4.25 "real, emotional, funny and sweet" stars
As with all of B. Celeste's books, this book didn't disappoint. It was funnier and more entertaining than other books I read by this author, but still managed to deliver a great emotional punch.
I really appreciated the author listing the trigger warnings in the beginning cause this book deals with a lot of heavy topics such as assault, bullying and harassment.
In terms of how the author deals with these heavy topics, I have to commend the author for the authenticity. But if you read the author's note, it becomes clear that this is based on her own freshman college experiences. Reading that made me really emotional.
The story revolves around Skylar (18) and Danny (21).
Skylar is the youngest of 4 sisters, having moved to Linden U from California to discover herself away from her bubbly rich family. She suffers from social anxiety, she is shy and introverted and has a hard time making friends.
Danny is a star football player, who also comes from a rich family but in spite of that, he is down to earth and well balanced. He has an easy-going attitude, always flirting and making jokes but he's also a very considerate guy.
The book starts with Skylar succumbing to peer pressure and going to a party, drinking too much and waking up the next day in someone's bed and not remembering anything but it's obvious she lost her virginity. The party was at the fooball team's house so DJ and Aiden (from the first book) witness her walk of shame.
Skylar's inner turmoil, the impact of this experience on her but also the bullying she is submitted to by her so called friends are very realistically represented.
Danny is attracted to the shy, mysterious girl who wants nothing with him and despite the rumors about her, he befriends her.
They have a very slow burn friends to lovers progression that is both super cute and heart warming.
The star of this book for me was definitely Danny aka DJ. I loved his character, his friendship efforts with Sky, his text exchanges with his awesome grandma and also how he tries to push Sky to seek help.
I also appreciated that through Danny, the author took time to delve a bit into the issue of sports injuries.
I also liked Olive, Sky's other real friend and can't wait to read her book.
My only issue was that I found the pacing a bit too slow on the second part. I fully agree that the author couldn't hurry Sky's healing but it felt a bit dragged nevertheless in the last 20%.
To conclude, this was definitely a story worth telling and it's definitely worth reading!
*ARC generously provided by author in exchange for an honest review.