As with most new adult books, this is another heart breaker. It jumps right into it... there is really no lead up point, it just happens.The Author Jamie Canosa does a fantastic job of portraying a small town (I'm from the big city so I could never imagine even living in a town where everyone knows everything... in a city you are lucky if you even know your neighbors name) She is also able to write with raw emotion, and regardless of whether you have ever gone through what Allie or even Dean has gone through (I really hope you haven't!) she makes you feelAlthough the author does a fantastic job at getting your attention and really making you fall in love with every character, not just Allie and Dean... I was a little disappointed that Allie really just gave up. I like a strong main character, and yes her situation is tragic and my heart totally broke for her over and over again... but i kept waiting for just something else. But regardless of this fact, this book is such an easy read because you really get caught up in the story.I have not had the pleasure of reading another other books in this series, I was a little apprehensive because of that when I began this book because it is the technically the second book in the series. But trust me, this book is totally OK to read as a standalone book... the only thing that I ran into is that I want to read the first book in the series now as well (such a terrible thing right?!)