noun [kee-smash] a random string of letters and symbols typed out on a keyboard or touchscreen, used to signal intense emotion in written communication:
The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters has been on my most anticipated July release list, and I am so happy that I got the chance to finally dive into this amazing, sapphic horror fantasy last month. It was everything the blurb promised: full of magic, a heaping of gothic horror, and an irresistible thriller/mystery to bind it all together.
Ratings: ☕☕☕☕☕ (5/5)
Trigger warning: abusive relationship, domestic violence, sexual assault
SOMETIMES THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU IS THE ONE WHO HURTS YOU THE MOST
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up – she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.
Ryle is assertive, stubborn, and maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily, but Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing.
As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan – her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.
“Shouldn’t there be more distaste in our mouths for the abusers than for those who continue to love the abusers?”
It Ends With Us isn’t a book that changed me, nor is it a book that taught me things that I didn’t already know. But it is a special book, nonetheless, not just because it is incredibly well-written, has complex characters who are painfully imperfect, and a plot that is–to quote Hoover herself–brave and bold. This book is special, because this book is important.
Abusive relationships is a subject that needs to be discussed more often, especially considering that even now, though we do hate and condemn abusers, almost all of us have asked this question at least once: “Why didn’t she leave him the first time he hit her? Why did she give him a second chance? Why didn’t she walk away?”
Continue reading “Review: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover”
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Rating: ☕☕☕ (3/5)
Where do I even begin?
As someone who was not at all impressed by Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass, I was extremely reluctant to pick up this series, especially given the fact that it received the same amount of hype that Throne of Glass did–a book I did not enjoy at all. For this reason, I had very low expectations when my best friend forced me to read ACOTAR (you know you gotta read a book when your BFF says “read this book or friendship over”).
And well…surprise, surprise, I once again have the unpopular opinion.
The first thing that I want to mention is that this book is set in an incredibly beautiful world, and the way the writer portrayed this world and made this world come to life is beyond amazing. Continue reading “Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Mass”