Tag: Abuse (Page 2 of 5)

BOOK REVIEW – Alice (Alice #1) by Christina Henry

February 20, 2016 / Anna

Alice (Alice #1)
by Christina Henry
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
A mind-bending new novel inspired by the twisted and wondrous works of Lewis Carroll...

In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls which echo the screams of the poor souls inside.

In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blond, hangs in tangles down her back. She doesn’t remember why she’s in such a terrible place. Just a tea party long ago, and long ears, and blood…

Then, one night, a fire at the hospital gives the woman a chance to escape, tumbling out of the hole that imprisoned her, leaving her free to uncover the truth about what happened to her all those years ago.

Only something else has escaped with her. Something dark. Something powerful.

And to find the truth, she will have to track this beast to the very heart of the Old City, where the rabbit waits for his Alice.

~~Bring it, Alice! I’m not scared.~~ Oh, how I should have.

TRIGGER WARNING : Graphic rape (a lot) and violence

►By no means is Alice a flawless book, and I’m not gonna lie, the first chapters, if they hooked me, confused me as hell in the same time. Who are these people? What do they want? What are their relationships like? Where the fuck are they? What’s this world, where human traffic, rape and violence are common practices, where the awful way women are treated makes me want to scream?

To be honest, I always thought that Alice in Wonderland was weird as fuck and developed in an undercurrent of crazy violence, and here? Well. Christina Henry sure pictured the characters we know in the most terrifying light. I love this kind of retellings with passion, and despite the horror, I couldn’t help but be mesmerized at all the magical and strange creatures we meet.

► Moreover, as long as it took for me to simply understand what was going on, it didn’t influence my interest, not at any moment. From the first page I was intrigued, horrified, drowned into this sick journey of theirs. It started with my breath thinning, then gasping and struggling for air.

I was there with Alice, who coudn’t annoy me even if she kept following Hatcher around, because after what she lived through, it made sense and she was lucid about her need and their somewhat unhealthy relationship. Perhaps this world forces her to be taken care of by a man, but nobody owns her, and she makes sure that everyone knows it. Fierce, fierce Alice – she’s in no need of saving, after all. Trust me on this. And then, there’s Hatcher. Hatcher whose madness took violent turns sometimes and whose mind we could never really trust, but Hatcher who was ready to do anything to protect her. Starting Alice, I didn’t expect his character, and he surprised me in the best way possible.

This said, I won’t say that their relationship didn’t surprise or make me uncomfortable at times, because it did. What is it that they have? Love? Friendship? Whatever it is, its evolution is beautiful.

► Really, though? Their quest for revenge and blood captivated me and I rooted for them to kill these fuckers something fierce. Whoops.

This said, I didn’t enjoy some parts of it (I’m not lying when I say that this book is really rape-y), and wanted for some men to go over the stereotyping lust (because really), that’s why I can’t bring myself to give it the full 5. If I never got the impression that rape was used as a plot device – but rather as a way to show how monstruous and excruciating this world is, and NEVER condoned in any way – I don’t like the fact that (almost) all men are bad.

Thanks god for View Spoiler »Hatcher « Hide Spoiler, really.

BOOK REVIEW – Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

February 19, 2016 / Anna

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GONE GIRL

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice" of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.

*breathes deeply*

What a ride! Finally a mystery that keeps its appeal intact after the first 50% and does not make me roll my eyes all duh! like in the end. Let’s see why, shall we?

► Highly recommended if you can stomach the depression. *whispers* In the end, I even rooted for Libby. Don’t ask me why. I just did. Nobody’s perfect, okay? I said that the characters made me sick, but oh, the sadness. The despair. The misunderstandings. The loneliness. My heart aches from lack of hope.

BOOK REVIEW – We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

February 16, 2016 / Anna

We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
There are a few things Henry Denton knows, and a few things he doesn’t.

Henry knows that his mom is struggling to keep the family together, and coping by chain-smoking cigarettes. He knows that his older brother is a college dropout with a pregnant girlfriend. He knows that he is slowly losing his grandmother to Alzheimer’s. And he knows that his boyfriend committed suicide last year.

What Henry doesn’t know is why the aliens chose to abduct him when he was thirteen, and he doesn’t know why they continue to steal him from his bed and take him aboard their ship. He doesn’t know why the world is going to end or why the aliens have offered him the opportunity to avert the impending disaster by pressing a big red button.

But they have. And they’ve only given him 144 days to make up his mind.

The question is whether Henry thinks the world is worth saving. That is, until he meets Diego Vega, an artist with a secret past who forces Henry to question his beliefs, his place in the universe, and whether any of it really matters. But before Henry can save the world, he’s got to figure out how to save himself, and the aliens haven’t given him a button for that.

This is, my friends – without any doubt – the most unexpected and remarkable book I’ve read this year (and the year before, if I’m being honest), soothing and yet poignant at the same time. I feel as if I should wait and write a better review because let’s face it, my midnight thoughts hardly come close to what this book deserves but I can’t. I’m ecstatic and barely thinking straight as huge is its impact on me, and honestly? I need to vent.

As far as 5 stars ratings are concerned, mines are often of two kinds : the flashy, mind-blowing, usually crazy ones (what? I love my evil cutters), and the quietly unforgettable others. We Are the Ants is part of the latter : I can’t, for the life of me, think about something I didn’t like in this strange and beautiful story.

Closing this novel, I feel like a walking-talking-contradiction : speechless, and yet so many words are fighting fiercely into my mind for the honor of – perhaps – convincing you to give it the chance I strongly think it deserves.

► Must I mention the splendid characterization that gives life to these flawed, multi-layered and endearing human beings, whose relationships are pictured in such honest and real way? Speaking of which, do you know why I think that Shaun David Hutchinson shows so much talent when creating his characters? Because albeit begrudgingly, I can’t hate any member of Henry’s family – they’re messed-up sometimes, but oh, how they ring true! Their struggles, their reluctances, their mistakes – none of them can hide the profound love they feel for each others, even if they don’t always know how to show that yes, they do care. Also, Diego. Gah. I won’t say much and let you discover this hopeful wonder of a boy by yourself but trust me, he won’t let you indifferent.

► Can I gush about the fact that everything is beautifully crafted, every event way more complicated than it first appears? Forget the blurb and your – well-deserved – doubts : although Henry’s journey is freaking weird, it works wonderfully.

► Should I talk about the heartbreaking yet so realistic confusion between what the characters believe about themselves and the reality? How the fog they’re walking in can be both their end and their relief? How Henry’s narration, hovering between lucidity and delusion, never loses its hilarious and off-beat spikes, especially when he describes the world we’re living in? Gosh, I’m still recovering from the SnowFlake Page. So fucking true.

☞ I could go on and on and on for hours, it wouldn’t do it more justice than this little sentence can : We Are the Ants is brilliant, and like nothing I read before. Oh, who am I kidding? It just entered my all-times favorites. Highly recommended.

PS. I may never get over the giant cockroaches. Bloody HELL.

BOOK REVIEW – Captive Prince : Volume One (Captive Prince #1) by C.S. Pacat

February 8, 2016 / Anna

Captive Prince : Volume One (Captive Prince #1)
by C.S. Pacat
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
"This was Vere, voluptuous and decadent, country of honeyed poison"

Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the truthful heir to the throne of Akielos, but when his half brother seizes power, Damen is captured, stripped of his identity and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave.

Beautiful, manipulative and deadly, his new master Prince Laurent epitomizes the worst of the court at Vere. But in the lethal political web of the Veretian court, nothing is as it seems, and when Damen finds himself caught up in a play for the throne, he must work together with Laurent to survive and save his country.

For Damen, there is just one rule: never, ever reveal his true identity. Because the one man Damen needs is the one man who has more reason to hate him than anyone else...

TRIGGER WARNING : graphic violence, rape, slavery

Oh, the dilemma. Review it? Jump on book 2? Review it? Jump on book 2? Review it? Jump on book 2?

Eenie meenie miney mo
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollars let him go
Eenie meenie miney mo

Oh, screw it. I swear that I’ll write a real review of Captive Prince: Volume One because Helloooo, it deserves ones, but for now my excitation and eagerness to freaking KNOW what will happen leads me to shorten my ramble and only give you reduced information (perhaps that’s for the best) (you don’t want to read my entire rambling) (trust me)

☑ Welcome to a harsh and unforgiving world where slavery (including sexual), torture and rape are common practice (including towards youngers, which makes the book so fucking hard to stomach at times). I know, I know, YIKES, but trust me, if I could handle it it’s only thanks to C.S. Pacat‘s talent for dealing with these awful subjects without never showing any form of indulgence towards them. Indeed it’s obvious from the start that Damen, the MC, doesn’t condone nor accept Vere’s barbaric customs. This said, he is the product of this world, therefore what is normal to him can appear quite horrible for our contemporary minds, and with reasons. If he hates people to be abused, he does accept slavery as normal – like a Roman would have. This does not mean that we readers are supposed to agree with him, but actually the opposite. Although I was trembling with rage as soon as I reached page two – and my sentiments never wavered – my fury was focused on this world, as I’m sure the author intended to.

☑ If the world-building leaves several shadow zones and can’t be compared to the level of a full fantasy novel, in my opinion it wasn’t the point : Captive Prince: Volume One is character driven and the political machinations and cunning mostly made up for the relative lack of information about the ‘outside’ world. Early on my mind was reeling, and despite the fact that I guessed several outcomes, it didn’t diminished my enjoyment because –

Well, because –

☑ Laurent. HOLY SHIT I CAN’T HATE HIM. He fascinates me way too much. Perhaps I should feel ashamed, given the fact that he’s a torturer son of a bitch for most of the novel but HEY! You’re talking to the girl who loves Jorg of Ancrath. So there’s that. You know you can’t trust me when it comes to COMPLEX and straight on CAPTIVATING villains. I just can’t. I’m sorry, blablabla, and all that. So, Laurent. He’s harsh, manipulative, intransigent, secret, unwilling to trust, multi-layered, HE MADE ME LAUGH (because dry humor is somehow right up my alley. WOOT!) – He also is growing. I cannot wait to see who he will become in the next books. (to be taken literally) (on to book 2 right now)

☑ The grow of Damen and Laurent’s relationship is perfectly handled – there’s no romance here, guys. THANK YOU FOR SLOW BURN. Also, banter. Banter is EVERYTHING. Especially when it’s so subtle that every giggle comes with a gasp of surprise.

To conclude this review that is already way longer than I had expected (somehow it doesn’t come as a surprise), I’ll say that I was never bored – Not at any moment. Appalled, furious, captivated, curious, yes. Not bored.

► This is quite a success. Color me surprised. No, scratch that : color me stunned instead. Beware, this does NOT mean that I would recommend this book to anyone. I WOULDN’T, because I’m not lying when I say that it’s really REALLY harsh and morally questionable. Please go warned.

BOOK REVIEW – Split by Swati Avasthi

January 24, 2016 / Anna

Split by Swati Avasthi
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
A riveting portrait of life after abuse from an award-winning novelist.

Sixteen-Year-Old Jace Witherspoon arrives at the doorstep of his estranged brother Christian with a re-landscaped face (courtesy of his father’s fist), $3.84, and a secret.

He tries to move on, going for new friends, a new school, and a new job, but all his changes can’t make him forget what he left behind—his mother, who is still trapped with his dad, and his ex-girlfriend, who is keeping his secret.

At least so far.

Worst of all, Jace realizes that if he really wants to move forward, he may first have to do what scares him most: He may have to go back. Award-winning novelist Swati Avasthi has created a riveting and remarkably nuanced portrait of what happens after. After you’ve said enough, after you’ve run, after you’ve made the split—how do you begin to live again? Readers won’t be able to put this intense page-turner down.

“It’s not really all right, is it? I mean, who would miss that bastard? Shouldn’t I hate him, just simple, pure hatred? Shouldn’t I write him a thank-you note for getting me out of there, for not wanting me around anymore?”

Every time I open a book labeled as realistic fiction, I brace myself, knowing that this genre covers such different kinds of stories. What will that be? A stereotypical high school cutesy? A misleading “issue book” where romance outweighs everything? A flat and boring nonsense?

Sometimes, though. Sometimes its pages contain larger than life characters whose journeys are related with such honesty and depth that we feel a little like voyeurs. Sometimes we realize how wonderful it is that an issue we read about over and over again can be pictured in a different – yet real – way. Sometimes opening this realistic fiction novel feels like being punched in the guts, our throat closing, the air thinning around us.

This is how realistic fiction should be, and Split did a splendid job at it.

Never an abusive homelife – and its consequences – has been tackled with such sincerity. I mean, perhaps it has, but I have yet to read these books. See, I often complain about twirling moustaches evils and one-dimensional characters and I can assure you that you’ll find none of them here. Don’t get fooled, I’m not saying that Jace and Christian’s dad isn’t to blame because Christ! I want him to burn to death but Swati Avasthi perfectly pictures how difficult it can be to escape an abuser – how he/she twists the reality – your reality – so much that you convince yourself that hoping for a better life is just a stupid dream. If I’m thankful enough to never have been through that, one of my best-friend did and I know how upset she would feel whenever someone implied that she was to blame for not having reacted faster. That kind of bullshit made her positively furious, and she was oh so right to be. Come on, assholes. Just try and use your brains. But I digress – In that account, Split was raw, painful at times, but – sorry, I’m repeating myself – fundamentally honest.

And you’ve got the brothers. Aw, Jace and Christian. I can’t express how much I loved seeing their complicated relationship unfold, all guilt and desire to escape and just be. They made me care and laugh and cry. I wanted to shake and protect and hug them. None of them is perfect, and their mistakes – their anger, their denial – were sometimes hard to stomach, but their fierce love and loyalty was straight-on beautiful. Swati Avasthi doesn’t shy away from the psychological effects of such abuse and Jace’s struggles to escape how it changed him. Following him was heartbreaking, yet so very hopeful.

Just – read this book, okay? I can’t promise you that you’ll enjoy every second of it, because some parts made my heart ache – others made me furious – but in the end, even if I would have wanted for some questions to be resolved View Spoiler », I can’t deny that Split is a powerful book, and Jace and Christian characters who will not be easily forgotten.

How comes that this novel isn’t more widely read?