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angryphoenix's review
4.0
Oh my goodness.
So this book takes place very shortly after To Have and To Hold finished. Julie is still a student at Madison, Matt has a job at the Barn and Grill, they love each other intensely, and Julie's lucky that her ex-roommate and best friend, Dahlia, still loves her as much as she does.
Honestly, if someone had moved out of the dorms after two weeks in my first year at university, there's very little chance that I would have wanted to hang out with that person as much as Julie's ex-dormmates want to hang out with her. It's a bit weird how Julie and Dahlia are super tight after being roommates for only two weeks, but hey, sometimes people just click. (And this is fiction, right? Brain candy.)
Julie's character takes a much-needed turn and there were times where I even celebrated her as I read her strengthening character. An attack on a first-year female student has everyone (towns and gowns) on edge and bring to light the serious divide between the two sides. In the wake of this attack, Julie goes from being meek, timid, and having a hard time breathing without Matt, to a strong woman with a voice who isn't afraid to be heard. She write an article that gets published, airing her frustrations on how women are afraid to speak out, how men have little fear and have no consequences if they decide to verbally/physically/sexually assault a woman, and how it is important that women DO speak out. This was a cool feministy twist that I did not appreciate when I read these when I was younger.
Of course, this puts strain on her relationship with Matt, who doesn't fit in as a townie or a student. He is stuck in the middle, not a local, but not a student, and married to a student. I actually really like Matt's character. I liked him in the first book and I like him even more in this one. He's hard-headed and stubborn, but he has good values, good perspective, and he's loving and protective. He clearly sacrificed a ton in his life to be with Julie, and he is consistently there for her in just about any way that you could ask. He's a good man.
This book has a good ending that leads well into what I remember being the plot for the third book.
So this book takes place very shortly after To Have and To Hold finished. Julie is still a student at Madison, Matt has a job at the Barn and Grill, they love each other intensely, and Julie's lucky that her ex-roommate and best friend, Dahlia, still loves her as much as she does.
Honestly, if someone had moved out of the dorms after two weeks in my first year at university, there's very little chance that I would have wanted to hang out with that person as much as Julie's ex-dormmates want to hang out with her. It's a bit weird how Julie and Dahlia are super tight after being roommates for only two weeks, but hey, sometimes people just click. (And this is fiction, right? Brain candy.)
Julie's character takes a much-needed turn and there were times where I even celebrated her as I read her strengthening character. An attack on a first-year female student has everyone (towns and gowns) on edge and bring to light the serious divide between the two sides. In the wake of this attack, Julie goes from being meek, timid, and having a hard time breathing without Matt, to a strong woman with a voice who isn't afraid to be heard. She write an article that gets published, airing her frustrations on how women are afraid to speak out, how men have little fear and have no consequences if they decide to verbally/physically/sexually assault a woman, and how it is important that women DO speak out. This was a cool feministy twist that I did not appreciate when I read these when I was younger.
Of course, this puts strain on her relationship with Matt, who doesn't fit in as a townie or a student. He is stuck in the middle, not a local, but not a student, and married to a student. I actually really like Matt's character. I liked him in the first book and I like him even more in this one. He's hard-headed and stubborn, but he has good values, good perspective, and he's loving and protective. He clearly sacrificed a ton in his life to be with Julie, and he is consistently there for her in just about any way that you could ask. He's a good man.
This book has a good ending that leads well into what I remember being the plot for the third book.
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