I literally have no words other than it was an emotional rollercoaster. Just read this book.

I had such high expectations for this. But, you just couldn’t write a cute romance, CoHo. You’d be a good romance writer if you didn’t add the plot twists that didn’t have to happen. I feel like 50% of this book was unnecessary and could have been cut out. It was an amazing concept that could have been done so well. But it just wasn’t in my opinion. I’ve tried so hard to like CoHo’s books but I just can’t. 

I feel like this book could have been condensed into small chapters detailing every November 9. I don’t need the other information that happens at the end. Just write a cute romance!! Don’t add crazy plot twists!! I beg of you!!

I was given this as a gift and I loved it. I’ve never really read a book specifically about race and how detrimental racism can be to young people. I definitely think this is a novel everyone should read. It’s extremely important for people to know how much racism is still prominent in the modern day. Definitely essential reading in my opinion.

This book was so much better than I expected! My friend got it for me for Christmas and I didn't have great expectations but my god did it really exceeded my expectations. 

The characters were so loveable (especially Tipp) and the whole prison setting was something I'd never read before and a new experience for me. Also, I was very pleasantly surprised to find the main character wasn't a generic bad-ass, quirky, female like a lot of fantasy books have. So glad she, and the other characters, had little to no plot armor, creating even higher stakes and more engaging action scenes. 

The plot was so unpredictable and written so well. AND THE PLOT TWISTS!? God, this author writes plot twists so well. I'm still not over it and I can't wait to read the rest of the series. 

That ending was so good. I'm so confused about what I just read and am considering re-reading to figure out where the seeds for those twists were planted. I was pleasantly surprised to find out about Jaren (though I did see it coming after a bit), and was even more surprised about who Tilda is to Kiva. I didn't see that coming at all.

The beginning was a bit slow and the dialogue was a bit clunky at times but I absolutely adored how Linus and Arthur bonded with the kids and the ending was so cute. Really creative idea too with great characters (all really distinct personalities). 

I'll be honest, it took me forever to get through this book. I thought it was boring and unnecessary. Why do they need to reboot a perfectly good book? The first book really introduced me to the fact that sometimes relationships don't work out in stories. And that's okay.

But, my gosh did those last few chapters get me. Really bumped it up from a 2 star to a 3. It was so cute and I loved to see how happy everyone was.

I have so much to say about this book. I was honestly a complete train wreck. Like, Colleen Hoover, what the fuck was that bestie??? 

 

There was so much in the tiny book that gave me the ick and the only reason I ended up finishing it was so that I could write a full review like this to warn people to not read this book if they want to live a happy life. This book was so problematic and generally bad in most areas. This book had so much potential but just ended up going way overboard with everything. 

 

Let’s talk about the characters. First and foremost, what were those character names? (Merit, Honour, Luck, Moby, Utah). It was so out of place in contemporary fiction. Also, I have to say, all of these characters are completely crazy and weird. I found Merit to be extremely unlikable and unrelatable despite the fact she's meant to be the representation of a depressed person. She gives no hints of it in the first part of the book then suddenly dumps it all in the second part. I understand that depression presents in many different ways but this didn't feel real in my opinion.

I also felt like there was no real plot in this book. The dysfunctional family gets more dysfunctional then nothing happens. I was ready for this book to wrap up around 60% of the way through. It had nowhere else to go after the main climax.

CW: incest, sa, suicide

Why is no one talking about the incest plotlines in this damn book!? It happens multiple times people!! And the blatant way that Merit assaulted Sagen and no one talked about it after the fact.

Why did Merit want to lose her virginity with her step-uncle??

Why did Utah actually have sex with his step-uncle?? (AND WHY DID THEY STAY TOGETHER???) Why did Colleen Hoover make the only gay and bi characters be related? I feel like Utah could have had any other boyfriend. This could have been handled so much better.

If your defending yourself and others saying ‘it’s not technically incest’… you need to rethink that.

Even Merit's assault seemed out of place. I feel like Utah was never mentioned and now suddenly she hates him because of what he did. The audience was given no hints of Merit hating her brother or even any inclination as to what happened in the past. Some foreshadowing would have been nice.

Also, why isn't this talked about more, Merit technically assaults Sagen because he had no idea she was dressed in her twin's clothes. Why does she initiate a kiss and even be prepared to go all the way? This whole scene made me uncomfortable and no one ever talks about it.

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I found this book way too long, way too complicated, and way too problematic. Colleen Hoover bit off more than she could chew with this one. It's like she had multiple ideas for books and decided to put them all into this one clusterfuck of a novel. Also, this is a PSA to all authors, please stop using incest as a point of conflict in your books. It's disgusting and I think we're all sick of it now. I wish someone had warned me about that before I read it. 

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!!IMPORTANT!!
Please, everybody, if you ever read this book and love it and consider recommending it, please tell the person you are recommending it to:
1. Incest is involved
2. There are scenes of SA
3. There is a graphic suicide attempt scene

even if they were placebo pills

I wish someone had mentioned these things before I read it. I was only told the good things and I feel like I'm worse off after reading this book now. Please consider what other people are going through and how reading certain things can make them feel worse.

reading a suicide scene really got to me for a bit and I really wish someone warned me

 

Before writing this, I read a bunch of 4 and 5 star reviews praising this book and not mentioning any of this. I think it's important to mention these things for the sake and safety of other people. (Even if you liked the book and found nothing wrong with it, you should mention this when recommending it.)

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Before I finish this, I would like to add the two good things about this book:
1. Moby was a good character. I feel like he was just unfortunate he's in this family.
2. I actually like Merit's collection of trophies and the reasons she collected them. I was very sweet. 

In conclusion, this book was too much. WAY too much.