This story follows the relationship between Tatum and Paxton. After enjoying the previous books, I went in assuming I’d love this one too — oh, how wrong I was.
Fair warning: this review contains spoilers, but I want to explain why this one didn’t work for me.
To start, Tatum is an adult who still acts like an angsty teenager (I believe she’s 26). She harbors this deep, almost obsessive resentment toward her sister Ophelia, and honestly, it’s exhausting. Her entire personality seems built around two things — mourning Archer (a family friend and her unrequited love) and hating her sister.
When Archer passes away, Tatum develops this unnatural, misplaced hatred toward Ophelia — even though by her own admission, Archer had already forgiven both Ophelia and Maverick before his death. So where exactly is Tatum’s animosity coming from? It’s like she refuses to let go of being the victim, even when there’s no real reason left to be angry.
After a night with Paxton, she lies to him, claiming she was engaged, to man named Archer no less, which just made her harder to root for.
Her friend Rory calls her out perfectly when she says, “You have a penchant for sleeping in, missing shifts, and quitting a job at the drop of a hat anytime the going gets tough.” If that doesn’t perfectly encapsulate someone who’s immature, I don’t know what is.
And then there’s the scene where Tatum finds out Ophelia and Maverick got engaged — her reaction is pure rage. Rory (the real MVP of this book) nails it again, saying:
“I know you hate Mav for surviving when Archer didn’t, but they’re both my brothers — both of them.”
The fact that Tatum calls her sister’s fiancé (who also happens to be her best friends brother) “the lesser brother” was wild to me. Like, girl. That’s your best friend’s brother — and someone who also lost Archer.
Tatum says, “I hate them for it, for being happy, for moving on.”
That line sums her up perfectly — she resents her sister for finding happiness while she chooses to stay stuck, over a man who she never had any sort of romantic relationship with.
Paxton, meanwhile, is a saint. He’s patient, emotionally mature, and genuinely tries to understand her pain. He even asks her, “Isn’t it exhausting carrying all that anger?” And it really is — for her and for us as readers.
At least in the epilogue, Tatum finally realizes that others were grieving too, just differently. But by that point, it felt too little, too late.