Publisher: Vera Hollins
Published: March 31, 2020
Genre: Young adult romance
Source: E-ARC
Rating: 5 stars
See what readers & reviewers are saying HERE!
~See my review for book 1 Bullied~
Blurb:
Two months have passed since the day I pushed Hayden away. Two months since I found out he loved me and wanted to be with me. I’ve been trying to move on and forget about him, but my heart refuses to listen.
Hayden had almost died saving me. Half of me wants to forgive him for everything and give him another chance. The other half prevents me from doing so, distrusting him and ignoring my heart's desires. Hayden is dark and complicated, and as the days pass, he gets further away from me, ignoring me whenever our paths cross.
I have less than a year before I go to college, and I won't see him ever again. I have to believe I will get over him and move on with my life. I have to believe in my future without him.
Unless he didn't really move on, and our masks are about to fall.
Review:
“I’m walking on a thin line.
Still searching for any sign.
How do you love and hate?
It sounds like a twisted fate.”
If I had to use one word to describe Pained, it’s intense. It’s so deeply intense that I still have chills running up and down my body. Hollins writes one hell of a follow-up novel. Bullied was just as intense and devastating; but the second book has left me feeling so weak. Yes, that ending left me feeling breathless and I have no idea how I’ll be able to wait that long for the next one!
“ It’s a roller coaster, and you’ll never know What it’s like to be so high and then fall so low.”
This seemed to be a major theme while reading. So many highs, so many lows—Hayden wanted Sarah...and then he didn’t. So many contradictions he made. But if you’ve read the first book, we all know why Hayden is the way he is. He feels things so much more deeply than your average joe. All his senses are heightened to the max and if truth be told, he’s probably one of the most interesting characters I’ve ever read.
“I accepted him the moment I fell in love with him, but the scars he created in me are too deep.”
Sarah. Sweet, lovely Sarah. What I love most about her, is her resilience and strength to adversity and pain. In the first book, I chalked her up to being weak; even though she’s probably one of the strongest characters present. To go through life believing that you’re nothing, yet still having the strength to treat everyone with kindness even when they don’t deserve it, is admirable. She’s an amazing character that I believe everyone should go ahead and meet.
“You fucked me up. I don’t trust you. For me, you’re like a black stain on a white surface. You aren’t supposed to be here, and you make everything dirty.”
One of the best things about the Bullied series is all the well rounded characters that embedded themselves into your soul. Yes, your soul! I’ve read these books on Wattpad and have formed such a great connection to them all, that I know by the end of the series, I’ll be weeping with sorrow.
“I’M PAINED, LOSING MY SOUL, UNTIL DARKNESS SWALLOWS ME WHOLE.”
Give this series a chance if you haven’t already. The writing is gripping and so damn intense. There’s that word again. I can’t help but describe this any other way. Read the book and see for yourself!
*Thank you to the author for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions are subjective but my own.
Buy the book:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
About the author:
Vera Hollins is the author of the Bullied series, which has amassed over 30 million reads online since 2016. She loves writing emotional, dark, and angsty love stories that deal with heartbreak, mental and social issues, and finding light in darkness.
She's been writing since she was nine, and before she knew it, it became her passion and life. She particularly likes coffee, bunnies, angsty romance, and anti-heroes. When she's not writing, you can find her reading, plotting her next book with as many twists as possible, and watching YouTube.
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