fan. I'd rather them just be writing nonfiction if that's what they're gonna do.

In terms of the story, I really liked it and was super invested until about the two thirds mark (rough estimate- I was reading the ebook so I'm not entirely certain). I will give this book props for not having a generic final third that I've read a million times in every romance, but I really wasn't a fan of a couple of big events and the fallout from them. Obviously I can't get into details, but it felt like the authors went unnecessary places that didn't contribute to the overall story. Take that out and the book would have been a bit shorter without changing much.

I was also made very uncomfortable by the fact that the romance takes place between a high school student and a TA in one of their high school classes. It's a position of authority in a school setting, a high school setting at that. It's incredibly irresponsible. I don't care about their ages. They're only about a year apart and that's fine, it's just the TA/student relationship. From the way everyone talked about this book I thought it was about two students so I wasn't expecting that at all going in. He honestly could've just been a guest speaker at the school instead of having an official position, but I couldn't get past it for the whole book.

But beyond those issues, I did quite enjoy this. It was interesting and fun, for all the emotions were hard. I was excited to see where their relationship would go and how they'd deal with the issues of religion. I really enjoyed the writing style which I found easy to get through.

I just think overall maybe it wasn't the book for me. It may have been on track for 4 stars until the final third, though. I would recommend it if it interests you, I guess. Kind of lukewarm on this one.