This wasn’t for me. First of all, the entire relationship is built on the sexual tension between an adult man and a 17 year-old girl (and the book never lets you forget that he like, REALLY wanted to sleep with her when they first met but, ya know, controlled himself because she was a minor and he’s A Good Guy). It gave me the serious ick and it felt unnecessary. 

Secondly, I really couldn’t stand the MMC, even later in the book when they’re older. Idk if maybe I didn’t get to the part when he develops as a character, but his lukewarm moderate, capitalist, poli-sci dudebro monologues about the “problem with government these days” really didn’t land with me. His whole “just playing devil’s advocate” thing when an Indigenous person was literally describing how their sacred land had been desecrated REALLY made me want to scream.

And thirdly, this isn’t exclusive to this book in particular (although it’s a pretty egregious example), but I can’t stand the trope where one character willingly withholds information that they know will jeopardize their chances of a romantic/sexual relationship with the other character. I’m a firm believer in INFORMED consent, and doing what the MMC does to the FMC in this book is such a violation of her autonomy.