Okay… this one wasn’t as fun as the first book. It was actually dark. It was 600 pages of Elli being brutalized and retraumatized and Easton made it so much worse for her. 
I think I could’ve still enjoyed this book for what it was if Elli wasn’t breaking apart the whole time. Unlike the first book, this one felt firmly placed in real life. There were little fantastical elements beyond the secret society aspect. The rest of it felt like a ripped from the headlines SVU episode. Reading about Elli’s life just made me sad. She abused drugs and alcohol, she frequently put herself in high risk situations, she was passively suicidal. It was depressing as fuck to read. The first book was thrilling and exciting, and no real sexual violence happened to the FMC. I cannot say the same for Elli.