Required reading for the second in the series

This is a weird one because I can’t say I particularly enjoyed this book. It basically sets up a lot of the action that happens in the second book, asks a lot of questions and provides no answers.

We parachute into the story a year after Alex’s brother Ethan died, Alex is still grieving, her parents have basically checked out of her life, and she’s having hook-up sex with Jesse her brothers best friend. The story ambles along, Alex grows closer to Ethan, grows even more estranged from her parents and survives by closing down and pushing feelings out. She has two extremely annoying best friends who seem to do more harm than good. Nothing much happens other than high school drama and by the end of the book Alex is about to go to college (the same college as Jesse who is a year ahead of her) has no friends left and no parents. It ends on a cliffhanger. Interestingly though there appears to be some secret behind Ethan’s death, which Alex comes to believe Jesse holds the key to, but by the end of the book she is also estranged from Jesse.

You need to read this book otherwise you won’t have a clue what’s going on in the second book (which is a really great story) so I suggest you just through. Don’t skip though or you’ll be confused.

Narration is great.

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really enjoyed the book

really enjoyed this book and hope to see a 3rd one in the future

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Ugh I didn’t like this

I swear to god it is painful to listen to this, the FMC is the biggest doormat ever, the MMC is a total jerk but she doesn’t stand up for herself at all, the best friend is awful but she doesn’t at all react… I don’t think I’ll be listening to the second book to find out wether she grew a backbone or not…

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one of my favorite books

loved it .... the narrator captured the anguish in this book perfectly. This is my 4th time reading it, now listening to it makes it better! 😊

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Heartbreaking

Oh my word, this book broke my heart, I found myself to be a complete and utter emotional wreck at various points throughout the book. The story follows Alex and Jesse as they try to live with the loss of Jesse's best friend and Alex's brother Ethan. Jesse and Alex hook up at various momentous dates in the year, finding solace in each other so that they may feel again. The fact that Alex is and always has been in love with Jesse (who does not do relationships) makes this all the more harder on Alex. That and the fact that her parents have pretty much forgotten she exists. Poor poor Alex, I felt so much for her. I loved Jesse, I hated Jesse, I loved Jesse. Oh , and don't keep me started on Alex's parents, completely abandoning her, no excuse! Beautifully written, as I've come to expect from Tijan. Desperately need to start on book 2 now, need to see how it pans out with Jesse and Alex in college together. I need a hea for Alex so much.

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Great narration

I enjoyed listening to the book, the narrator really brought it to life for me.

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This was hard to listen to

The narrator didn't put any emotion into this story. I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it myself, but the plot just didn't work for me. Not going to get book too and bummed I user a credit for this.

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