What I Liked:
I am in awe of the character development in this book. I hadn’t even realized that I had a slightly icky feeling about one of the love interests, Ryle, from the very beginning until his darker nature was revealed later in the book. It was so subtle, but all the more impactful as the plot unfolded. The characters were so real, even if it was frustrating because I wanting thing to turn out differently.
What I Didn’t Really Like:
Reading a book revolving around the topic of abusive relationships was tough at times, but it was done very well. The descriptions provided during the scenes of abuse found a very good balance to elicit the emotions surrounding the event, but wasn’t unnecessarily too detailed. In general, I’m not a fan of time skipping a lot to provide historic background that is necessary to understand the current context. However, using the “Dear Ellen” diary entries worked well and didn’t interrupt the overall flow of the story.
Overall:
This story will not be for everyone. Trigger warnings should definitely be reviewed before reading. However, I would definitely recommend the book for those that can read it. It helped me view abusive relationships from a new perspective. An abusive relationship will never be okay, but this book helped me get a glimpse of why they can be so hard to get out of. I am very much looking forward to reading the second book, It Starts With Us.
