Good lord. If this book could be described in one phrase, it would be EXCLAMATION POINTS OUTSIDE OF DIALOGUE. 
 I recently downloaded iOS 8. I was excited to explore the iBooks app, and even more excited when I found all the free books. Because this book did not have half-naked people on the cover, I figured I would give it a shot. Unfortunately, it reads much like Twilight and other books that can't seem to actually spend time on important literary aspects other than romance-building. 
 (view spoiler)[ I immediately knew that this book was going to be about sexual assault. However, this is what drew me to the book: I was really interested in discovering how she would build off of a premise that is important in how we address sexual assault. With that said, every other aspect of the book was dismally disappointing. 
 First: many authors that write YA fiction - not all, I love the YA genre - have lost the ability to describe. Description is one of the most marvelous aspects of literature - the Great Gatsby would be nothing without the carefully crafted setting and characters that lend the book so much symbolism and potency. I had no idea what Oakley looked like, nor did I know what her environment was like. I found out about halfway through the book or more that she had blonde hair. That was it. Forget about all the side characters. The author forfeited logical transitions for jerky ones, and spent literally no time on character building because she was clearly eager to write all the romance scenes. 
 Oakley is a boring character. She has no personality apart from fear surrounding the sexual assault. I'm not counting that as a spoiler because it's incredibly obvious - in fact, the author makes it clear that sexual assault was the culprit when she has sex with Cole. Oh man. I'll dig into that later. I guess this will be spoiler-ridden. She's apparently intuitive, kind, beautiful, and an excellent gymnast. So good, in fact, she can do triple back flips in her back yard and is a possible Olympic contender. Yikes. I know this is set in a country that is not my own, but I'm pretty sure that if you have Olympic potential as a gymnast, it consumes YOUR ENTIRE LIFE. You have to follow a special diet, drop out of school to practice, practice every day for most of the day, and be a regular competitor. This is such terrible characterization. I don't think she's unique because she's a good gymnast - it just makes her a regular old Mary Sue. 
 Speaking of, Cole is an even worse Gary Stu than Edward Cullen. Why? Because he literally is perfect. He is understanding, supportive, mature, protective without being overbearing, loving, and has a perfect attitude towards everything. Therefore I did not care about what happened to him. He is not a real human being, but then again, none of these characters really are. Cole doesn't seem to think anything is wrong with Oakley - she's perfect just the way she is. This is the author wanking to some fantasy, just like SMeyer, and that coupled with the truly terrible writing - exclamation points GALORE - made it seem like bad fanfiction. Le sigh. 
 Now, the worst of it all is the WAY sexual assault is addressed. Ugh. First of all, terrible things like this happen. Sexual assault occurs way more often with individuals the victims know. But I don't BELIEVE that Oakley was sexually assaulted. She doesn't speak, but that seems to be the extent of her trauma. She only has a moment of distress when Cole attempts to sleep with her, which is insane. If you're traumatized to the extent that you refuse to speak, you are traumatized to the extent that you probably wouldn't even be able to kiss someone, even someone you loved and trusted. Intimacy after assault can take years of therapy to normalize. She doesn't harbor enough anger towards her father, in my opinion - in fact, that whole premise seems like an afterthought. Additionally, the big scene where she sees Frank again is not even described. What the even heck, Preston. Your POV switches were irritating and pointless anyway, but that was just bad form and lazy. POV switches are not my favorite. I could tolerate it with Rick Riordan because his characterization is so awesome, but I was pretty done with it eventually. It's a convenient way to cheat in writing, in my opinion. 
 The writing is just plain bad. Apparently, show-don't-tell is difficult to understand. The hand-holding is quite obvious - stop telling me she's angry! I can understand nuance! Ugh! And what is it about lips crashing into lips. People don't kiss like that - it hurts and it's not romantic. Also, no one feels like they are burning when they touch someone. Burning is also painful and honestly it's such a trite comparison that it doesn't hold any weight. The romance is generic and it's clear that everyone thinks Oakley is the best thing since sliced bread, except for the mean old popular girls. Even her bully does, and this is so Bella Swan that I am now convinced this began as a Twilight fanfiction. 
 The list goes on. I'll conclude by saying that sexual assault victims are often scared, shy, and lack a social presence. (Charlie from Perks of Being a Wallflower). However, they are also complicated human beings with likes and dislikes, quirks and vices. Oakley isn't very dimensional, so I am going to criticize the author for writing another damsel in distress. Oakley admits to feeling like Cole saves her. Her mother should have put her into therapy years ago! People who stop speaking for that long are obviously psychologically distressed. I read the first few words of the description and KNEW it was sexual assault, so why doesn't someone in her life get their act together? It's one thing to accept someone for who they are and another to disregard a clear issue. In Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, this topic is handled so much more eloquently and accurately. I recommend you read that instead of this. I guess anyone can get published these days. Even fanfiction. 
 On a final note, there was zero tension in this story. I mean, zero. They are financially stable, go on awesome trips (which would be more awesome if they were actually described), are Caucasian, straight, and attractive. I'm sorry, but I'm done with this formula. It's so boring. Financial distress or a struggle with sexuality would have greatly improved this story, but so would a lot of things. (hide spoiler)] I guess I'll see what I get next time on iBooks' free list.