There's just something about Ali Hazelwood's writing that gives me that self published wattpad, AO3 vibes. This book however, I feel like she really went out of her confort zone and gave us something more mature and sentimental. I really appreciated the focus this book had on the female character and her inner workings - such that the FMC and MMC's first proper interaction only happened quite a-ways into the book. It made me feel all the more invested in her and her growth as a person. I found myself really rooting for her because I saw so much of myself in her - the perfectionist mindset, the way I don't feel like I can express myself well, how reserved I am and yet wish not to be in many ways. 

I liked that Hazelwood shied away from the usual toxic female antagonist tropes even if it was very very easy to give in to that trope in this book. In fact, I really could see the effort she made in writing a character as nuanced as Penelope is. I loved the girlhood portrayed in this one and the flaws she added such that Pen and Scarlett could bond because even though they were both such different people, they had many similarities that made it such that only they could understand each other best. 

I did, however, feel that the MMC, Lukas, is too perfect to the point where I don't feel that he was as well rounded a character as he could be. But I completely understand why, the focus on this book was on the girls to be honest and I love that about it. I just wish he wasn't such a perfect boyfriend kind of guy, wasn't that self assured, that easy to be with. But I also feel that Scarlett does need someone exactly like this. 

Personally, I enjoyed this book a lot and it was one of those I could not put down which I didn't mind at all. A really good read and oen that I could reread in the future.