Reviewed by nitzan_schwarz on
It kind of sits around a 3 star, but I feel really bad giving it that rating when I enjoyed this one A LOT MORE than I did Isla's story, and I gave that one a three-star rating. Meet in the middle and drop Isla's rating to two?
So, I liked Ollie and Makani's relationship A LOT. There was the original mishap of the miscommunication, but from that point on they were golden. They were sweet and awkward and mature - this book has sex, and heavy make-out scenes, and at least two versions of The Talk. I don't mind this at all, but I can't recall any other Perkins book like that so I thought I'd mention it, though I might be wrong.
Anyways, they were a great couple, and I enjoyed reading of them. The outside drama helped maintain their relationship and I didn't have to deal with force separations or relationship angst like in Isla (which was my main turn off with that one). So a huge plus for that.
But... BUT.
This was a lot like a slasher film--with all of the exaggerated death scenes--but also mostly a teen romance. Which is why I feel like the killing part was really underdeveloped. We're not even left wondering about the killer's identity for long, because... well, because he doesn't really matter. I also felt like a lot of deaths were unnecessary.
Like Alex's death, in the final chapters. We didn't even get to see anyone reacting to that. It was almost just so Stephanie Perkins could say "see, no one is safe", but it felt so... meaningless. I didn't even feel anything when it happened, just a general sense of "okay, but why?", especially since we DON'T see it through her eyes, the way we did all the other deaths. I felt far more emotional about Katie and Matt than I did Alex, and she is the MAIN CHARACTER'S BEST FRIEND.
And at the end of the day, that really made this novel lacking. I still don't really get the killer. I don't get his exaggerated methods or what had made him this way. I don't get why I needed to see all those death scenes from the victim's eyes if at the end of the day it's all meaningless and decoration for the main character's story. Was it all for some inspirational crap about change coming from within at the end there? Because that felt really... shoehorned.
IDK, it was all so darn meaningless at the end, and I'm not here for it. Speaking off... THAT'S your ending? That's it? What the heck? It seemed like there should have been at least a few more chapters after that. But no. That's the whole shebang. Is there supposed to be a sequel or something? Becuase... that felt unfinished.
*shrug*
Also can we take a minute to discuss Makani's secret? Because... why was SHE the one in trouble in that scenario?? Why weren't those upperclassmen who tortured the girls in custody or in jail or facing charges or whatever?
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 20 May, 2018: Finished reading
- 20 May, 2018: Reviewed