I won this book on a Goodreads giveaway and in the spirit of winning one I figured I should give it a review. Sadly I did not finish the book nor could I bring myself to finish it. My reason for not finishing it wasn’t because it was an awful story. I just figured it all out very quickly and it got boring to me once I knew what was going to happen. I was reading what I already knew and it got less entertaining as I read it. Once I got halfway I figured out the plot twist and from there i couldn’t bring myself to finish it. I used to watch a lot of lifetime and this book was like that. Once you watch one of them you start to understand how they all work so figuring out what was going to happen in this book wasn’t hard and to me was just like watching another crazy lifetime movie.
Pro
If you are a fan of lifetime movies then this is like one of those movies in book form. It has that crazy atmosphere with people making horrible decisions. It definitely has some moments that make you think, what the hell is going on. It does what all lifetimes movies do, making you think about everything you do and focus on the negative possibilities more than the positive.
If you like stories that are messed up in a psychological way this is one of those. It’s not the horrifying type of psychological, but the type that really makes you think about what you do, and who you should trust.
It does teach the lesson to be cautious of who you give your heart and trust to. Get to know them more before you go all in. People are good at acting to get what they want. Watch out for signs and if you see a bad one, don’t blow it off but instead investigate it deeper.
Cons
It is very easily to tell what is going to happen, maybe not to the full extent, but the future of what is going to happen within the book isn’t hidden. Through the characters actions and choices it’s very easy to know what they will do next and predict everything.
Elyse is one of the characters you want to help but also ask why is she being so dumb. She’s that typical teenager who makes every bad decision because she can and part of her feels like the world owes it to her. It does provide in depth why she feels that way by showing her home life, and it does make sense, but watching her mess up where most people would know that’s not a good idea is one of those moments where you cringe because her decisions can be so dumb. I would say it was like the author wrote her like she thinks a high school girl would act, but I have personally seen high school girls act like Elyse did so the author wasn’t actually wrong in her character, and the author did show how easy it can be for a man to manipulate a younger girl. For showing how a grown man can exploit a girl, who has nothing, like it was nothing more than a game, I give her props. As someone who doesn’t mind reading age gapes in romance (within reason and something that clearly isn’t manipulation, and also not like 15 years old ) I know that age gapes do get romanticized a lot, mostly in fantasy settings, so I liked that she showed the realness of what could actually happen in that situation and why young girls should be cautious of getting into a relationship with a older man.
The book had its good parts and its bad parts. I don’t tend to read a lot of psychological thrillers, I tend to prefer watching them, so I don’t know how they are usually written, it could just be me. Also I believe this is her first book and for a first book it was good, but as someone who loves mystery… everything, I didn’t think this was a good mystery. I’ve been stumped many times with mysteries and this I got instantly. Once a mystery is figured out the flame starts to die down, and unless the author fans the flame the fire gets put out. If you’re looking for a mystery, this is not one I would recommend, but if you want a disturbing story about the abusive relationships of two teenagers then I would recommend this one. It made you feel disturbed reading it, which you should when reading something so problematic. Once again, I give the author props on the relationships because watching Elyse’s views on her relationship change do seem so real, and watching both Elyse and Gabe slowly see real cruel parts of the people they loved did make you feel something. And this does happen to people, especially young people because they lack experience in this area. As someone who was lead on by someone’s lies, although it was not a boyfriend or a girlfriend, but someone very important to me, I have felt somewhat like what they have gone through and I think people should be more aware of telltale signs of when a person is not who they act/say they are.
*This book does feature, people on drugs, manipulation, stalking, abusive relations, and bad relationships with parents. If any of these do trigger you or you don’t like reading then be aware or don’t this book. It does go into depth with all of these, it’s not just a glimpse into them. This book is very heavy with manipulation and pathological liars.*
On the other hand if you are someone who doesn’t know the signs of someone manipulating you then this is a good book to help you understand those moments, and to watch out for them. Manipulation can be very subtle and a lot of times people don’t know they are being manipulated. It happens more than you think.
Pro
If you are a fan of lifetime movies then this is like one of those movies in book form. It has that crazy atmosphere with people making horrible decisions. It definitely has some moments that make you think, what the hell is going on. It does what all lifetimes movies do, making you think about everything you do and focus on the negative possibilities more than the positive.
If you like stories that are messed up in a psychological way this is one of those. It’s not the horrifying type of psychological, but the type that really makes you think about what you do, and who you should trust.
It does teach the lesson to be cautious of who you give your heart and trust to. Get to know them more before you go all in. People are good at acting to get what they want. Watch out for signs and if you see a bad one, don’t blow it off but instead investigate it deeper.
Cons
It is very easily to tell what is going to happen, maybe not to the full extent, but the future of what is going to happen within the book isn’t hidden. Through the characters actions and choices it’s very easy to know what they will do next and predict everything.
Elyse is one of the characters you want to help but also ask why is she being so dumb. She’s that typical teenager who makes every bad decision because she can and part of her feels like the world owes it to her. It does provide in depth why she feels that way by showing her home life, and it does make sense, but watching her mess up where most people would know that’s not a good idea is one of those moments where you cringe because her decisions can be so dumb. I would say it was like the author wrote her like she thinks a high school girl would act, but I have personally seen high school girls act like Elyse did so the author wasn’t actually wrong in her character, and the author did show how easy it can be for a man to manipulate a younger girl. For showing how a grown man can exploit a girl, who has nothing, like it was nothing more than a game, I give her props. As someone who doesn’t mind reading age gapes in romance (within reason and something that clearly isn’t manipulation, and also not like 15 years old ) I know that age gapes do get romanticized a lot, mostly in fantasy settings, so I liked that she showed the realness of what could actually happen in that situation and why young girls should be cautious of getting into a relationship with a older man.
The book had its good parts and its bad parts. I don’t tend to read a lot of psychological thrillers, I tend to prefer watching them, so I don’t know how they are usually written, it could just be me. Also I believe this is her first book and for a first book it was good, but as someone who loves mystery… everything, I didn’t think this was a good mystery. I’ve been stumped many times with mysteries and this I got instantly. Once a mystery is figured out the flame starts to die down, and unless the author fans the flame the fire gets put out. If you’re looking for a mystery, this is not one I would recommend, but if you want a disturbing story about the abusive relationships of two teenagers then I would recommend this one. It made you feel disturbed reading it, which you should when reading something so problematic. Once again, I give the author props on the relationships because watching Elyse’s views on her relationship change do seem so real, and watching both Elyse and Gabe slowly see real cruel parts of the people they loved did make you feel something. And this does happen to people, especially young people because they lack experience in this area. As someone who was lead on by someone’s lies, although it was not a boyfriend or a girlfriend, but someone very important to me, I have felt somewhat like what they have gone through and I think people should be more aware of telltale signs of when a person is not who they act/say they are.
*This book does feature, people on drugs, manipulation, stalking, abusive relations, and bad relationships with parents. If any of these do trigger you or you don’t like reading then be aware or don’t this book. It does go into depth with all of these, it’s not just a glimpse into them. This book is very heavy with manipulation and pathological liars.*
On the other hand if you are someone who doesn’t know the signs of someone manipulating you then this is a good book to help you understand those moments, and to watch out for them. Manipulation can be very subtle and a lot of times people don’t know they are being manipulated. It happens more than you think.