First and foremost, I would like to thank turnthepagetours for having me for this tour!
Mina’s life is going according to plan; she’s acing AP Calc and is perfectly content with her nonexistent social life. Though only a high school junior, Mina knows time is an investment, and she’s putting all her capital into academics. Oliver, a child abuse survivor who grew up in the foster care system, is ready to burn down his old life and start from scratch—complete with a new name and emancipation papers—in L.A. When the two are thrown together through circumstance and develop an unexpected connection, they discover how hard it is to keep the past in the past.
Trigger/Content Warning(s): Sexual assault, recollections of child abuse, discussions of suicidal thoughts, and mention of miscarriage
Check it out on Goodreads // Buy it here
When I saw TTPT open a sign up for hosts for this book, I was crossing my fingers, and my brother’s and my dogs to make sure I get a spot. I love the premise of it- perfect girl meets broken boy, drama and lots of it. Then, we get to the content warnings, then BAM! SA, CA, and more heavy topics are also going to be discussed. As someone who went through one of the content warnings, it’s something I avoid but also need to read about.
And let me tell you about my thoughts about this book. It’s a whirlwind, and I’ll walk you through it.
First, we got Mina and Oliver. Mina is a tough, seemingly perfectionist, and quiet girl. She aces her studies, really focused on getting into a beautiful school as an investment for her future. As an Asian, I relate to this. Then you have the contrasting Oliver who just wants to get out, to live.
I do have to say, the writing style is in the between for me. I like how engaging and flowy it is, I have a hard time reading in ebooks but reading this book, I was fairly doing good if I say so myself. However, I do think there should be more improvement with how the serious topics could’ve been written better, addressed better.
In addition, the writing style does tend to be info-dumping. We got them riding in a bus, on a motorcycle, and suddenly we’re talking about their family life. I get the point, what else are you going to do on the ride, right? How about we get lost in their thoughts of the now, not segway to their past, especially since we are in the very beginning of the book. Let’s save all of that for a little later. Before we get to chapter 3, so many Infos are already being dumped.
Still, I did enjoy the story. Mina is a character that I had to warm up to, Oliver is someone I would prefer reading more about if I’m going, to be honest. Their complexities and characteristics blend and compliment each other well.
Rating: 3.75 ⭐
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
I was realizing more and more that to understand my own privilege was to know the misfortune of others.
“Is it true Ukrainian chicks will do anything to move to America? See, I know there’s a difference between Russians and Ukrainians.”
“Yeah, you’re woke as hell. My bad.”
Weren’t surfers supposed to be Zen and into recycling and saving the planet? Was I confusing surfers with Silverlake hipsters?
You’re free now, but that doesn’t mean you have to be alone
Emilia Ares is an Armenian-American actress best known for American Horror Story and Bosch, producer and now the author of Love and Other Sins. Emilia graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with her Bachelor’s in Economics and a Minor in Russian.
Grim Reader 
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