If the first book kept itself afloat from the shitshow that was the main character by surrounding her with an endearing cast, this one was left to cruelly drown on Belly's self-absorption.

I like messy characters. Really. But they require either a good dose of charm or a deep development to explain where their terrible choices are coming from, added to the self-awareness that they were terrible choices to make. Belly doesn't meet a single one of these criteria.

At best she's wallowing in self pity, feeling guilty for her mistakes mostly by how they affect her. She's upset she blew up at to Conrad on his mother's funeral because he's not talking to her anymore, not because it was a cruel thing to do. She's depressed about a break-up because she feels naive, not because she was the cause of it. I don't think I've met a character so insufferable before.

As for the plot, I actually really like both brothers and the flashbacks in particular worked very nice. None of them deserved to be used and strung along by Belly as if they were interchangable.

(yes, I did factor in the fact she is sixteen and making grief-driven immature decisions. Still awful.)