I'm all over the place with this right now. It just wasn't has good has the first one .It was honestly all over the place , and the heroine annoyed me even when she was trying to be strong and it really wasn't working because she crumbled in the end.She has clearly not properly dealt with her issues , whenever anything goes wrong for her she instantly resorts back to the pain and satisfaction of cutting in order to cope . I didn't think her emotional pain would go away so quickly honestly but she see still needs a barrier other than Damion to cope with her pain. I feel like their needs to be a scene where she just completely cuts her mother off and mean it instead of always hiding from the confrontation which is honestly all she is doing.I need to see her strength really shine through , I think this makes Damion very hesitant to share the evilness of what he's going /went through because he's scared she will resort back to the pain of cutting to deal with all he has shared.Damion was a gem has usual , i felt that he was stronger in this and so much more vunerable than in the previous book which does show growth on his part.I was anticipating this for awhile and while I'm not exactly dissapointed , i still cannot give a star rating above the first book . It really wasn't has good so the rating will be down. I will still read the sequel but not with the same anticipation .3 stars