"It is no shameful thing to be beaten when outnumbered, not when you were brave enough to try. Nor is a scar or injury something to despair over, for it is a mark that you were strong enough to survive."

Damn, this book hit me right in the feels.

Note: Very minor spoiler-ish stuff coming up. Though I didn't mark it as a spoiler because I don't personally believe it was enough of one to mark it as so.

Nicolas and Etta's romance was a breath of fresh air, especially for YA. The biggest reason being when Etta was given reason to doubt Nicolas, she didn't.

I can't begin to explain how many times in so many books I've read that the love interest makes me roll my eyes into the back of my head because of the exact opposite. The antagonist or a misunderstanding gives one of the characters a tiny reason to doubt and they just go "oh well I guess he/she didn't love me at all this whole time and was just playing with my heart". It PISSES me off to no end and shows such a stupid sign of immaturity in the relationship. Because of that it made me literally whoop for joy when Etta trusted Nick and when Nick smiled and replied when told Etta was misinformed, "that's all? She didn't believe you."

CLAPS FOR BRACKEN, for breaking the stupid conflict trope of misinformed broken trust between two people who supposedly love each other and know "every piece of the other's heart". Etta and Nicolas' relationship felt REAL and loving and I couldn't get enough of it.

The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because I was a little annoyed at the fact that Etta and Nicolas spent 90% of the book apart, and because some of the events were a little confusing and I felt could've been written/ended better.