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lancy's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Stalking, Blood, Body shaming, Animal death, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Rape, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts
essie__reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Minor critique - I hate the way she spelled both "Masen" and "Ryen."
Review:
When I started reading this, I couldn't put it down. Buttttt the more I thought about it, the less I liked it. For starters, I really wish these characters were college-aged and not in high school, but more on that later. 🥴 I could suspend reality for some of the plot lines, like the kid sleeping at an abandoned theme park and the constant vandalism at the school. But some of the plot just doesn't make sense. Like him getting a fake identity to come to a school 30 minutes down the road from where he lives...? 🙄 (Would his biological mom really not google his name and recognize him at all?!) The way she started vandalizing the school because her pen pal stopped writing her? Lmao...what? The fact that she was at an event to promote a local band at the beginning of the book and didn't know who the band was or who the band members were is also unrealistic. 🤦♀️
Misha's dad allowing his son to sleep outside his on a nightly basis and not freaking out and worrying about him also seemed very unrealistic. If Misha really came from such an affluent family, I highly doubt his go-to reaction at the loss of his sister would be to start acting like a homeless person. That was an unnecessary aspect of the book. It seemed like it was added so the cove hide-and-seek scene could play out.
My biggest qualm is the sex scenes. They're well written but extremely unrealistic for how inexperienced teenagers would talk and engage in sex. These sex scenes are written as if these are very experienced, older characters, and not horny teens. I also really wish they were older because it's cringey to go from sex scenes to petty high school events/drama and this is borderline a YA novel in my opinion, and I prefer not to read open door sex scenes about teenagers- ew! Also, Ryen, having the hots for "Masen" after knowing he broke into her house, seems unrealistic, too. That's borderline stalker behavior. The way the men talk to and about women is also unrealistic for teenagers and extremely misogynistic. The girls calling each other sluts and the way Ryen doesn't stand up for her friend Layla when she's being slut-shamed at school is not okay either. I know Ryen wasn't a genuine friend to Layla but still, that didn't make me, as a reader, like Ryen any more. I think Ten is the only likable and somewhat realistic character in this whole cast. She didn't hear from her pen pal for 3 months and despite being pen pals for several years and knowing his full name and address, she never once googled him?! Unbelievable 🫠
A student having a key to the high school and that not being investigated after weeks of consistent vandalism taking place? Also there were secutity gaurds at the school the night that Misha and Ryen fucked in the library. Where were those gaurds the night of the prom???
Okay not gonna lie I did NOT expect the principal to be Misha's mom, though. Penelope got me on that one lol. But Misha yelling at the principal for abandoning him and Annie and blaming her for Annie's death? That's ridiculous! Also the way this author writes about addiction is not the greatest. It seems like she uses it as a plot device, and the bit about Manny was so minor and felt unnecessary to the storyline. Douglas also doesn't include any content warnings or helpline info for readers who may be experiencing addiction issues, that seems like a basic courtesy that should be included at the beginning of the book when writing about the topic of addiction.
In a 10 month period he went on a short tour and recorded and released an album? His first album, that quickly? 🙄
Overall, I feel like Douglas couldn't decide how she wanted to write these characters, and due to that, they don't feel well fleshed out to me. I think this book could have been edited more, too. Hopefully, her writing has evolved as she has continued her career because she has a ton of potential. It just felt like too many ideas were thrown in. It wasn't edited well, and the character's identities/personalities were a bit all over the place. I'd definitely read more books by her, but I am not sure I would recommend this one.
Not her pregnant in the epilogue, too - bleh!
Graphic: Bullying, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexism, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Alcohol, Misogyny, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, and Self harm
Minor: Alcohol, Stalking, and Pregnancy
_booksandbikes's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Bullying, and Grief
Minor: Stalking and Drug abuse
Major SPOILERS ABOUT THE BOOKvaler1e's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Misogyny, Bullying, Mental illness, and Car accident
Minor: Stalking, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault
whosfernn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
It's a shame, because I wanted to like this book. I'd heard mixed things, but from what I'd heard about the plot it sounded like something I would enjoy, or at least be interested in. I was not interested. I was either annoyed or outright bored for at least 75% of this book, and that's being generous.
I do want to give the dark romance genre another shot though, so if anyone has any recommendations that are not as god awful as this book, send them my way.
Graphic: Death, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Abandonment, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual violence, Grief, Misogyny, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Violence
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Drug use, Sexual assault, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking
Minor: Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, and Rape
amaramorgenstern's review against another edition
Graphic: Stalking, Grief, Death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Bullying, Sexual content, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Mental illness, and Alcohol
readingwithkaitlyn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Stalking, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
elsa_clare's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Self harm, Infidelity, Violence, Death of parent, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, and Misogyny
Minor: Sexual content
ye_li's review against another edition
To start with, almost every single fucking character was so 2D. A whiny, pathetic female lead that's "not like other girls" and a brooding male lead that's "tall, dark, and handsome." Every other female character was a mean girl stereotype, while every other male character was some douchy jock—with the exception of Ten and Manny. So, correction, every other male character was either a douchy jock of some flavor of queer stereotyping.
There was so much unnecessary homophobia with no relevance to the story, whatsoever. By the way, it's not directed at the main characters. I'll address that first because it bothered me so fucking much.
I just could not stand Ryen. I found her so fucking pathetic and annoying. Like, c'mon, grow a fucking spine why don't you? Oh, boo-hoo, you didn't wanna go to prom alone, so you still tried to get with the misogynistic and homophobic asshole. Seriously? I gave up on trying to like her when she still put up with Trey, even after all his fucking bullshit. But, oh, she was still kind to so-and-so! Right, after she stood by and watched them have the shit beat out of them. No, she just didn't want to become a victim! She was trying to keep herself safe! And that's what's so fucking pathetic about her. She doesn't change by the end of the book, either… she still cares about appearances and shit.
I know most people hate Misha more, but I liked him more out of the two of them. Misha was more, I don't know, competent? He was still a prick, but at least he didn't try to cover it up, you know?
God, this book just made me so god damn uncomfortable and annoyed me to no end.
You could argue that, oh, they're not supposed to be likable! They're meant to be flawed, they're meant to be making bad decisions—blah, blah, blah. OK, fine, but there needs to be something likable about the main characters. Especially when the readers are clearly meant to empathize with them!!
I'm surprised I managed to read so much of this godawful thing.
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, and Stalking
Moderate: Bullying and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use and Drug abuse
ashleereadsbooks692's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Cursing, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Abandonment, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Physical abuse, Sexism, Stalking, Violence, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Infidelity, and Sexual harassment