I may have liked this book better if it hadn’t been advertised as “a psychological thriller with a shocking twist.” It was a pretty obvious although dramatized story about the cycle of abuse. The writing held my attention and had me flying through it pretty quickly, but so much of that was because I was waiting for a shocking twist.

I also have a pet peeve for when they introduce a second 1st person pov narrator but the narration is done in same voice as the first one. You can just write it all in third person then 😅

2 stars because it wasn’t a waste of time and the story was okay, but the false advertising really had the book falling flat.

I loved this one so much 😭 i didn’t read the original so I have no frame of reference. (I had no idea this was a fanfic until after when I went to read reviews)

I have such a strong appreciation for the authors ability to portray cPTSD and the prolonged trauma exposure of working in health care (especially in high stakes specialties). I’ve struggled for years with feeling so alone in how much a high trauma health care job changed me, but I felt I had a kindred spirit in this narrator.

I don’t personally feel like this book romanticized abuse or assault. So many of us have been in relationships that crossed that line, and this book held space for the fact that sometimes (or even most of the time) an abusive relationship can still hold a lot of love. I think exploring this in fiction can be really helpful in processing what we went through. I totally understand people who don’t feel the same way, and definitely check your trigger warnings before reading this one.

This was my first time reading horror, and I was nervous at first. But I loved the way the author leaned into the dark and messy parts of life and didn’t push for the story to turn out a certain way or to follow standard tropes. I’ve been a big fan of fantasy for years and I feel like the horror element really fixed all my hang ups with the fantasy genre.

The plot and narration were so compelling; I really found myself glued to this book. I can’t wait to forget enough of this book that I can read it again 🙈