Trigger warnings: Misogyny mentioned, abusive parent, alcohol

6.5/10, looking back at this book which won a CBCA award for Older Readers in 2022 I think I was in the minority since I actually disliked it but apparently the judges liked it and gave it an award so our tastes differ; I was already sick and tired of preachy books like My Spare Heart by Jared Thomas and this didn't help, where do I begin with this. For starters this book preaches about sexting, cancel culture, Greta Thunberg, MeToo, and First Australians but it felt awkward, unnecessary and superficial. The characters weren't really that fleshed out or developed and when Isaac and Sophie developed an attraction with one another I couldn't really connect to them even though this was a romance novel. I was wondering why Isaac's father is abusive; maybe it would cause Isaac to run away and start over with a new life, hence the title though he did provoke him a couple of times such as when he punched him and smashed his TV which might be a symbolic gesture but it's never OK to destroy someone's property. If you like romance books you can try this but there are better ones you can pick up like Where the Road Leads Us by Robin Reul. ( )