Amy Williams

I thought this book exuded upper class white privilege. Also, it does little to address Lyla’s lack of self respect, likely stemming from being abandoned by her mom. She was longing for love to fill her so much so that she gave herself over to abuse and racism by a rich white kid and made excuses for him at every turn. Even in the epilogue, which focuses on the aftermath 10 years later, Lyla’s mom is never mentioned. It’s also not believable to me that a mom who was raped in college would not have any conversations with her son about respecting girls, date rape and consent. We never know what Nina says to him to get him to understand respecting women and the importance of consent. This book missed the mark on an important topic in my opinion. Griffin spends so much time promoting local Nashville restaurants, bars, hotels and neighborhoods as well as designer brands - when she could have explored Lyla’s relationship with her mom and Lyla’s own comprehension of the damage done to her through Beau and Finch’s violation of her.