Book Blurb:
This isn’t another “I hate you because I secretly love you” story. Boy really does hate girl. And this isn’t just a forbidden love story. This is obsession at its darkest.
I don’t believe in fairy tales and Prince Charming.
I believe in fear.
He taught me how to be afraid.
We first met on a playground on a wonderful summer day. It was the first time he hurt me and it wouldn’t be the last. For ten years, he’s been my tormentor and I’ve been his forbidden. But then he went away, and yet I was still afraid.
Now he’s back and wants more than just my tears. You see…he thinks I sent him away so now he wants revenge…and he knows just how to get it.
My Review:
Wow this book really is one of those that you just aren’t sure if you should like it or not. For me the more I found myself getting drawn in and enjoying the book, the more it made me question myself. Because the content of this book is more than just dark, it is disturbing in places. The plot twists just seem to throw in more dark and disturbing pieces of information and every time this happened I was more hooked.
Normally I would take some time to tell you a bit about the main characters and the plot but I think if I wrote any spoilers it really would be doing you, the future reader of this book a disservice. I think you need to go in not knowing what to expect but know that whether you want to or not you will enjoy this book.
Lake is the main female lead in this book and is an 18 year old in her senior year of high school. For the last 10 years she has been terrorised by her high school bully Keiran Masters. That all changed for a year while he was in juvie but now he’s back to finish out his senior year. The only problem is he thinks the reason he ended up in juvie was because Lake set him up. Now he wants revenge!
I’m not even sure where to begin when talking about Keiran. If you are looking for that bad boy who will turn good for the right girl, this is not that book. Keiran is broken and cold after experiencing an upbringing like no other. He is so full of anger and pain. But from the moment he met Lake at 8 years old he has been drawn to her, except not in the normal love at first sight way. To him Lake signifies weakness and the only way to deal with that is to fight and cause pain. He spends years terrorising Lake, but after juvie seeing her fear is not enough. Keiran wants to consume and own Lake in the most disturbing of ways. This leads to a fierce sexual connection that neither of them saw coming.
If you think this book is a love story you could not be more wrong. Lake and Keiran are drawn to each other sexually but I’m not sure either of them is able to get over their hate to truly love, particularly Keiran who doesn’t know what love is. But there is undeniable sexual chemistry between the pair. Let me be clear, to say the line of consent are blurred at times in this book would be wholly inaccurate. There are times when Lake definitively says no and Keiran takes what he wants anyway. The fact that Lake reacts, is aroused and enjoys the sex is irrelevant. So if that kind of thing bothers you then this is definitely not the book for you. If I am being honest this is one of the areas I was describing earlier. My head knows that I am not supposed to enjoy reading it and I definitely do not support this in real life, but this is fiction and it definitely added an element to their relationship that needed to be there. It made the story more intense and enjoyable.
One of the things I loved most about the book was the secondary characters; Keenan and Sheldon, Dash and Willow. I know that they feature a lot in the future books in this series and this is great because I want to know more about them all. We get little snippets of them but it is just not enough and I can’t wait to learn more.
One of the main reasons Lake spends more time with Keiran in this book despite not liking him and being terrified of him, is because she wants to know all the secrets of his past and to figure him out. This I can relate to because this is what kept me reading into the early hours of the morning. The desire for answers and more information pulled me in and with every plot twist I was even more addicted. But this book ended on an almighty, jaw dropping cliff-hanger which I’m sure resulted in the world record for downloading not just the second book but all five in the series. I cannot wait to start reading. This book was all wrote from Lakes perspective and I kept finding myself wondering what was going on in Keiran’s head. Book 2 will answer that for me, hopefully, as it features dual Keiran and Lake perspectives. I have a feeling I won’t be much company for the next few days while I dive into the complicated world that B.B Reid has created. The romantic in me is hoping for a happily ever after but I’m not holding my breath and that has me excited because I don’t know where the story is going to lead! But I do know that I would highly recommend this dark and twisted story!
Emma's Romantic Reviews 