I was so impressed by the first book, that I couldn’t wait to read this one… and it was a let down.
I like the story that the author told, but about 40% of the book felt unnecessary, just fillers. 
The other 60% was good though: Cassandra’s inclusion, the deaths, Ari’s new openness, the closing of a cycle with leaving high school, standing up to racists… 
But there were too many parts that didn’t add anything to the story, like

Ari’s encounter with his brother?

It’s one of the most important points behind Ari’s personality, always in the back of his mind, and they had a two page conversation that wasn’t deep at all… and then he just moved on completely unbothered? 
And the ending… it was unrealistic and added nothing. Yes, the painting of the raft was poetic but sadly, over explained. I would have liked it better if the reader could draw its own conclusions about it (which weren’t that hard to reach anyway) and also

if we got a glimpse of Ari and Dante moving on, instead of them refusing to.

Also, the Rico story could’ve been developed more throughout the book, but it just felt like an anecdote. I get what the point was, but it didn’t have any impact at all. 
The quality of the writing was nowhere near the first book…it just didn’t compare. The first book had a charm on the way teenagers were portrayed, and the way the ideas were laid out in a natural way. This time the teenagers -and their parents- felt fake, like they had to have these philosophical thoughts in every sentence they said, as well as wording their profound love in every dialogue… annoying.
I wish I had liked this book better, but I just didn’t enjoy almost half of it, and had to force myself to pick it up more than a few times. 
Still, I’m glad I finished it. But unlike the first book, I won’t pick it up again.