good premise with untapped potential

I really wanted to enjoy this book. But the whole thing just felt like a very long first act to me, as it tried to set up the main cast of characters and get everyone into their designated positions. I like the prose and the story. But I think the book could have used some more editing with focus on character-driven storytelling, fleshing out the main cast of characters (aside from the MC) and showing rather than telling important background info.

The friendships and the romance also felt very abrupt and unearned to me. The romance starts out with instant hostility (mainly on Riley's part) and then suddenly flips into insta-love and insta-commitment. Yet we never really get to find out why they're so into each other ( beyond the physical attraction).

The two friends she makes seem to be drawn to her instantly and without any effort being required ln Riley's part. Her new friends also don't seem to have much going on in their own lives when the story starts, as though they've just been waiting for Riley to unite them. It sort of felt to me as though they all start orbiting around the main character rather than acting out of their own motivations. This made them very flat and uninteresting to me. I ultimately stopped listening about 2 hours before the end, as none of the connections between the characters felt real or engaging to me and I can't see how the story could turn that around for me at this point.

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