My visceral dislike of this book was not for its craft of prose or even the plotting but for its protagonist, her journey, and the arc the writer gives her. Perhaps intended by Modglin as a precautionary tale for young women who let themselves be pressured into things, for me, the volume of times Jaicey spends telling Brayden, "No," his flagrant and repeated disregards of those "no"s, and her finally giving in to start a relationship with him made me dislike both of them and feel unable to invest in their relationship.
That's good, right? Since Brayden turns out to be a bad guy? Obviously, we wouldn't want to root for that. But I think we're meant to buy into the romance. And if we aren't, if we know the whole time that Jaicey needs to "wake up," maybe it would've been enough if Jaicey had played an active role in recovering her memories (instead a scar just triggers it), had played some role in freeing herself at the end, reclaimed her agency, or demonstrated that she's learned to listen to herself and demand others do, as well.
Instead, she spends the entire story as a victim, only to be given ONE choice that anyone listens to or respects - which is granting her best friend's parents her "permission" to take her off life support. And again, what an abusive and manipulative position to put this character in. Our daughter's been brain-dead this whole time, but now we're putting it on you - a child and victim of not one, but two horrific attacks - to decide if she lives or dies. I'd have respected the decision more if Jaicey had been like, "Screw you. YOU make that choice. I'm gonna go live my life."
And all of that undercut the ending where Jaicey's "rewarded" by getting back together with her ex, who's one of the people who spent the first part of the story not respecting her telling him no.
I'm curious to read another book by the author to see if my strong dislike of this book is just THIS protagonist or if all her stories center around girls/women in victim roles who never take control over their own lives.