This book is marginally better than the first one. The good thing is that we leave those annoying and unnecessary race issues behind to focus more on Sam and AJ's relationship. The bad thing is that even though it is the main focal point of the book, it is barely developed. I really do not feel the supposed deep connection these two say they share. Their relationship felt very shallow to me. I felt as though I was missing something crucial. Why are they so in love to the point where they feel that they cannot function properly without being in each other's orbit? How did they end up here? Honestly, I don't even know.
In this book we find Sam and AJ in college, so obviously this means that they learn to deal with their issues like capable young adults, right? LOL wrong! Literally nothing changed. They only mature thing about this book is the four times they longwindedly get it in, which is about two times too many actually because those scenes added nothing to the plot. Lies and miscommunication run rampant in this book. For two "soul mates" they absolutely do not know how to talk to each other which is so frustrating.
I still don't like Sam. She is pretty much the same girl from before. She is still melodramatic, insecure, and indecisive. Sam really is a modern Charlotte Temple and that is by no means a complement. I will say that my heart does soften for her toward the end of the book, especially with her dealing with the aftermath of her sexual assault at the hands of Antonio (which I totally saw coming btw). This scene is fairly graphic so heads up for anyone who is triggered by that. I have a few feelings about that particular scene. I will say that the author does a good job of framing the scene in a way where it doesn't feel like a cheap way to advance the plot or just aid in AJ's heroic arc. While no one ever deserves that happening to them, I feel like Sam should've been smarter. She put herself in an unsafe environment by going to Antonio's house alone when he has already proven to be unstable, obsessive, and predisposed to violence. She should've just left him in the past and not go running back to him as soon as she and AJ weren't on speaking terms, that said I really felt bad for her.Though I was hoping Antonio would get arrested or something, I did like that he caught those hands from AJ.
AJ was my favorite character from the first book, but I had mixed feelings for him in this one. He is still a good person, he means well, but he also showed to be petulant, quick to anger, and a little unreasonable at times. I also don't like how he seemed to be using Sam physically at times as a coping mechanism for when things in his life got too crazy. I could feel that AJ desperately wanted his independence from his father, but it is hard to take him seriously when he acted like a spoiled teenager most of the time. Honestly, as much as I like AJ and he is written much better than Sam, it's obvious that he still has a lot of growing to do.
I will read the next one because obviously, I'm a glutton for punishment.