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lpcoolgirl's review
5.0
Loved reading this book, it was hard at times, but it was a really great read!
emreads0's review
5.0
This is a perfect projection of how this feels. The author really shows both sides of the assault. Every emotion, every thought
snowwhitehatesapples's review
1.0
Review can also be found here.
Warning: Spoilers!
Am I old already?
Dear heavens, reading this book makes me feel like I’m a sixty-year-old inside the body of a young adult because the writing here? The writing here reads like the stories written by tweens (I assure you I wrote that way as a tween before)—you know, the ones you immediately click on and devour in writing websites when you’re that age because “Oh em gee, he’s so hot! She’s so cool! THEY’RE SO CUTE!!!!” and the plot’s just a bunch of clichés thrown together with teeny splashes of originality if you’re lucky? Yeah, those. Harsh, yes, and I’m sorry. Even sorrier since Fault Line deals with such a serious topic, but this is the most accurate comparison that pops up in my mind. In fact, reading this whole book makes me want to question the person who gave this book the green light because I don’t think it should’ve been published the way it is. At all. Why? Read on:
1. Desir’s writing is messy.
Point A jumps to Point C to Point B to Point Z. At one moment, Ben would be thinking about how he’s deeply in love with Ani, then the next paragraph would somehow be about how his buddy’s family’s not home, and then, the following one would go back to how Ani’s bringing him to a bathroom to clean their teeth so they can make out like the horny teenagers they are. Not to mention, Desir’s writing also moves between overly dramatic to incredibly boring, though not in the smoothest of ways. The whole book’s pretty much disjointed.
2. The characters are flat.
A good plot is needed for a good story to be told, but when there are no good characters, a good plot may just as well be useless. With that said, I felt nothing for the characters. No rage, no sadness, no sympathy whatsoever. Ani’s a character trying too hard to be sassy-sarcastic but ends up being more bitch (and I like bitchy characters but Ani’s type of bitch is a no-no for me, I felt so embarrassed for her!) than cool. She loves art and art is supposed to symbolise something to her, but the meaning associated to art never seems profound enough to be thought of as a symbol.
Ben on the other hand, is a wannabe—another try-hard who wants to be cool and manly. In a sense, he’s a little more realistic than Ani but the way Desir writes him tears that thought into shreds because his character’s all over the place. Plus, for someone who wants to be seen as The Man most of the times, I find it funny that he notices the colour of Ani’s toenails, especially when considering that he pays a lot more attention to her boobs or her legs—which also leads to the fact that the characters are often objectified by their opposite gender and they’re really stereotypical as well. I can’t even form a complete picture in my mind of how they look like, so yeah, failure in the descriptive writing department.
3. The dialogue is supremely awkward.
Dialogue is arguably one of the most difficult aspects of writing, but as I’m often told from numerous sources, the best way to go about it is to have someone act out the dialogue with you. If it doesn’t sound weird coming from their mouth, then woohoo! So, on that note, I actually did act out the dialogue in this book with my fellow drama friends and we all came to the agreement that a lot of them didn’t work because seriously, “You’re gonna be late. Banana bread French toast is downstairs waiting for you”. “Banana bread French toast”. Said that five times and I still don’t feel less awkward saying it.
4. The romance is unrealistic.
At Chapter Two, I see the attraction between Ani and Ben as infatuation. At Chapter Seven, before shit hits the fan in Chapter Eight, I’m still thinking the same thing. At Chapter Twenty-One? Gee golly gee, that the infatuation has developed into some sort of obsession—a guilt-induced and guilt-driven thing. The time skips don’t help in this situation either. You know that writing advice that tells you to trim the fat, keep it lean? Here, Desir took away all the meat as well, leaving the tiniest bits clinging onto the bone because it seems like she has no idea how to turn that infatuation into something real and chose instead, to rely on time skips.
5. The way the topic of rape was broached, and how it affected the rape victim and her boyfriend verges on unbelievable.
I’m not saying that the way Ani reacted isn’t completely plausible—there could be people who took the same path. She doesn’t have any solid proof, all she has are assumptions which sure, maybe that’s enough to drive her down on the path of self-destruction because she’s blaming herself but is that all? One night full of assumptions and off the cliff of sensibility she goes? Despite her insecurities, she’s a character who’s still strong enough to be sure that she can act the way she does prior to the incident. She has Ben to hold her hand and help her as well. Plus, she had sex with him multiple times so I’m sure she’s no stranger to masturbation which leads to the question of, how big is that bloody lighter? I mean, I get the point if it’s stuck too deep inside her hooha and you can’t get it out so surgery might be needed but otherwise, you can see where I’m going with this point. Of course, there’s also that part in the story that says that Ani’s the one who masturbated with the lighter on her own accord, and that her (best?) female friend says that she was acting like a “complete slut”. It doesn’t help Ani’s situation that Ben has questioned if she’s truly innocent and her ‘honesty’ is really honesty as well. Let’s not forget that he actually had sex with her afterwards because she needs ‘positive touches’ despite signs saying otherwise. He’s confused and doesn’t know what to do to help Ani heal, though he tries his best, but to let her do the things he knows is wrong and just stand there? Then, there’s that part where Ani becomes an actual slut too.
Also, Beth, that rape counsellor character is the least realistic rape counsellor I’ve ever read about. One moment she’s telling Ben to be open and accepting and all, then the next she’s shooting down their hopes of having the bad guys prosecuted. It doesn’t matter if she’s just a volunteer—that she doesn’t have much experience or whatever because bloody hell, people who haven’t been trained in such situations can give better advice. People who haven’t been trained in such situations can understand better ad they can even react better. So what’s Beth’s excuse? Nothing.
With that said, I almost DNF-ed this book, but for the sake of completing the reading challenges I’m taking part in, I forced myself to trudge on. Fault Line can be used as a prime example of ‘No matter the amount of research you do, writing a good enough story doesn’t happen without practice’. The first draft being a piece of crap rings true and the drafts following it can be just as crappy as well. I understand how difficult writing is, but this book simply lacks substance, coherence and punch. It couldn’t even draw a sliver of what I felt when I read Courtney Summer’s All The Rage, a book that deals with the same topic of rape. Even so, by the end of Fault Line, I can see that Desir is trying her best and I do like the ending, but do I recommend this book to you? No.
Warning: Spoilers!
Am I old already?
Dear heavens, reading this book makes me feel like I’m a sixty-year-old inside the body of a young adult because the writing here? The writing here reads like the stories written by tweens (I assure you I wrote that way as a tween before)—you know, the ones you immediately click on and devour in writing websites when you’re that age because “Oh em gee, he’s so hot! She’s so cool! THEY’RE SO CUTE!!!!” and the plot’s just a bunch of clichés thrown together with teeny splashes of originality if you’re lucky? Yeah, those. Harsh, yes, and I’m sorry. Even sorrier since Fault Line deals with such a serious topic, but this is the most accurate comparison that pops up in my mind. In fact, reading this whole book makes me want to question the person who gave this book the green light because I don’t think it should’ve been published the way it is. At all. Why? Read on:
1. Desir’s writing is messy.
Point A jumps to Point C to Point B to Point Z. At one moment, Ben would be thinking about how he’s deeply in love with Ani, then the next paragraph would somehow be about how his buddy’s family’s not home, and then, the following one would go back to how Ani’s bringing him to a bathroom to clean their teeth so they can make out like the horny teenagers they are. Not to mention, Desir’s writing also moves between overly dramatic to incredibly boring, though not in the smoothest of ways. The whole book’s pretty much disjointed.
2. The characters are flat.
A good plot is needed for a good story to be told, but when there are no good characters, a good plot may just as well be useless. With that said, I felt nothing for the characters. No rage, no sadness, no sympathy whatsoever. Ani’s a character trying too hard to be sassy-sarcastic but ends up being more bitch (and I like bitchy characters but Ani’s type of bitch is a no-no for me, I felt so embarrassed for her!) than cool. She loves art and art is supposed to symbolise something to her, but the meaning associated to art never seems profound enough to be thought of as a symbol.
Ben on the other hand, is a wannabe—another try-hard who wants to be cool and manly. In a sense, he’s a little more realistic than Ani but the way Desir writes him tears that thought into shreds because his character’s all over the place. Plus, for someone who wants to be seen as The Man most of the times, I find it funny that he notices the colour of Ani’s toenails, especially when considering that he pays a lot more attention to her boobs or her legs—which also leads to the fact that the characters are often objectified by their opposite gender and they’re really stereotypical as well. I can’t even form a complete picture in my mind of how they look like, so yeah, failure in the descriptive writing department.
3. The dialogue is supremely awkward.
Dialogue is arguably one of the most difficult aspects of writing, but as I’m often told from numerous sources, the best way to go about it is to have someone act out the dialogue with you. If it doesn’t sound weird coming from their mouth, then woohoo! So, on that note, I actually did act out the dialogue in this book with my fellow drama friends and we all came to the agreement that a lot of them didn’t work because seriously, “You’re gonna be late. Banana bread French toast is downstairs waiting for you”. “Banana bread French toast”. Said that five times and I still don’t feel less awkward saying it.
4. The romance is unrealistic.
At Chapter Two, I see the attraction between Ani and Ben as infatuation. At Chapter Seven, before shit hits the fan in Chapter Eight, I’m still thinking the same thing. At Chapter Twenty-One? Gee golly gee, that the infatuation has developed into some sort of obsession—a guilt-induced and guilt-driven thing. The time skips don’t help in this situation either. You know that writing advice that tells you to trim the fat, keep it lean? Here, Desir took away all the meat as well, leaving the tiniest bits clinging onto the bone because it seems like she has no idea how to turn that infatuation into something real and chose instead, to rely on time skips.
5. The way the topic of rape was broached, and how it affected the rape victim and her boyfriend verges on unbelievable.
I’m not saying that the way Ani reacted isn’t completely plausible—there could be people who took the same path. She doesn’t have any solid proof, all she has are assumptions which sure, maybe that’s enough to drive her down on the path of self-destruction because she’s blaming herself but is that all? One night full of assumptions and off the cliff of sensibility she goes? Despite her insecurities, she’s a character who’s still strong enough to be sure that she can act the way she does prior to the incident. She has Ben to hold her hand and help her as well. Plus, she had sex with him multiple times so I’m sure she’s no stranger to masturbation which leads to the question of, how big is that bloody lighter? I mean, I get the point if it’s stuck too deep inside her hooha and you can’t get it out so surgery might be needed but otherwise, you can see where I’m going with this point. Of course, there’s also that part in the story that says that Ani’s the one who masturbated with the lighter on her own accord, and that her (best?) female friend says that she was acting like a “complete slut”. It doesn’t help Ani’s situation that Ben has questioned if she’s truly innocent and her ‘honesty’ is really honesty as well. Let’s not forget that he actually had sex with her afterwards because she needs ‘positive touches’ despite signs saying otherwise. He’s confused and doesn’t know what to do to help Ani heal, though he tries his best, but to let her do the things he knows is wrong and just stand there? Then, there’s that part where Ani becomes an actual slut too.
Also, Beth, that rape counsellor character is the least realistic rape counsellor I’ve ever read about. One moment she’s telling Ben to be open and accepting and all, then the next she’s shooting down their hopes of having the bad guys prosecuted. It doesn’t matter if she’s just a volunteer—that she doesn’t have much experience or whatever because bloody hell, people who haven’t been trained in such situations can give better advice. People who haven’t been trained in such situations can understand better ad they can even react better. So what’s Beth’s excuse? Nothing.
With that said, I almost DNF-ed this book, but for the sake of completing the reading challenges I’m taking part in, I forced myself to trudge on. Fault Line can be used as a prime example of ‘No matter the amount of research you do, writing a good enough story doesn’t happen without practice’. The first draft being a piece of crap rings true and the drafts following it can be just as crappy as well. I understand how difficult writing is, but this book simply lacks substance, coherence and punch. It couldn’t even draw a sliver of what I felt when I read Courtney Summer’s All The Rage, a book that deals with the same topic of rape. Even so, by the end of Fault Line, I can see that Desir is trying her best and I do like the ending, but do I recommend this book to you? No.
hms66's review
4.0
Read more reviews at The Anonymous Book Life.
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
This was a surprise read, through pulseit.com’s 31 days of reading, which I had to fly through to get to the end before the 24 hour deadline, so bear with me if this review is all over the place.
I really enjoyed this book, not that I enjoyed the subject matter, but I really appreciated the human feel all the characters carried. The story revolves around couple, Ben and Ani, from their first meeting to their uncertain fate at the end of the book. At first their relationship is great and they are having fun exploring each other, physically and emotionally. Then an unexpected and tragic event changes the course of their relationship, the story is mainly about how they deal with it.
The opening few pages had me hooked. It drew me in and I felt the need to know what the hell happened to make them get to that point Ani sucking off a teacher in a classroom at school and Ben reacting to seeing it happen . We then go back sixish months, to the beginnings of their relationship. It all goes downhill when Ani goes to a party with a friend and is sexually assaulted. The remaining pages are spent with both Ben and Ani trying to deal with what happened in their own ways.
Some people are upset about the portrayal of Ben and the way that he seems to be making what happened about him and not Ani, but in reality, this is a completely logical and common reaction and in my mind it makes the character more realistic. He is a teenage boy who is trying to come to terms with the rape of his girlfriend who he is supporting through something he does not even really understand. At that age most kids do not have a handle on their emotions, nor do most have firsthand knowledge of something like this. Given that, his reaction is completely normal. I liked this better than if he was a perfect boyfriend who did and said all the right things, because then it wouldn't be real and have the raw feeling that it did.
Ben isn't without his flaws, he had ample opportunity to take help and advice that was offered to him and he waited until the last minute to really open his eyes and see the truth. By that time it was too late and had escalated past the point of return. My main issue with Ani was that she wouldn't let the ones that love her in at all. By not telling her mom what happened and resenting Ben for trying to be there for her she isolated herself. I understand that it would be hard to let others care for you, especially when they have no idea what it feels like to go through those ordeals, but she completely shunned any help that was offered and instead went down a darker road to cope with what happened.
Overall, Fault Line was a real and raw look into a subject matter that most people do not want to discuss. I found the story to be believable in a way that I could see it playing out in real life from the reactions of the two leads to the interactions that happen between the students in the high school. Ms. Desir did a wonderful job of keeping the characters human and relatable.
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
This was a surprise read, through pulseit.com’s 31 days of reading, which I had to fly through to get to the end before the 24 hour deadline, so bear with me if this review is all over the place.
I really enjoyed this book, not that I enjoyed the subject matter, but I really appreciated the human feel all the characters carried. The story revolves around couple, Ben and Ani, from their first meeting to their uncertain fate at the end of the book. At first their relationship is great and they are having fun exploring each other, physically and emotionally. Then an unexpected and tragic event changes the course of their relationship, the story is mainly about how they deal with it.
The opening few pages had me hooked. It drew me in and I felt the need to know what the hell happened to make them get to that point
Some people are upset about the portrayal of Ben and the way that he seems to be making what happened about him and not Ani, but in reality, this is a completely logical and common reaction and in my mind it makes the character more realistic. He is a teenage boy who is trying to come to terms with the rape of his girlfriend who he is supporting through something he does not even really understand. At that age most kids do not have a handle on their emotions, nor do most have firsthand knowledge of something like this. Given that, his reaction is completely normal. I liked this better than if he was a perfect boyfriend who did and said all the right things, because then it wouldn't be real and have the raw feeling that it did.
Ben isn't without his flaws, he had ample opportunity to take help and advice that was offered to him and he waited until the last minute to really open his eyes and see the truth. By that time it was too late and had escalated past the point of return. My main issue with Ani was that she wouldn't let the ones that love her in at all. By not telling her mom what happened and resenting Ben for trying to be there for her she isolated herself. I understand that it would be hard to let others care for you, especially when they have no idea what it feels like to go through those ordeals, but she completely shunned any help that was offered and instead went down a darker road to cope with what happened.
Overall, Fault Line was a real and raw look into a subject matter that most people do not want to discuss. I found the story to be believable in a way that I could see it playing out in real life from the reactions of the two leads to the interactions that happen between the students in the high school. Ms. Desir did a wonderful job of keeping the characters human and relatable.
gabbyreads's review
4.0
3.5 STARS
I am so torn over how to feel about this book. I was really invested in this story and wanted to see what would happen and I finished it in one day. So it's safe to say the writing style is good and gripping and kept me interested. I mean from that very first chapter it has you guessing what could have possibly gone wrong for this to happen? Thi book was very dark and gritty and not very easy to read at times. Unfortunately, Ani's character in general seriously bothered me. I feel bad for her, but I just don't understand her actions and her behavior as a result of what happened to her. Ben was a likeable main character and I like that the book is told from his perspective. We rarely see stories told from the perspective of someone who is in love with the rape victim so I thought that was an interesting perspective. This book talks about the very serious issue of rape and it really captures our society in a nut shell and how we handle our rape victims which is really sad. Especially the way that Ani blames herself because "she was drunk" or "she was asking for it" or "she was dancing slutty". Those are never excuses for rape and yet even she blames herself for it.
I admired Ben's optimism and hope of trying to bring Ani back to her old self but at the same time I was annoyed that he wouldn't just leave her because she had definitely crossed a line. By the end of this story I literally could not stand Ani and I couldn't believe how far she had taken it. I understand that she is going through a rough time but that is not an excuse to treat Ben the way she treated him. At times Ben's character could be selfish too but he had good intentions and he was just trying to do the right thing by staying with her. I thought the beginning of their relationship was so cute, especially with the zoo becoming their "place" and their "mustardy" kisses and how she would always play with his buzz cut head and all that, but then it all went south for them so quickly. I guess it is a realistic take on what can happen to a person after a rape, and that is why I still decided to give this book 3.5 stars even though the characters did generally annoy me. With a rape victim you never know how it's going to affect them for the rest of their lives and even other people in their life.
Overall, it wasn't my favorite book ever but it wasn't bad either. I wish the ending was a little bit more of an ending. It ended so abruptly which was somewhat disappointing (cause I wanted to know what was about to happen next) but I also liked the very last line because it kind of leaves it open to interpretation. I just have a lot of mixed feelings about this book and I'm not quite sure what i feel about it.
I am so torn over how to feel about this book. I was really invested in this story and wanted to see what would happen and I finished it in one day. So it's safe to say the writing style is good and gripping and kept me interested. I mean from that very first chapter it has you guessing what could have possibly gone wrong for this to happen? Thi book was very dark and gritty and not very easy to read at times. Unfortunately, Ani's character in general seriously bothered me. I feel bad for her, but I just don't understand her actions and her behavior as a result of what happened to her. Ben was a likeable main character and I like that the book is told from his perspective. We rarely see stories told from the perspective of someone who is in love with the rape victim so I thought that was an interesting perspective. This book talks about the very serious issue of rape and it really captures our society in a nut shell and how we handle our rape victims which is really sad. Especially the way that Ani blames herself because "she was drunk" or "she was asking for it" or "she was dancing slutty". Those are never excuses for rape and yet even she blames herself for it.
I admired Ben's optimism and hope of trying to bring Ani back to her old self but at the same time I was annoyed that he wouldn't just leave her because she had definitely crossed a line. By the end of this story I literally could not stand Ani and I couldn't believe how far she had taken it. I understand that she is going through a rough time but that is not an excuse to treat Ben the way she treated him. At times Ben's character could be selfish too but he had good intentions and he was just trying to do the right thing by staying with her. I thought the beginning of their relationship was so cute, especially with the zoo becoming their "place" and their "mustardy" kisses and how she would always play with his buzz cut head and all that, but then it all went south for them so quickly. I guess it is a realistic take on what can happen to a person after a rape, and that is why I still decided to give this book 3.5 stars even though the characters did generally annoy me. With a rape victim you never know how it's going to affect them for the rest of their lives and even other people in their life.
Overall, it wasn't my favorite book ever but it wasn't bad either. I wish the ending was a little bit more of an ending. It ended so abruptly which was somewhat disappointing (cause I wanted to know what was about to happen next) but I also liked the very last line because it kind of leaves it open to interpretation. I just have a lot of mixed feelings about this book and I'm not quite sure what i feel about it.
anna_reads_too_much's review
1.0
I have been thinking about how to write my review for FAULT LINE for about a week now. I have this horrible feeling that this review is going to be a jumble of ideas, but hopefully it made sense!
I bought Fault Line without reading it from the library first, like I normally do, because there were so many great reviews of it on the blogs I read when it first came out. I saw it in Barnes and Noble when I was spending my Christmas gift cards, and so I bought it.
I was hoping for a lot more from this book than what I got. Needless to say, I was very disappointed.
I was thinking this was going to be a very deep, very powerful book that made me feel something. However, I didn't feel anything. I almost didn't finish it, but managed to keep going, hoping for that connection with the story, with the characters, with any part of this book.
Ben is a hard character to relate to and understand. When I was reading, I felt like he was a stereotypical boy. I had no connection to him at all as I was reading. I felt like he was two-dimentional, like he was a part of this book only, and that this story isn't a story that could have happened to real characters. This feeling of two-dimentionalism is how I basically felt about all the characters in the book. I never connected with them, therefore I never connected with the story at all.
Most people are commenting on the ambiguous ending. For once, the open ending didn't bother me. This is actually the one part of the book that I didn't mind! It resembles real life - the person victimized and their family or friends might never really know what happened that one night.
Overall, I had no connection to the characters or story. I would pass on this book.
I bought Fault Line without reading it from the library first, like I normally do, because there were so many great reviews of it on the blogs I read when it first came out. I saw it in Barnes and Noble when I was spending my Christmas gift cards, and so I bought it.
I was hoping for a lot more from this book than what I got. Needless to say, I was very disappointed.
I was thinking this was going to be a very deep, very powerful book that made me feel something. However, I didn't feel anything. I almost didn't finish it, but managed to keep going, hoping for that connection with the story, with the characters, with any part of this book.
Ben is a hard character to relate to and understand. When I was reading, I felt like he was a stereotypical boy. I had no connection to him at all as I was reading. I felt like he was two-dimentional, like he was a part of this book only, and that this story isn't a story that could have happened to real characters. This feeling of two-dimentionalism is how I basically felt about all the characters in the book. I never connected with them, therefore I never connected with the story at all.
Most people are commenting on the ambiguous ending. For once, the open ending didn't bother me. This is actually the one part of the book that I didn't mind! It resembles real life - the person victimized and their family or friends might never really know what happened that one night.
Overall, I had no connection to the characters or story. I would pass on this book.
heatherhy01's review
5.0
Visit the blog to read my interview with the author:
http://nightlyreading.wordpress.com/2013/10/29/review-interview-fault-line-by-christa-desir/
My first thought was “Wow, this author is so brave to write a book about such a taboo subject!” Once I got into the guts of the book itself, my next thought was “holy crap! This author really gets into specifics!” My final thought after reading the book in it’s entirety was “I hope this author will be writing a sequel?”
Fault Line is not for the faint at heart! If you are not interested in hearing gory details regarding a rape victim, then maybe this is not the book for you. Ms. Desir did not hold back and I really loved that aspect of the book. I enjoyed feeling the different emotions, gasping in shock and tearing up right along with the characters.
Ben could basically have any girl he wants, but as soon as he meets Ani, his mind is made up. Ani is literally a free spirit. She has no filter and tells it exactly like it is. The beginning of the book is all about their relationship and how happy they seemed to have made each other. Disaster strikes one evening at a party and Ben tries his hardest to bring his old Ani back to him.
Let’s talk Ani…I personally loved her but had such a hard time picturing someone so strong in personality turning into the mess she was by the end of the book. By the end, I was astonished at some of the things that she was doing. I literally had my mouth hanging open and my eyes were bugging out!
On the topic of Ben…The whole book is from Ben’s POV. This was an extremely unique concept to write a book about how the boyfriend deals with what he is going through when his girlfriend is sexually assaulted. I loved Ben. He seemed to be written like perfect boyfriend material. He literally stuck with Ani through thick and thin.
The ending kind of through me for a loop! The story just sort of stopped and the writer has an extremly good explanation for why she had done this. The build up at the end was heart wrenching and just came to an abrupt hault! Even with an ending like that, I still really enjoyed the book. I had started this book immediately upon getting it in the mail and finished it in one sitting. There was no putting it down once I started. I would not have been able to sleep if I had to wonder what would happen with these characters.
The cover is interesting in itself and if you end up reading the book, you will find out why it fits perfectly.
If you can get past the content and really focus on the story and what can and does happen every day. I guarentee that you will love this book too!
http://nightlyreading.wordpress.com/2013/10/29/review-interview-fault-line-by-christa-desir/
My first thought was “Wow, this author is so brave to write a book about such a taboo subject!” Once I got into the guts of the book itself, my next thought was “holy crap! This author really gets into specifics!” My final thought after reading the book in it’s entirety was “I hope this author will be writing a sequel?”
Fault Line is not for the faint at heart! If you are not interested in hearing gory details regarding a rape victim, then maybe this is not the book for you. Ms. Desir did not hold back and I really loved that aspect of the book. I enjoyed feeling the different emotions, gasping in shock and tearing up right along with the characters.
Ben could basically have any girl he wants, but as soon as he meets Ani, his mind is made up. Ani is literally a free spirit. She has no filter and tells it exactly like it is. The beginning of the book is all about their relationship and how happy they seemed to have made each other. Disaster strikes one evening at a party and Ben tries his hardest to bring his old Ani back to him.
Let’s talk Ani…I personally loved her but had such a hard time picturing someone so strong in personality turning into the mess she was by the end of the book. By the end, I was astonished at some of the things that she was doing. I literally had my mouth hanging open and my eyes were bugging out!
On the topic of Ben…The whole book is from Ben’s POV. This was an extremely unique concept to write a book about how the boyfriend deals with what he is going through when his girlfriend is sexually assaulted. I loved Ben. He seemed to be written like perfect boyfriend material. He literally stuck with Ani through thick and thin.
The ending kind of through me for a loop! The story just sort of stopped and the writer has an extremly good explanation for why she had done this. The build up at the end was heart wrenching and just came to an abrupt hault! Even with an ending like that, I still really enjoyed the book. I had started this book immediately upon getting it in the mail and finished it in one sitting. There was no putting it down once I started. I would not have been able to sleep if I had to wonder what would happen with these characters.
The cover is interesting in itself and if you end up reading the book, you will find out why it fits perfectly.
If you can get past the content and really focus on the story and what can and does happen every day. I guarentee that you will love this book too!