Gwendolyn FieldCritiques

I eagerly jumped in after the book was highly recommended by multiple readers. I hated it and found it so stupid I couldn't even finish. I didn't care about any of the characters and was annoyed by their conversation and behavior. I also didn't find it to be terribly dark, and I like them dark.

This was a fast, dark read with some great characters, but it also left quite a bit to be desired. Writing-wise, there were far too many cliches, and the story itself was a fair bit too predictable--to the extent that nothing really came as a surprise, even in the most dramatic moments. The romance also felt too automatic, and too much like insta-love. It would have been nice to see the feelings develop on her side as well as his, in a way where readers could actually believe in the romance/love by the end, rather than feel like it is too situational/automatic. I guess, overall, I just wanted a bit more depth of something other than emotion/angst, and more detail when it came to the two protagonists interacting with each other. I never felt particularly attached to either, and that became more and more of a problem as the book became more predictable. I don't think any of these weaknesses are necessarily damning problems, but when there's no one thing which is outstanding (writing, characterization, plotting...), they start to amount to a book which just isn't as engaging as it should be.

I'm not sure whether I'd read another work by this author or not--it was a fast read, so I might, but probably only if it weren't self-published.½

I loved the book but brought it down to 4 stars instead of 5 because I wanted more of an ending. I wanted to see the struggles of how she/they adjusted afterwards.

What an amazing book. If you like books with a dark theme in them and addressing some hard subjects that leaves you thinking about them long after you finished reading it then this book is for you. loved every bit of it!

4.5 stars. Crazy but good! A more detailed review to come. I just need to sort my feeling enough to write a review that can be understood!!

Wow this was such a good book! The synopsis did not capture my attention but after all my GR friends raved about this I decided to give it a try and boy am I glad I did. Turned out to be one of my favorite books so far this year. Cant wait for the next one.

great book with a dark and twisted storyline. This book painted a terrifying picture of the human slave trade and my heart was breaking with each "lesson" learned and every rule that Angela had to follow. She did what she had to do to survive with little hope of being saved. Throughout the book I felt her feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, her fear and pain and when Colin came on the scene I felt his conflicting emotions while trying to find a way to save Angela and it added to the angst when he was at the villa. This was a hard book at times to read, just digesting what was being inflicted on an innocent girl and the trauma that Colin and his brother had been through. It was horrifying, but I couldn't put it down.

Very good book. More detailed review to come.