I only have myself to blame for going through this torture. I didn't like the first book, but with the way people talked about this series I wanted to give it one more chance. What an absolute waste of time. The only thing that kept me reading was that I was listening to it as an audiobook while I worked and with a boss constantly breathing down my back I couldn't take the time to stop it and find another book to listen to and I cannot deal with the constant noise of my office. So I was stuck with this choice for the day and I have this thing about not reading a book all the way through. 

For one, the supposed bromance *gag* bookclub wasn't even in this book other than a few scenes and like two pages talking about their current "manual". 

Moving on from that, these books are just so disgustingly heteronormative and toxic I don't know how they can be marketed as romance novels for feminists. Liv is incredibly unlikable and just drowning in internalized misogyny, which would be fine because a lot of women struggle with this, but she doesn't get any better or seem to learn anything. She gaslights and victim blames SA victims which is not okay. She's constantly telling Mack to "man up" and it's disgusting. 

I liked Mack, but that died shortly after the first chapter. Liv doesn't consent to have sex with Mack again and he says "this isn't sex" referring to oral sex and then continues without a word from Liv. That's incredibly problematic especially against the backdrop of the SA storyline. 

Circling back to the gross heteronormativity, it's also aggressively white. There's no LGBTQIA+ representation (please tell me again how the only sex that's sex can only be a penis entering a vagina) and I doubt it even passes the Bechdel test which is the absolute bare minimum to even attempt to call something feminist. Which is a valid argument for a book that claims to be progressive and feminist. 

There's also a side couple storyline of an old progressive feminist that protested the war and fought for the passing of the ERA and a very conservative ex-cop and Vietnam veteran that basically belittled the plight of women most of the book and the only thing he "changed" was he actually started  listening to women and their opinions *wow* and the old feminist just fawns all over him. 

The base of their "enemies" to lovers is so unbelievably ridiculous. He ate her Chinese leftovers after getting permission from Gavin and with no knowledge they were someone else's? So childish. Plus, the whole "I hate all men" trope is so old and played out not to mention problematic and very anti-feminist. 

Where was the chemistry?! Because I can't even see how these two would even find each other sexually attractive let alone fall in love with each other. None of these people should be starting a relationship. They need to go to therapy and work on themselves before starting a relationship like this. 

And look, I get that Liv has an issue being lied to and it's a trigger for her, I am the same way. But they BARELY know each other and Mack has gone through some trauma and didn't lie to anyone really. He legally changed his name and his father is dead...to him. This would be background stuff you would reveal to someone when it was getting serious and they never talked about anything of importance and only just started sleeping together. 

And the BIG one, the use of sexual harassment as an excuse to have the couple have an adventure that brings them together and advances their relationship is so cringe. And over the course of 2-3 weeks, they very easily bring down a millionaire rapist on a whim and it's all very tidy and clean. So ridiculous and not at all how any of this works in reality. It's a problematic portrayal.  

Needless to say, I will not be reading any more of this series and will actively steer anyone away from it. 

I really liked this book. I thought it had a good premise, though the execution could’ve been worked on more. I think for a YA book it’s very informative and topical based on today’s current political climate. If anything this book is a great teaching tool and conversation starter for young people. I’ve seen reviews criticize Layla’s actions and obsession with her boyfriend which I find awfully critical and unnecessary. Layla’s a 17-year-old whose world was turn on its axis. She worries about the dirty dishes while her family is being removed from their home as an act of disassociating. Of course she’s going to choose something outside to focus on in this traumatic and ongoing experience. If you’ve ever read Anne Frank’s diary, you’d see that she also focused on mundane and seemingly unimportant things, and that’s just the reality of young people going through traumatic relocations whether is be seeing refuge or being put into camps. I also so some reviews belittling Layla’s experience and it not “being that bad”. All of it is bad regardless if Layla’s experience was exactly like the Japanese internment or not. And Layla’s experience in the camp reminded me of the accounts of life in early days of the Jewish ghettos. It’s also helpful to remember that the story doesn’t start off in a place where we’re able to take in all of the laws put into place to specifically oppress and police Muslims but we’re able to see that there were things going on prior to their removal. 
I do see that Layla doesn’t have much of a personality or growth beyond the superficial level, but I think this could be on purpose to make it easier for the reader to slip into Layla’s shoes and try to imagine her experiences happening to them. 
I do think that the book could’ve spent more time on life prior to the camps and more time in the camp.

Their time there was short and it almost seemed to easy and clean for them to get out of the camp. Though that would be the ideal if something like this happened, it doesn’t seem realistic. I believe the government, if they went this far, would do anything they could to keep the camps running. Though I also believe they’d have a hard time getting every soldier on board with policing civilians, I can also see it taking a long time for them to have the courage to stand up to their superiors. I can also say that the death of Jake was unnecessary and I felt detached from it. I didn’t care for his relationship with Layla as he was her prison guard and it was definitely blurring the lines of appropriate behavior.

 

All-in-all it was a decent book about an important and topical subject that I think could be used in an educational setting successfully. Definitely give it a read, particularly if you’re a teacher looking for books for your students.