Stay away from the hollands

By Amizah R

Literally thought that I was having a mental breakdown while reading this.

The Ugly Truth:

Once more, I listened to BookTok because a total of ONE ~1~ scene sounded super cute, so naturally spent $3.99 to be given brain fog. Maybe it is because I am not used to UK slang, or there was an editor malfunction, but each page of this book was a battle. I have never been more confused with a plot or a group of characters than I was here, and, honestly, it started from page one.

Right at the start, we are thrust into the world of Mackenzie (Mack) Holland, and I am going to be so real; I read his voice in my head as a girl for the first five pages before remembering that this was supposed to be a TEENAGE BOY. His responses, mannerisms, daydreams, everything led me to believe he was a concerned older sister down on her luck, and it took me going back to the blurb to remember that this was indeed our main man. Not only was he a dude, but apparently a super tough and bulky one, too. The book’s storyline did not improve from here. The author wasted multiple pages on pointless events and trivial everyday conversations that dragged the plot for way too long. Honestly, it was almost the overexplaining and the longwinded dialogue in-betweens that made this all the more confusing.

Beyond the mismatched plot, I was not impressed with the characters. Mack was a cutie, sure, and actually, I do not really have anything bad about him to say other than he was a true fly on the wall. I liked that he kind of just took everything in stride and let others play the asshole while staying true to himself and I did not like Jas coming in and trying to change that about him. She made it seem like he was weak when, I think, it makes him one of the strongest characters. To be a bigger person is so much better. That being said, he was boring. I did not need to read as much as I did about him because nothing about him was really changing.

Jaslene – I don’t like you. I am sorry. I know you are going through a lot and have some serious home issues, but you bug the heck out of me. You say you are not tough and you would run away from issues, which is seen a few times throughout the book with your dad and the cops, but then when it comes to Mack you all of a sudden become a personal bodyguard? I just wish she did some self-reflection first before upending this dude’s life with her savior complex.

As for supporting characters, Mack’s bestie Amanda was great at the beginning but then the author started to write her as a villain and I ended the book all turned around on her – is she good? Is she a bitch? What is up with her? She was your classic I am too good for any of you by the end of the book and it really bothered me because she started as your “friend with everyone” character, so like?? What happened?? I liked her boyfriend Kameron, he was a good add, but again, was written in a way where he was literally dumb, but then all of a sudden, not? It felt that the author lost sight of who each character was supposed to be and the role they had in the story. The only two I enjoyed were Molly and Asher – I wish them the best in life and nothing better happen to them.

Finally, what was that ending? It escalated SO QUICKLY and FOR WHAT??? There was absolutely zero reason or cause for the ending to be the way that it was and I was more mad than interested in reading what happened.

To me, this book had the potential to reach that Binding 13 spot, but the author needs some serious editing help and create an actual story arc before putting her pen to any more paper.