Every solution has a poisonous flaw … even between best friends.
The agreement: Fall break together.
The struggle: A road trip from North Carolina to Massachusetts.
The reason: To find a way back into each other’s lives.
The issue: AJ’s not ready to let Evan reclaim the parts of her he made his.
The hindrance: Connecticut.
The Solution to Unrequited (Book 2) (SPOILER FREE!)
Almost five months ago, I wrote an article talking about why I believed the book, “The Theory of Unrequited” was an amazing one, and I urged my readers to take a chance on Evan and AJ. Then, on July 11th, our 26-year-old favorite Aussie author released book two of this four-book series. In a day and a half, I eagerly read the entire novel in anticipation for one of the biggest held secrets that everyone was waiting for: Prom.
Hinted heavily in the first book where their friendship went wrong, Webster finally told her readers the truth of what happened on that fateful night: What happened to AJ that made her leave Evan behind in Stanford while she went to Duke.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We have to start at the beginning, which in this case, is actually the end of book one. After a huge cliffhanger from the last book, we discover Evan has finally learned the whereabouts of his best friend and has shown up outside AJ’s dorm room. The description of the novel itself shows you this, but it doesn’t tell you how those two were feeling when they made eye contact for the first time in nearly two months.
Evan, now knowing where his best friend has been the last two months, begs AJ to come home for fall break with him. He says they’ll drive together, and at first, AJ doesn’t want to. She even tells the readers how nervous she is just having Evan in front of her. But after some coaxing, a night of Evan sleeping over in the dorm, and AJ’s large heart and inability to stop caring about Evan, she agrees.
While the first novel introduced the two friends and the beginning of their problems, Solutions really dug deep into the core and showed us the root of all the problems for AJ; she was tired of loving Evan and being there for him when he’s ruined her chances for several issues. In the first book, Evan’s brother, Kyle, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, made it clear that no one was allowed to ask AJ to homecoming. This prompted her to believe no one cared about her. Not long after that, when helping Evan with his student essay, she misses the biggest deadline in her life: applying to MIT. In this novel, we see how those two factors really bring down AJ’s self-esteem and push her to force Evan out of her life.
Solutions was told the same way that Theory was. Each chapter we go back and forth between the past, Aj and Evan’s senior year of high school, and the present, their freshman year in college. We learn more about AJ’s issues with being Little Miss Red Sox, a name the fans gave her just for showing up and supporting Kyle, how AJ’s parents care for Evan like their own son, and surprisingly enough, a very serious lawsuit.
But nothing can beat Webster’s way to weave these two time periods back and forth. By the end of a chapter about a year ago, you wish the next chapter told you more. But, by the time you get through the present day chapter, you’ve found yourself in the same mindset as the previous chapter. Following present day Evan and AJ on their road trip from North Carolina to Massachusetts, which brings up a lot of questions, it’s hard for AJ to admit to Evan everything she’s been feeling, and it makes her wish over and over she had never fallen for him. But it is revealed that Evan, her best friend and the boy who destroyed her heart, loves her back. The exact same way.
In the past, we watched Evan and AJ finish their senior year after they share a kiss at midnight, ringing in the new year. The most memorable moment was Evan speaking to parts of AJ’s family, her mother the most, and all of them telling Evan not to hurt AJ and to always watch out for her. This is why when he learns of how he hurt AJ, he does everything he can to save their relationship. It’s why he protects AJ when bad press comes to her name because of one journalist. It’s why he always knows where to find her if her world is crumbling. It’s why he asks her to prom.
It’s how he breaks her heart.
What I love so much about this novel, besides learning more about my favorite two teenagers, is Webster doesn’t force us to love or hate any character. It can and will be subjective. We don’t have to love a character because of something they say, but we may. Not everyone online sees eye-to-eye on certain situations. Some majority of people hate Evan for the hurt he’s caused AJ. But there are fans that love him and want nothing more than for him to be with AJ so they can both be in love.
The best part of the novel is the ending, which I won’t spoil for you because that’s not what I’m here to do. The best part is that this could truly be the end of AJ and Evan’s story by the time “The End” rolls around. But it’s not. With two novels down and two to go, Webster could have anything happen with our heroes.
That’s what her readers are most afraid of.
All we know is we’ve made it back to Massachusetts, and a lot of questions still don’t have answers. Also, no longer will AJ and Evan’s past be contributed with interwoven chapters. With not even an idea of where this series is going, fans are already eagerly awaiting the end of 2018 for book three. And that wait may destroy our hearts as much as the book may.
If you loved the first book in this series, then the second is sure to make your heart clench. You’ll be rooting for your favorite matchups before you know it, and falling in love with each word Webster uses to craft her perfectly written novels.
For more information on Webster, visit her website here. Find this book on any of these platforms: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks
“Because Evan might think he was her oxygen. But what Evan Gilmore didn’t know was that he was arsenic to her soul. The poison to her heart.”
Excerpt From: Len Webster. “The Solution to Unrequited.” iBooks.