Favorite quote:
"We are all victims of circumstance-until we make a conscious decision not to be."
I honestly did not know what to expect when I started reading this, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. If I was to describe this book, I would say that it is an interesting psychological look into the darker aspects of the human condition.
This book has it all. Romance, hate, deceit, creepiness, lust, love, violence, and even a bit of a complex sort of Stockholm syndrome relationship. From beginning to end I did not know what to expect. There was so much mystery and suspense in this book. The story centers around Angie and Heather and they are two complex characters. Angie is kinda having a stale moment in her relationship with her boyfriend, while Heather is this more sophisticated and mysterious woman who kinda lures Angie into all sorts of things. And the story does get crazy.
What is surprising though, is that despite the extreme topics covered in this novel and how complex it is, it is a quick read. I thought it was gonna take me a while to read it and I breezed through it. I would say that that is due to the great writing in this book. The author really put me in the mindset of the characters and the world the story was taking place in.
Another interesting aspect of this story and why I say it has a bit of a Stockholm syndrome situation going on is that while Heather holds Angie captive in some ways, there is a power struggle between them. It would be easy to assume that Angie is a victim of Heather's since she lures her into her world and secludes her from the world, but Angie is not just any girl. Though she is struggling and learning about herself in this extreme situation Heather puts her through, she challenges Heather and uses her intelligence to survive the situation and in the process learns a lot about herself. Angie is no pushover. There is also a relationship that develops between these two women amongst the violence in this book of a more romantic nature. Angie gets lured to Heather's world under false pretenses, but it's because there is something about the way Heather carries herself that lets her get swept away. What started off as a night of experiments for Angie, turns into something much more. And it makes Angie bring out the deeper aspects of herself that she suppresses.
In this book, you get an insight into the past of both of the two main characters, Angie and Heather. Angie's mother is the absolute worst and such a cold woman. I can see why Angie struggled so much with herself when she was a kid and as a young woman trying to live in the world. And Heather really has a twisted history which kinda explains why she is all types of crazy. Now, Heather does have a lot of vulnerability hidden under her dominant personality and creepiness. And it's not like she excuses her behavior or you feel too much sympathy for her. She is straight forward and unapologetic and I kinda though that was a cool way to develop her character because I hate when author's try to excuse the behavior of the resident villain of the story. Not that she is a complete villain, but she's not a good person either.
The ending was shocking to me. I did not know if Angie was gonna play it safe and go back to her life with her boyfriend or stay around Heather. But let's just say Angie grew in this novel and definitely became a woman sure in herself. And she changed A LOT. She did things that shocked me to the core!
This book is an erotic thriller and there are very dark themes and scenes in it, especially the sex scenes. Can be classified as BDSM-ish in nature. But the scenes do not distract from the story. The story is still very psychological and complex.
My Rating: 4/5