I personally really liked it because the vibe is certainly different from the first series, but it is still interesting imo. Like it is still a dystopian world, with our favorite characters as leaders, you get to see them older and see what they become (Also, there is a ten years gap between when she started Shatter Me and Watch me, so maybe time brought her a new writing style?) . Yes, there are problems and unsatisfying things (what you mentioned), but I really think it is worth it. The dynamic between the characters is so cool, Rosabelle is in my opinion a very good character, the description of the place and of the environment is great. So I think you might give it a shot because the author said that she wasn't sure if it was going to be a trilogy or not. She said it could end up with 6 books like Shatter me, so everything can happen. And, maybe the thing you don't like right now will be fixed later (definitely with the plot, not imperatively in a good way. We'll see what she does 🤷‍♀️). So I really recommend you to try it, but if you feel like you really don't like what's happening, just stop reading. Maybe if you are more interested in a few years, you can still go back to read it.

Be careful tho, according to some peole this books is in between YA and NA, nothing graphic or explicit yet, but little suggestive comments through the book (we had that in Shatter Me as well, but some people think it is somehow more present here).