taejepp 's review for:

The Pieces We Leave Behind by Elle Mitchell

3.0

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It was a little slow for me to get into but then I was all in; but I thought that it was a duet, not that the second book would be about different characters so the end was a little too abrupt for me. 

maddie runs away from her rich mom and dad to go stay with her aunt in the house and town her mom grew up in and left. Ends up making friends, committing crimes, falling in love with the bad one and he loves her back. Her aunt dies of cancer she never told her about and instead of staying with Ezra like he asks her to she leaves with her mom without saying goodbye and he said if she did that he wouldn't ever be with her again because he couldn't do the hurt. Fast forward a semester at college, they hadn't spoken since she left but she crashes her car at the aunts house and wakes up to Ezra confessing his love, saying he's not mad and missed her, then it jumps to 6 years later and they lived happily ever after.

could have been so good, but the ending pace and time jump knocked it down probably a full star for me.

editing to add that i forgot the time Ezra's dad kissed maddie because she looked like her mom was never adressed again and that's fucking weird and bad writing so I just took off my half star for that alone.