Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD:
Wow, this was what I'd definitely describe as a very heavy, intense, tumultuous and even overwhelming read, with there having been so many different aspects that were covered, and was definitely a real emotional roller-coaster- even more so than the previous book, being more of an overload. Not recommended for if you want a light and fluffy read. In fact, it became too much of a drama overload with too many things being crammed in, like the author was just getting too carried away.
Much like it's predecessor, this book addressed very complex themes such as sexual abuse, bullying, harassment, toxic friendships and relationships, which was handled very sensitively and was not easy to address, with there being so many different issues and elements to address and it was pretty a long book too.
Honestly though, this book just made me so angry for several reasons, which may be a sign of a good book to have such a powerful impact, but it also annoyed me the way some things were handled and addressed.
Firstly, the shoehorned love interest thing was very annoying again, even more annoying than the last book given now this time around Victoria finds herself in a bloody love triangle which is also very contrived and annoying and doesn't even fit in with the story of course. It again was just there for the sake of a romance, like it is so essential for every female protagonist to have. It annoyed me the way Victoria clearly wasn't in the right place for a relationship as it was, which was evidenced this time with her endless tension and conflict with Kale, but now she finds herself wanting to be with another guy who also of course just happens to want to be with her. It annoyed me too again that despite being so vulnerable everywhere she goes she just has to have every guy she comes across and finds herself attracted to also attracted to her, which just isn't that realistic especially given her vulnerability and also sort of romanticises vulnerability, like vulnerable girls feel better if they have a knight in shining armour there to save and protect them. Her new romance with Trey just came across as very forced and cliched, especially with their first "almost" kiss when he's like "Oh you have a boyfriend, I can't" and she's like "It's complicated." Ugh, please. I mean it's like she just needs a love interest/boyfriend everywhere she goes, like she can't go without one for 5 minutes, which is really annoying, and yes while I appreciate that she didn't actually rush into a relationship with Trey in the end, he was still very much a new, shoehorned love interest for her and future relationship she was about to embark on which was again unnecessary. It was very contrived as well the way Trey just happened to also have had an older male relative who sexually abused him as well, of course making him and Victoria all the more "meant to be". Ugh, I mean yes I understand they were part of the same Sexual Assault Advocacy Group (I can really never for the life of me remember that whole acronym which was way too complicated) but it still seemed too contrived even so. Like maybe he could have had a close female loved one who had also been sexually abused.
That's another thing, Victoria and Kale's decaying relationship in this book took up far more time than it should have done, especially when the main focus of the book was supposed to be on Victoria's journey trying to find her voice and not feel pressured into protecting her abuser. Literally basically every interaction they had was just them arguing, which was really annoying, as it just went round and round in circles of them arguing and making it clear how much their relationship was decaying, when all this could have been sorted much earlier had they just simply communicated with each other. It annoys me as well that Victoria was also painted as being in the wrong for everything going wrong with their relationship (and as I notice a lot of reviewers here have bought too!) which yes I agree she obviously was definitely largely in the wrong for having been emotionally cheating on him with another guy and stringing him along, while distancing herself from him more and more, but Kale was also an obnoxious idiot for not even showing any compassion for her when she went to him to tell him how horrible things were for her right now, just dismissing her and even angrily asking her to leave, and not even congratulating her when he apparently had seen her big speech (and seriously how the heck did he managed to sneak in unnoticed?!) Like I say, there was enough going on for Victoria in this book without all this romance drama, like it was just unnecessary and she had too much on her plate to be having relationship troubles as well. And the way her and Kale had to sleep together the second they became of legal age. I mean for somebody who has gone through so much in their life and is still going through so much all this did just not seem necessary, or even realistic that they'd suddenly have a serious relationship like this at this stage in their life with how vulnerable she was feeling as well.
I also find it really annoying the way Lana betrayed Victoria so cruelly, having breached her privacy and used her case with her dad against her as a way to humiliate and ridicule her for having said she was considering going easy on him, and the way she doesn't even seem to properly apologise in the end or genuinely feel remorse for what she did, yet her and Victoria still make up. I mean she seemed to just want to get out of Victoria's bad books and only tried making up with her because she felt ashamed after Victoria's speech, but she still didn't seem to regret what she did, and this just annoyed me so much. It annoyed me as well that Victoria didn't seem to prioritise the likes of Jasmine and Lance who had actually stuck by her side as friends, instead deciding to be friends again with the toxic Lana. I mean she did say it'll take some time to forgive her and that their friendship would never be the same again, but she still seemed to refer to her as her "friend" and was probably going to be close friends with her again. Lana was just annoying to be honest with her overly mouthy attitude, and she wasn't even the leader of the group too. I mean yes she had a reason to be annoyed with Victoria for saying she'd go easy on her abuser, but using her case against her to publicly humiliate her, and not even feeling remorse when she called her crying, was just completely out of order. It just annoyed me the way Lana's actions seemed to be justified as "that's just the way she is, she stands up for what she believes in, and should be admired for that", ignoring just how toxic she was really. Honestly, Victoria's best (female) friend of that group should have been Jasmine rather than Lana, as she was so much nicer and more likeable than Lana and not to mention actually loyal to Victoria.
To be honest the whole purpose of this sequel seemed to undermine and contradict the ending of the previous book and what Victoria had learned then, about learning to find her voice and no longer protect her dad, like she just spent this whole book learning this same lesson AGAIN. I find it weird as well the way her aunt would be that determined to protect her dad even though they didn't have a great relationship, and god she made me so angry with how manipulative she was to Victoria, having the nerve to ask her to go easy on her dad when she wasn't even there to witness the abuse, so what right or place did she have in this?! And oh my god did she have to cry in every damn scene she was in.
Oh and I know we were meant to but I HATED Blake with a passion-his relentless harassment and hate campaign towards of the Sexual Assault Advocacy group was most infuriating, especially with his utter hypocrisy of accusing them of being a 'hate group' when he was the one leading a hate campaign towards them the entire time. The lowest thing he did though was when he actually breached Victoria's privacy by revealing her sexual assault case with her dad on Twitter and using it as another attack in the sexual assault group. It therefore annoyed me that his exact comeuppance was made kind of unclear, with him just being told to 'stay away', I mean just from the Sexual Assault group or from the college itself? I'm hoping it meant the latter anyway.
A very compelling read that addressed very complex themes as well, which I know wasn't easy, so I do admire that.
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