2 stars 
 I know this book has received mixed reviews, and I'm about to add my own unpopular opinion here and say that I was not fond of it at all. I read about 75% then skimmed the rest. More action happened in the last 25% of the book anyway -- maybe I should have started there. 
 It took a herculean effort for me to work through this book, and initially I had thought it was because of the heavy subject matter (child abuse, mainly), but reflecting back on it, it was that it didn't have much of a plot and just made me wince and my eyes roll, especially with Mallory's naivete. 
 Nothing really happens in the story after the introduction of the characters and some brief flashbacks of their (I mean, just Mallory's) past. I would have liked to know more about Paige, Hector, Jayden, and Ainsley. Maybe less internal dialogue (I'll get to this later) and more character development. I didn't find the love story convincing -- I felt that Rider and Mallory were more like brother and sister. (view spoiler)[Parts of it were unbelievable, like the fact that Rider couldn't find her in the 4 years they were apart. He knows her name, so maybe a quick internet search? If she is someone he talks about all the time, according to Paige, why give up looking for her? And when he finally reunites with Mallory, he falls for her and dumps Paige to be with her, all in the span of a week? They knew each other as kids! It's really just insta-love with a gimmicky history. (hide spoiler)] 
 I'm not cool with the nickname Mouse. Rider -- do you not know that if you keep calling her Mouse you're enabling her to continue exhibiting her behaviors of withdrawal and social aversion? NO ONE should be calling her that. 
 Mallory's inner dialogue was awkward and, ironically, juvenile at times. I don't know if it's the voice or the writing, but I could not stop cringing. I see that this author also writes under the pseudonym J. Lynn. I didn't realize this before, but this is the second book I read of hers and I'm sorry to say that I won't be reading any more of her works for some time.