Update: "The Rivals", by Daisy Whitney

Right now I'm reading The Rivals, by Daisy Whitney, sequel to, The Mockingbirds. It's a great book, and I really love how Daisy Whitney stays strong with the events from the first book to the second.

**Slight spoilers
For one thing, the conflict in Alex's heart is so realistic, and painful to watch her go through. Just seeing her have the images and memories of Carter flash through the head of Alex whenever she's with Martin  is really hard, even for a reader with no experience in this issue. Alex's inner conflict of proving herself carries on to the second book with the same fears and basis, but a totally different goal, which is amazing. I really dislike it in books when former conflicts or problems that the character had are kind of throw out. For instance, the thing that drove Alex to prove herself in the first book was that she didn't want to be called a 'whore', or a 'slut' when she was date-raped. It still affected her when people didn't believe her, but she wanted to clear her name and serve justice to Carter for what he did. In the second book, so far, Alex wants to prove to her fellow Mockingbirds that though she was appointed because she was a former victim who worked with the Mockingbirds, she could hold her own as a leader because she had that experience, and can deal with others who feel victimized. Not just to people who doubt her (Parker), but to the people she knows she can trust as well (Martin, Amy).

The 'case' itself in the second book is very interesting because though Alex still wants to help, the case has no clear victim(s). Frankly, I think there was no better way of doing a sequel, because it would have been, though probably interesting, no where near as interesting as Alex's conflict now. She tries to investigate, but so far, she's continually frustrated because she's only relying on her previous feelings about her case with Carter. She's not taking in the whole picture, and being a little stupid sometimes because she trusts too much in the people who she thinks are victimized.

That's another thing I like about this book so far. Alex is wrong. I really don't like it when characters just guess everything right, or are wrong for stupid reasons, and refuse to believe anything else. Alex knows she's wrong, but she can't help it, like with her frustration with Parker accusing Maia. She let her personal attachment clear her judgement, making it easier to relate to her. It was kinda of frustrating for me seeing Alex make silly mistakes for no good reason, but it just shows that the book is good enough it can make you clearly react to the character's actions.

Overall, so far this book is really, really good, and I can't wait to finish it!