I wanted this to be a five star book so badly but sadly it wasn't. I liked the book overall l but I had some issues with it. First off, this book is way too long. It started to drag at times and by the time I was on page 500, I wanted the book to be done already. There was no reason for this to be so long. Second, kids don't talk like that. Nine year olds don't speak like that. Authors who aren't around kids probably shouldn't write about them unless they're writing about teens. Third, authors need to stop writing "song lyrics". Fourth, The mmc needed therapy. No way can you have trauma and then some woman comes and magically fixes everything. He still had issues even after they got together. Fifth, the transition from them not being in relationship to being in one was so weird. I didn't get the connection between them that much but I still like them as a couple. The side characters were great though. This wasn't a bad book but it definitely wasn't the best. I hope I like the next book more.