I didn’t hate this. The author really emphasized the TWs for this book, so I went into it prepared for a dark read. While the content was graphic, I can see how she tried to put the reader into Summer’s mindset. It’s easier to understand how broken she is when you’ve read the scenes of her SA so graphic, it turns your stomach. I sat through those painful chapters expecting a journey of healing and love afterwards…but I was so thoroughly underwhelmed. It definitely wasn’t worth sitting through the gratuitous violence I read for a solid chunk of this book.
I felt like nothing happened after the club saved Summer. Lots of reactions to her trauma, but not real action. The plot stalled, and it was a drag to read. Then to have the antagonists all go out in such underwhelming ways. Yes, the way Gabriel and Hanz died was gratifying, but it felt hollow because they were only in a position to die after making the dumbest choices. It felt lazy, like the author couldn’t be bothered to write something sensible.
My biggest disappointment though was how the surprise pregnancy was treated. Summer’s hesitation to terminate the pregnancy or give the baby up for adoption was wild to me. And the whole time, Anchor is in his head just hoping and praying that she doesn’t give up the baby…the living, breathing evidence of her trauma. But to frame it as Summer has “too good of a heart” to do anything other than keep the baby…as if a woman who went through what she did would somehow be less than for not wanting to keep the baby just made me sick.