confessions was so good & honestly this was a bit of a letdown…. 

the first chapter was really great & gripping, but i think with each chapter the book progressed it fell into a quite repetitive pattern. not only was it very formulaic like confessions, but the chapters themselves all followed the same beats and weren’t very interesting beyond what the characters themselves did at the end of each chapter. 

confessions really benefited from this structure as following the story from each character’s perspective deepened the story, and kept pumping out great plot twist after great plot twist. this book felt like it was trying to do the same, but with making the character seeking vengeance incredibly unlikeable and portraying her as unjustified, i really was just reading to read. 

sae’s chapter was really interesting and a great way to open the book imo. maki’s chapter honestly was… Mid! like it was fine but idk her chapter slammed in between sae & akiko’s felt odd. like idk we should have been building up with the “severity” of the stories, and maki’s was a weird dip in the pacing. akiko’s was only good at the end, otherwise it felt like she was just yapping to get to the end. yuka’s was also pretty boring, but i will say i preferred hers over akiko’s & maki’s. like my ranking would go: sae >>>>> yuka > akiko >>>>>> maki. emily’s mother’s chapter was also incredibly boring, and the final chapter was…. Fine! 

idk i couldn’t really find an ability to give a shit about the characters beyond wanting to know what happens. minato has a good ability to hook you, but idk here it felt like she only really hooked me in at the end of each of her chapters. 

i mean i still had a good time! i still wanted to know what happened! i was interested! but compared to confessions….. Flop. i was so excited to read this because confessions was actually so addictive and GOOOODDDD. and this was just ok! my expectations were ridiculously high im afraid.