Oh boy. Oh boy Tahereh. I have read several other books by Mafi, and I was initially very hooked on the premise of this book - I read the first 100 pages so fast. However, it quickly went downhill for me. I realize that I’m not probably the ideal audience for this at 33 years old, but the love bombing was too much for me. 

Juliette and Adam love each other so much, but there’s no evidence or backstory for that other than that they’ve known each other a long time… but were they ever really that close? The narrative doesn’t answer that, and I felt a few flashbacks could have solved some of that. They are willing to die for each other and say they have this electric connection…. but Juliette also feels that brief electricity with Warren, her kidnapper (yikes!). And weirder still, she doesn’t recognize him at first! She even says “we’ve only known each other for two weeks”. But yes, she’s traumatized and malnourished and all the rest that would make her memory faulty, so I forgave her that. But ultimately I didn’t feel the spark between them whatsoever. 

The scenes with Warren were very repetitive and creepy and though I’m sure that’s the point — he’s obsessed with her — it got really tiring and he wasn’t a compelling villain to me at all. 

Ultimately, I would have loved if the reveal with Adam had happened much later in the book and if we had actually gotten to see his and Juliette’s story and connection develop rather than being told they were in love over and over. 

I did enjoy the bits at the end with the scientists and their rescuers, but not enough for me to stick with the series, unfortunately. This one just wasn’t for me.