“Don’t get up yet,” she says as she stands up.
“Why not?”
“Because. You need to sit there while I walk away so you can determine whether or not I really am a fine piece of ass.” She winks at me and spins around.
Oh my god. I bite my knuckles and do exactly what she says, planting my eyes directly on her ass. And just my luck, it’s perfect. Every bit of her body is perfect. I sit completely still as I watch her descend the stairs.

Too Late was originally self-published by Hoover on Wattpad. It has become a bestseller that has received even more attention in the aftermath of her most successful novels. Too Late is an entry in the New Adult category, a genre marketed to young adults, which often contains storylines that focus on sex and relationships, familial dysfunction, and mental health. Let’s just say the abusive relationship tropes are abundant in this book.

It’s the first time he’s ever physically hurt me in front of someone, but the injury to my pride hurts so much worse. I never should have questioned him in front of someone. I know better.
But I also know that I don’t deserve what he just did to me. No one does. I want to grab my bags and pack everything I own. I want to leave and never come back. I want out. I want out, I want out, I want out.
But I can’t leave. It’s not just me who would be affected.

Why does it always have to be a cute and innocent girl with a middle aged man’s name (Sloan) who is in a terrible dependent relationship with the local college drug-dealer boyfriend (Ace) who falls with the new joiner (Carter) who is an older and definitely not a student undercover cop on his way to bust the drug dealer and his ring?

I’ve seen stories like this a hundred times and while I liked the detail it went in (omg, the sex scenes are everywhere!) – it might be a bit triggering for some as it has notions of non-consensual sex, coercion and what’s worse (not the drugs) but the array of red flags waved about.

Each chapter follows the lines of the main characters and even though the voice is sometimes the same, I was chuckling internally when I played a game to guess whose chapter it was and I ran across this gem:

I press my cheek against hers and ease my fingers in and out. “You like this?” I whisper in her ear. She moans and breathes a yes, so I force a third finger inside her, feeling her stretch around my hand. She breathes a much louder yes this time.

Hmm, playboy. Can be either the good boy Carter or bad boy Ace. But Carter is so nice, we wouldn’t even see him having sex with anyone else other than middle aged man name Sloan. And only if they’re in love. I was chuckling because I could guess without fail whose chapter I was reading – mostly due to the cardboard characters which had only redeeming or undeserving qualities and were so uni-dimensional, they wouldn’t fit in Dr. Strange’s multiverse.

He lets me borrow a pencil and now I’m daydreaming about kissing him? My thoughts are not safe around this guy.

We’re not safe around him either. He’s undercover and still going to courses. He’s having an emotional affair with his target’s girlfriend. He’s openly flirting and taking her out to lunch where she can expose all her problems and he feels like he’s the man to save her from her state. Forgetting the essential. She’s staying out of free will. She has sexy time with the man she despises because he pays for her brother’s care. She even justifies it that it’s not prostitution as she doesn’t benefit from any of that money.

And the humiliation and the control are OK because of.. what?

OK OK, it’s a book about abusive relationships and why people decide to stay in them. I personally got bored of this triangle after about 100+ pages (I lasted longer than I thought I would do) but I do did skip over a few repetitive scenes. OK, she gets saved again, she tries to leave, violence, there’s a baby, some rape, omg. I’m happy I skipped a few areas. It’s probably a good book if you’re into this stuff. I’m not.