honeybees_library's Reviews (721)

I give the book 3.5 stars out of 5. (I rounded up to 4 as half stars are not an option on here)
The pacing seemed a bit off. The beginning peaked my interest, then the middle became somewhat slow and repetitive. There were some parts I literally would start to doze off, or would have to reread certain parts as I couldn’t focus on the story.
(However, that could have also been from me reading at night before bed).
I did feel like the end picked up again and my interest was peaked again, but then the ending felt somewhat rushed.
Overall, it was a good read, but I’m not sure I’d ever have enough interest to sit down and read it again.

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The characters could have been developed a bit more (other than Rita, her grandmother, & Erma).
I found myself becoming somewhat frustrated with the character of Erma’s ghost as she kept pushing Rita for more help, even though she was already trying to help her. She did not seem to be patient with Rita or appreciative of anything Rita was already doing.
I was kind of sad with the way things were left with Rita where it doesn’t seem she’s ever going to get any relief from being able to see the dead. I have a feeling if the book continued, another ghost would try to essentially haunt her/try ruin her personal life, just like Erma did. Once Rita was in the hospital after the Garcia ordeal, I was hoping if Rita continued to be able to see and communicate with ghosts, it would only really be when she was actively at work with the ghosts of the dead from the cases she was photographing, not actively around her 24/7 where she may not be able escape it or get any sort of relief from the dead.

I give the book 5 out of 5 stars. It was such a good read! The book made me feel both happy and sad. There were plenty of times when I was reading I just did NOT want to put the book down. The author sucked you into the story and the character’s lives. I felt all the characters introduced were developed enough where you felt like you actually got to know them personally. I also appreciated how the author also wrote about real life/difficult issues and made it seem authentic, rather than just automatically giving all the characters a happy ending you had hoped for throughout the book. If you plan to read this book, please be warned, it may contain possible triggers that may be upsetting to you (trigger warnings: domestic violence, abuse, gun violence, neglect, attempted rape, mentions of depression/suicide).

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The author really drew you in with each of her characters and wanting to know what would happen next to each of them. I honestly loved reading about each one and why they were the way they ended up, and learning more about each of their personalities as the book went on. I felt like each character was relatable and realistic in their own way. I loved reading about the relationship between Lily and Atlas. It was a relationship I had hoped worked out from the beginning, but it’s realistic that it didn’t, like a typical high school relationship. I loved the character of Ryle at first and his quote of “There is no such thing as bad people. We are all just people who do bad things.” stuck with me from when he first said it. The author making me love Ryle’s character in the beginning totally made me understand the hurt and heartbreak Lily experienced when he ended up treating her so poorly on more than one occasion later on in the book. The author did an excellent job of being able to convey what Lily was experiencing and the confusing nature of her emotions with what to do in her relationship with Ryle, especially because of her past childhood traumas seeing what her mother experienced with her father growing up. I love that the author also didn’t just make Lily and Ryle have a happily ever after ending, as in reality, this type of situation would definitely be confusing, overwhelming, and just generally messy. I also loved the character of Allysa and how evident it was that she really cared about Lily and was a great friend to her despite her being Ryle’s sister. I’m excited to see what happens in the next book between Lily and Atlas and what the future will hold for each character in the next book.

I give the book 4.5 out of 5 stars (rounding up to 5 since half stars aren’t a thing on here). I did prefer the first book more, even though I read this one a lot more quickly & finished in 3 days. It obviously kept my attention as I finished it quickly. I did personally feel this book was less intense/triggering than the first one (not saying it as a bad thing by any means), although there definitely could still be triggers for readers. For some reason, I did feel the first book was more realistic and allowed the reader to really feel what the characters were experiencing moreso than in this book. (That could also be because I read this one a lot more quickly and when I was reading the first I had more time to process between reading sessions since I spread it out more).

I do feel like the main reason this book was written was not necessarily to continue the story of Lily and her relationships with Atlas, Ryle, Allysa, Marshall, her mom, etc., but because the first one was so popular, that the author knew this one would automatically be successful and essentially free money for writing it to appease fans. (The author essentially admitted in her acknowledgments she never planned to write a sequel and did it because the first book became so popular on TikTok). While I did enjoy reading this book overall, and could see myself reading this again, I think the first book would have been fine as a stand alone book without a sequel where the reader could imagine themselves how each character would end up.

If you like the character of Atlas, or the idea of Lily and Atlas together, you will probably really enjoy this book. I did like reading things from Atlas’s perspective; However, I wasn’t a huge fan of how the author copied and pasted a few of Lily’s journal entries word for word from the first book directly into the second book just so we could get Atlas’s reaction to them. I understand putting the journal entries for context/background to parts of the story and as a refresher to the reader, but it was a bit much. I feel like the entries they were referencing could have possibly been summarized instead.

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I was hoping for some more growth from Ryle. It would’ve been nice to have him realize he was the problem in his and Lily’s relationship and try to better himself because he truly wanted to be a better person, rather than continuing to blame others and his trauma from childhood for the way he acted. It was also disappointing he was only starting to take steps at the end to not be as abusive or explosive because he was essentially forced to if he wanted to have a relationship with his daughter, not possibly lose his career, etc. I was disappointed it took so long for Lily and Allysa to suggest he go to anger management and the fact that Lily did not take him to court, report him, etc.

I do think the end was kind of rushed in a way. It seemed like one chapter Ryle finds out about Lily and Atlas dating, then it seems to skip ahead to Lily and Atlas moving in together, then shortly skips ahead again to them getting married. I feel like parts with Lily and Ryle were skipped over, as I’m sure those major life changes in Lily and Emerson’s life would have at least warranted some sort of conversations/interactions between Lily and Ryle.

The 12-year-old Theo was actually probably one of my favorite characters in this book. His character was just funny and his teasing of Atlas was just amusing at times.

Overall, a good book, but definitely preferred the first more!