Bookish thoughts!!!

First things first: I received this ARC through Story Cartel.

The book is already out so you should check it out, if you are interested in a story/book like that.

Never have I been more deceived by a cover and a raiting on goodreads.

And I feel so bad for writing this, but I really didn't like this book, neither did I enjoy it that much.

But let's make this clear. The story is amazing. Rian is back in town after his cousin Ian dies after being in a coma for a while. He reunites with Ian's girlfriend, Emily, who is also Rian's best friend from childhood. It's a book with many secrets and just overall a story about dealing with losing someone.

So I loved the story. And towards the end when all the secrets came out, I loved it. There were some things I saw coming, there were other things that really took me by surprise and that nearly made me feel for the characters.

And that is the thing. I couldn't feel for the characters at all. I could see them actually growing in the story. But I couldn't connect at all with them.

Rian, the fact that he read Emily's journal TWICE because HE wanted to know what she's hiding, instead of waiting until she is ready to share. NO. Then we have his hot headed reaction when he finds out Emily's secret. The things he said and the things he thought in that moment. NO. If he would have stood in front of me, he would have gotten a good punch in the face. And no, just because he came around in the next chapter doesn't make everything good again. I get in the heat of the moment you say and think things that aren't that great, but NO!!!!

Emily. I don't know. I mean, I felt for the girl. And she came pretty close to being a good character that I could really connect with but at the end of the day, some of her decisions just didn't work for me at all. And I don't mean the secrets she kept. There was just something that didn't work for me.

Then the minor characters, the parents of Emily, Rian and Ian's mother. I just really couldn't connect. The only person I felt connected to was Sam, Rian's 'bitchy' sister. She just called people out on their bullshit and that's why I really had a connection with her.

The writing was also kinda weird. It switched between Rian's POV and then we read things from Emily's POV. But while Rian was written in the first person, Emily's was written in the third person and that just felt really odd to me.

I feel so bad and am so sorry for saying this (even though I probably shouldn't, cause it's just my humble opinion and maybe other people have just a different taste) but this book just wasn't for me at all and I'm sad about this, cause I really wanted to love it.