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xabbeylongx's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Spoilers Ahead:
I think this book was quite average, in regards to Karen Rose's works. Not her best, but definitely not her worst.
We start off the book by following Michael saving his younger brother, Joshua. It's clear that his stepfather is a bad man, and has taken Joshua somewhere, intending to do something with him, but Michael saved him. Despite being deaf, he manages to move quietly, and finally escapes him. Just as he thinks he's away from danger, he spots someone with his stepfather, who was still hunting him down, and the big, bald man kills him, sticking him in the back of his van. Michael takes Joshua home, unsure as to what's happened, and when the man comes back in to check on Joshua, he wants to shoot him, but fails, and the man leaves.
When Joshua's mother doesn't come to collect him from football practice, Diesel is worried, and even more so when Michael turns up to collect him. Something isn't right, as Michael is injured, and he finds out that their mother is abusive to Michael. He is worried to trust Diesel, as he is also a big, bald man, although Diesel doesn't understand the reason behind his fear yet. Michael's main concern is looking after Joshua, but when he gets to the hospital -Diesel's friend Dani Novak's hospital - and she finds him bleeding, she knows he's been abused. They immediately take the kids, Dani being an emergency foster provider, and they go to a safe house there. Things are a little tense, as Dani and Diesel have unfinished business, but they put it aside for the children, whom they seem to care for quite a lot.
When their stepfather's remains are found in the river, all fingers point to Michael, especially when his mother, who is an abusive addict, accuses Michael of killing him, and abusing her. They know it can't be him, especially when she is also killed.
The real killer, Cade Kaiser, is on a mission to find Michael. The fisherman who spotted him knew of his identity, and he had to snip off loose ends. What he didn't realise, however, is that Joshua had a brother, who also saw his identity. So, like all the other loose ends he tied up, he had to do the same to Michael. He couldn't get in, however. He shot a few of their close circle, but, most of them being police officers or FBI agents, they persevered, and kept him safe.
When a Grant Masterson is uncovering facts about his brother, who has mysteriously disappeared after looking into the disappearance of their sister, he finds out Wesley, his brother, went undercover to find Laurel. He must have found what he was looking for, although he posed as a TW paedophile to find the information. Laurel was sold, and although her friend got away when Wes went to find her, she didn't make it. Unfortunately, Wes was part of the paedophile's that Cade was killing off, one by one. He was killing abusers, child molesters, and he wasn't upset at doing so, for he felt he was helping people out. However, he was torturing them as well, like his father did to him. Wes ended up dead, like all the other paedophiles in the ring.
When Greg, Dani's brother, is called into the hospital, they all know none of them called them. Greg, being deaf also, didn't hear them until they pulled up outside to stop him from going in. Then they heard screams of fellow doctors, and they had to go in and save them. Diesel got shot, and it turns out Cade was also shot, his leg infected from being unable to seek medical attention when lying low. He wanted Dani to open the medicine cabinet, but then Diesel is punching him, almost until he's not breathing anymore. He dies in the hospital a few days later, but not before they find his hostages. Dani and Diesel finally get together, and officially adopt Michael and Joshua into their family.
Okay, so you know the drill. The plot itself was amazing - heart-wrenching, melancholic, just downright tragic. It always is when there are children involved, but Michael and Joshua really had my heart. And the fact that Michael had Diesel to talk to, who had also suffered the same abuse Michael had, and I could honestly just sob thinking about it. Found family is a new trope I never thought I'd enjoy so much, but it really worked for me. It was like they were all different pieces of a puzzle, but somehow they all fit together, and it was magical. I truly love the group of misfits as a family.
However, I have some minor critiques - the usual. The romance was way too fast, and way too sex-based for me. It's like they haven't spoken to each other in ages, and there is all this baggage - which both of them have - and it's almost like why is everyone arguing about not getting together? Surely they should just get together. I don't know, I usually like the working together with baggage sort of thing, but this was way too dramatic. It was like he would die if she didn't touch him, and it just felt a tiny bit weird, and really not realistic. Especially when the main focus should have been on the children, and not their rocky relationship status. Obviously, I would have loved the romance if it had been a bit slower, a bit calmer, and not fully just based on their obviously high libidos.
It was almost a bit repetitive too. It just felt like everyone was crying at the hint of something sad happening, which was a lot as this book covers a lot of heavy, sensitive topics, and a lot of the phrases written were said throughout the book, multiple times. It wasn't really fresh writing, and after a while, it just got a little boring.
I do like the ending. I'm not a fan of already knowing the killer throughout, because I like trying to figure it out along with the characters as to who's behind it, but I can appreciate that Cade was doing what he thought was a good thing. It's a controversial subject, because yes, he is killing people, but he's also killing people so that they can't hurt others anymore, so it's morally compromising. As far as an antagonist goes, I like him. Apart from the torturing part - although, with his trauma, it's kind of understandable.
I think this book was quite average, in regards to Karen Rose's works. Not her best, but definitely not her worst.
We start off the book by following Michael saving his younger brother, Joshua. It's clear that his stepfather is a bad man, and has taken Joshua somewhere, intending to do something with him, but Michael saved him. Despite being deaf, he manages to move quietly, and finally escapes him. Just as he thinks he's away from danger, he spots someone with his stepfather, who was still hunting him down, and the big, bald man kills him, sticking him in the back of his van. Michael takes Joshua home, unsure as to what's happened, and when the man comes back in to check on Joshua, he wants to shoot him, but fails, and the man leaves.
When Joshua's mother doesn't come to collect him from football practice, Diesel is worried, and even more so when Michael turns up to collect him. Something isn't right, as Michael is injured, and he finds out that their mother is abusive to Michael. He is worried to trust Diesel, as he is also a big, bald man, although Diesel doesn't understand the reason behind his fear yet. Michael's main concern is looking after Joshua, but when he gets to the hospital -Diesel's friend Dani Novak's hospital - and she finds him bleeding, she knows he's been abused. They immediately take the kids, Dani being an emergency foster provider, and they go to a safe house there. Things are a little tense, as Dani and Diesel have unfinished business, but they put it aside for the children, whom they seem to care for quite a lot.
When their stepfather's remains are found in the river, all fingers point to Michael, especially when his mother, who is an abusive addict, accuses Michael of killing him, and abusing her. They know it can't be him, especially when she is also killed.
The real killer, Cade Kaiser, is on a mission to find Michael. The fisherman who spotted him knew of his identity, and he had to snip off loose ends. What he didn't realise, however, is that Joshua had a brother, who also saw his identity. So, like all the other loose ends he tied up, he had to do the same to Michael. He couldn't get in, however. He shot a few of their close circle, but, most of them being police officers or FBI agents, they persevered, and kept him safe.
When a Grant Masterson is uncovering facts about his brother, who has mysteriously disappeared after looking into the disappearance of their sister, he finds out Wesley, his brother, went undercover to find Laurel. He must have found what he was looking for, although he posed as a TW paedophile to find the information. Laurel was sold, and although her friend got away when Wes went to find her, she didn't make it. Unfortunately, Wes was part of the paedophile's that Cade was killing off, one by one. He was killing abusers, child molesters, and he wasn't upset at doing so, for he felt he was helping people out. However, he was torturing them as well, like his father did to him. Wes ended up dead, like all the other paedophiles in the ring.
When Greg, Dani's brother, is called into the hospital, they all know none of them called them. Greg, being deaf also, didn't hear them until they pulled up outside to stop him from going in. Then they heard screams of fellow doctors, and they had to go in and save them. Diesel got shot, and it turns out Cade was also shot, his leg infected from being unable to seek medical attention when lying low. He wanted Dani to open the medicine cabinet, but then Diesel is punching him, almost until he's not breathing anymore. He dies in the hospital a few days later, but not before they find his hostages. Dani and Diesel finally get together, and officially adopt Michael and Joshua into their family.
Okay, so you know the drill. The plot itself was amazing - heart-wrenching, melancholic, just downright tragic. It always is when there are children involved, but Michael and Joshua really had my heart. And the fact that Michael had Diesel to talk to, who had also suffered the same abuse Michael had, and I could honestly just sob thinking about it. Found family is a new trope I never thought I'd enjoy so much, but it really worked for me. It was like they were all different pieces of a puzzle, but somehow they all fit together, and it was magical. I truly love the group of misfits as a family.
However, I have some minor critiques - the usual. The romance was way too fast, and way too sex-based for me. It's like they haven't spoken to each other in ages, and there is all this baggage - which both of them have - and it's almost like why is everyone arguing about not getting together? Surely they should just get together. I don't know, I usually like the working together with baggage sort of thing, but this was way too dramatic. It was like he would die if she didn't touch him, and it just felt a tiny bit weird, and really not realistic. Especially when the main focus should have been on the children, and not their rocky relationship status. Obviously, I would have loved the romance if it had been a bit slower, a bit calmer, and not fully just based on their obviously high libidos.
It was almost a bit repetitive too. It just felt like everyone was crying at the hint of something sad happening, which was a lot as this book covers a lot of heavy, sensitive topics, and a lot of the phrases written were said throughout the book, multiple times. It wasn't really fresh writing, and after a while, it just got a little boring.
I do like the ending. I'm not a fan of already knowing the killer throughout, because I like trying to figure it out along with the characters as to who's behind it, but I can appreciate that Cade was doing what he thought was a good thing. It's a controversial subject, because yes, he is killing people, but he's also killing people so that they can't hurt others anymore, so it's morally compromising. As far as an antagonist goes, I like him. Apart from the torturing part - although, with his trauma, it's kind of understandable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use