It felt like the author wrote the plot in circles because it was a rinse and repeat. I was more interested in the chemistry between Sarah and Clark + Lilith and Ross. Lizzy kept trying to deny her feelings for Wes and put up a fake character to move on but it’s like she’s acting like she’s in middle school. Wes had his moments with his journey of struggling with mental health but I felt like the author didn’t integrate it properly. Because all of a sudden, he was like I am going to do anything to win Lizzy back. The parts where “Gahhhh” and growling was not it for me like it’s so cringe. Wes growling, nope. And who actually uses Gahhh. I was happy how the first book ended, the second book was disappointing. There was a miscommunication trope where Wes decided Lizzy shouldn’t be with him anymore because he is at his lowest. He believed letting her go without her input was the best way. And he thought by “fake cheating” it would push Lizzy to move on. Wes’s POV consisted of him going feral for Lizzy’s lips, legs, and her Chanel No.5 perfume plus a sprinkle of his anxiety with his dead dad. I liked the part when Clark “fake broke up” with Lizzy in front of the ice cream shop. Everyone sees the chemistry between Wes and Lizzy but of course Lizzy keeps denying her feelings because she is afraid of getting hurt. Also why does Wes keeps clenching his jaws, like I’m surprised he didn’t get lock jaw 💀

It’s giving a mixture of “The Summer I Turned Pretty”, “Never Have I Ever”, and “To All The Boy I’ve Loved before. Elizabeth definitely has Pisces placements because she is a romantic at heart and top tier delusions with her childhood crush, Michael. I thought I wouldn’t like her at first because in the first chapter it was like all delusions that Michael wanted her and that she would get a happily ever after with an out of this world meet cute. Honestly though her thing about putting high expectations on her crushes and making up fantasies about them only to get crushed with that ick (knuckle cracking) is literally me. Most of the rom coms mentioned in the book I never watched but it makes me want to binge all of them. I was surprised to see Bridgerton mentioned, a win!! I get why this book is popular because it encompasses entirely the teenage dream of falling in love, going to prom, and the fear of the unknown. The way Elizabeth processed her grief with her mom was frustrating to read because she bottles it up and projects her insecurities about her mother’s memories disappearing on Helen and Joss. She kept putting off dress shopping because she misses her mom which was valid. But she got to understand that she can’t keep living in the past. When Wes called her out about Elizabeth dressing like her mom because she wanted to live how her mom wanted to live, it was on point. Elizabeth should dress how she wants to dress not because of other people’s expectations. Also, I liked how none of the characters in the book are actually bad/evil like everyone was just trying their best to live during their teenage years. I thought Laney was going to be a bitch but she turned out to be misunderstood.

“With electroreception, Lewis hoped to sense her, know her, and love her even thousands of miles away in the ocean. Nothing he read indicated that electroreception extended further than a couple yards. But maybe, he thought, maybe if I practiced, I would never really have to say goodbye.”

I literally bawled my eyes out 😭