Their relationship definitely had it’s sexy/swoony moments, but Esben never emerged as a real person for me. But! When Allison participates in his 180 Seconds experiment, and subsequently can’t stay away from him, Esben proved to be the perfect guy. Honestly, he seemed like the type of dude I’d hate.

He’s got hundreds of thousands of followers and he’s always staging and filming these stunts to create warm, fuzzy content for his social media sites. When first we meet social media star Esben Baylor, I immediately rolled my eyes and said something along the lines of “oh my god his name is ESBEN?!” Esben is a mix of Brandon from Humans of New York and those hot twins that had an inspirational YouTube channel. I wanted to pat her head when she was adorably clueless and hug her every time she made a breakthrough. Thankfully, with the help of Esben and Steffi, Allison began to open up and relax a little, and what emerged was a caring, funny person who seemed to be experiencing the world for the first time. She just stacked them in the other room! Who could receive a care package in the mail and not open it?!?!?! There might be cookies in there! Also, her adoptive father Simon would send her care packages and she WOULDN’T OPEN THEM. She was a level of introvert that even I couldn’t fathom. Having spent the majority of her life in the foster care system, it’s no surprise that Allison has a hard time opening up to people. There was a moment at the beginning of this book when I thought friendship might not be in the stars for me and Allison. Esben shows her the good in others, and Allison begins to let people in, but when she learns that those close to her have been keeping life-altering secrets, Allison wonders if trusting others was a mistake after all. Something happens between them in those three minutes, and Allison finds her entire world turned upside down. One night, Allison is pulled onstage to participate in a campus experiment with social media star Esben Baylor, and the two are forced to stare into each other’s eyes for 180 seconds. The only person she truly lets in is her best friend Steffi, who grew up in the foster care system with her. Not even her super sweet adoptive father Simon is immune to Allison’s trust issues.

Like, sure, over the course of the book, Allison’s world is “shattered” but I feel like that’s sort of the theme in every book, right? With social media playing such a large part of a story, this feels like a missed opportunity for something really clever, in my not-so-humble opinion.Īdopted out of the foster care system at 16, Allison Dennis is now a college junior, doing her level best to avoid most people at all times. It avoids the things I hate most (big faces, stock photos of pretty people, etc.) but the shattered glass feels a little…vague. I don’t really have strong feelings about this cover. Bonus Factor: Keith Mars Award for Awesome Dadhood

180 seconds by jessica park