Normally You Shouldn't Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth. This Is An Exception To The Rule

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The Safe Place By Anna Downes
I'm going to kick this baby off with what I know about Anna Downes' debut, The Safe Place. Trust me. Once I start dissecting the multitude of opinions and viewpoints that my brain has been marinating in since Saturday- literally, Saturday. Well, I'm not sure that we will make it out of that rabbit hole alive. I apologize, Ms. Downes, for this review of The Safe Place is a day late. My brain needed further time to marinate and cook.

Wait.

OK. I walked right into that one. But shut-up and leave me and my brain being undercooked, alone.
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For The Love Of It

One thing I know. The Safe Place is a fantastic debut from Anna Downes. Whatever Downes has planned for her next book (I can only hope it is an Adult Psychological Thriller), I am definitely here for it.

Anyone who has watched the Marvel Cinematic Universe long enough knows that Mark Ruffalo enjoyed playing Bruce Banner/the Hulk more than any other actor.

We know that because it came through in the acting. It was apparent how much fun he was having.

When someone loves what they are doing authentically, it fills you up. You love the experience of consuming art, even more. Anyone who listens to Supergrass understands what I'm saying.

Anna Downes loves piecing together every part of a thriller. It radiates off every page of The Safe Place. There isn't anything that I can use as "exhibit A" to prove what I'm saying is true. It isn't a tangible part of the craft.

Nor am I saying that all writers don't love what they do. Downes just has an intangible je ne sais quoi that connects her to her stories and her stories to the readers—understanding that bringing a book into the world is a gift to the reader, which then makes it theirs. Finding joy in knowing they will then make of it, what they will, by bringing in their life experiences, lens, and viewpoints, is fantastic, indeed.
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Character Driven Books

Another thing I know. In writing a character-driven novel, you must, of course, have strong characters. Downes devised the four main characters: Emily, Scott, Nina, and Aureilia unapologetically, intensely, brutally, and with fierce intent.

You can love them or hate them (I'll get to that in a bit because I don't even know), but they will evoke strong emotions one way or another. One thing none of the characters are is, meh.

A small but essential bit of side characters are utilized to provide emotional context, depth to the suspense, or cause chaos. And it works. The Safe Place's strongest suit and I suspect Downes' strongest attribute as a writer, lays with her characters.

Throughout their arc, each character is relatable, even when you really would rather not relate to them.
She can make characters sympathetic when you hate them, loathsome when you should root for them, and oh, but how you want to protect them from themselves, let alone the world. That is some tight rope act to walk.

It isn't a matter of the characters being morally grey but having life experiences that make you bleed for them, relate to them. Downes writes them so realistically that you can't help but think, but would I? Can I judge this person so cruelly, so harshly?
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That is brave writing because it is much easier to make a character cut and dry hateful so that you don't have to argue your moral position on their actions. It is easy to judge someone if you easily hate them. And it is easy to root for the protagonist if they are instantly likable, but the world doesn't spin so smoothly on that axis.

There are brave choices that Downes makes in the thoughts and dialogue that characters have at the most desperate times of their life.

At first, it easy to have a common knee jerk reaction. But when your brain marinates. You realize that if you are honest with yourself, OK, you couldn't say/think/do X, but can you judge THAT person, either?

Maybe not so quickly and not so harshly. That is damn good character development.
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Summary And Commentary On The Safe Place

Here is a quick summary of The Safe Place. Emily loses everything in the first; I don't know, forty pages of the book. Well, everything she had, which isn't much. She has no support system to speak of and is pretty much fucked.

Scott is the CEO of a vast corporation, self-made billionaire, and as is the case with life, not at all what he seems.