Publisher: Self-pub
Published: August 27, 2019
Genre: Young Adult-dark themes
Source: e-ARC
Rating: 5 stars
Blurb:
I have always been bullied and trapped in darkness. I hoped
life would get better when I moved to my mother's hometown, but it only got
worse because it was there that I met my unrequited crush, Hayden Black.
He despised me from day one, and even more when
I became best friends with his twin, Kayden. Kayden gave light to my life, but
my happiness with him lasted only until one night two years ago.
That night Kayden died because of me.
Half of me died with him. The other half was
left to bleed, suffering Hayden's and his friends' constant bullying.
Now I must endure one more year before I can
finally escape them and go to college. This year has to be different.
Either I will become stronger, or they will
finally break me into nothing.
Warning: This book contains mature and sensitive
themes such as abuse, violence, and offensive language. It includes situations
that may be triggering for some readers, so caution is advised.
Review:
Wow. This was deep and depressing. If the cover is anything
to go by, trust me when I say that this isn’t your typical bully romance—it’s
dark. After reading this, I think I need a break from books. It was...a lot.
Almost like a rollercoaster that kept jerking me all over the place. Not fun
but something I couldn’t stay away from even if I tried.
Readers, please take the trigger warning
seriously. I’m going to be first to admit that I LOVE bully romances. This is
NOT a romance, in my humble opinion. So if that’s what you’re looking for, this
ain’t it. There is actual bullying going on. And not the occasional prank or
some hero making the heroine feel bad type thing. Such as pretending to like
the heroine and then humiliating her. This is much darker. Hayden, actually
hurts the heroine, Sarah. She gets physically, emotionally, and verbally
abused—consistently throughout the whole book. All the way until the very end.
The hero isn’t a hero. Although, I felt for his character and feel oddly
connected to him. Especially after all the revelation.
Sarah is weak. There’s no other way to put it.
She fights back occasionally but for the most part she’s constantly scared and
trembles a lot. So many times I wanted her to just fight back with all her
might. But she didn’t. Instead she endured the pain and humiliation her
classmates put her through. I have a hard time believing a school would be so
callous as to ignore students being hazed the way they were. The way Sarah was.
It’s despicable.
I couldn’t help but think of how volatile and
abusive the hero was. It wasn’t romantic in the least. (Not that I think that’s
romantic. But I like the occasional alpha possessive H every now and then) And
I kept thinking about how I would never recommend this to young ladies because
this isn’t how love is supposed to be. So I feel like the author did well in
that regard. Showing us how the terrible cycle of staying with an abusive man
that says he’s changed can happen. And sometimes how it starts.
I know this book won’t be for many people. And I
get it. There were some difficult subjects to read about. Which is why I feel
like I need to go watch something less dramatic and sad. Because yes, I cried
at the end. It was too devastating.
I would like to say that I think towards the end
the heroine did show a teensy bit more backbone. I look forward to her
character growth in the next book!
*Thank you to the author for providing a free
copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions
are my own.
About the Author:
Vera Micic now writes as Vera Hollins.
Check out her new profile to stay up to date
with her new and upcoming books: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Website
https://www.verahollins.com/
No comments
Post a Comment