I haven't really be writing reviews this year. I've been trying my best to find a balance between work, book reviews, and hobbies, and the one that suffered most was book reviews. Reading and reviewing this book is my comeback, and I was really hoping I'd start off on a good note. But nah.
I love E. Lockhart's writing, because it never overwhelms the story, instead it's exactly that light approach that keeps me reading. In this book, however, I feel like her light approach to it took away from it. You can't do a character that's so complex and has so much trauma, and not back it up with stronger exposition. Between all the parallel universes we get a glimpse of, and how none of the stories actually feel complete or have a satisfying end, the only thing that could've potentially worked with this idea would've been a detailed character study. In my opinion, I didn't get that. I only got the beginnings of it.
I wish I liked it more. E. Lockhart is always going to be an author I will admire because of her Ruby Oliver quartet, and how it changed my life. But this is the second time one of her books leaves me frustrated, so me and her writing are no longer besties. We're friends now, and I really hope we don't end up acquaintances.