This was an interesting one. I’m re-reading all of Dessen’s book as my favourite teen author to see how they stand up against the test of time for me. I feel like in some ways it felt a little disjointed the start to the middle, but I think that’s because I’d forgotten what the story looked at largely - being domestic violence. I think a lot of the language was far less victim blaming than I’d expect from a book published in the year 2000. And I think it’s a really well done book looking at domestic violence and how easily it can be to slip into such a relationship and how hard it could be to leave - unlike certain popular books in my opinion. 👀👀 Does this stand the test of time for me? I think looking at domestic violence it holds up pretty well all things considered, but it’s possibly my least connection filled one.