This book did way too much telling and not nearly enough showing. I really hated the two main characters for the first half of the book because they were both dramatic, manipulative and childish. Cole, boyfriend to Tessa, is controlling throughout the book. He is possessive and jealous and occasionally violent. He is also secretive. Tessa revels in his possessiveness— seeing it as a sign of Cole’s burning love for her. All through this book Tessa tolerates controlling behavior from Cole AND continues to blame herself for not being an attentive enough girlfriend. One example: Come is suffering from an injury during Part I of the book and he actively hides it from everyone. His stepmother, who is an actual doctor, detects this injury and then takes Tessa to task for not noticing. Tessa then beats herself up for not noticing a medical issue that Cole is successfully hiding from everyone. Then Tessa decides to deny Cole sex until he comes clean about what he’s hiding. The entire book goes on like this: someone hides something (almost always Cole), the other knows that there is a secret, neither one of them just ask what is going on and drama continues to ensue. For 427 pages.
The only good thing I can say is that the writing was better in Part II. A little.
The only good thing I can say is that the writing was better in Part II. A little.