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** spoiler alert ** TW: mentions of self harm and homophobia

Well this book was�� certainly a book! That’s about the only positive thing I can say about it, that the author did indeed write it! LMAO.

So what was so bad about this book? Let me explain.

�� Minor issues:
I didn’t care about any of the characters because they all seemed utterly unrealistic. One moment they’d be closed off and shy and the next they’d be opening up about their deepest darkest trauma and doing things that seemed so out of character. But honestly this is such a minor issue compared to the rest of the book.

�� Homophobia

Tony is introduced as a homosexual male and by the end of the book he isn’t gay anymore. Now, I have no issues whatsoever with exploring difficult topics such as sexuality and self discovery in a book, however, what I do take issue with is suggesting being gay is something people are because of trauma. Tony had a tragic backstory and the fact that it was basically reduced to “being gay = being depressed, falling in love with a girl = being happier�� was such a disappointment.

�� Romanticisation of self harm

“I’ll never stop cutting…only love can make me quit��

Yes that’s a real line from this book. Venessa’s struggle with self harm originally started out as something relatable and made me warm to her character. However by the end of the book I became convinced the author has no idea what it is like to suffer with something like this because the attempts at character development were wild. To literally have a character state they would stop their addiction to self harming, something they have used as a coping mechanism for years, because of love is DAMAGING. This book is actively damaging for young people to read. Love cannot and will not save you. That’s just fundamentally not how self harm and mental illness work!!!!

God i could rant about this book all day but I’m genuinely too enraged to continue this review properly.

TLDR; damaging and a royal waste of my time