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A review by kreela
Lock Me Inside by C. Hallman
4.0
• New Adult Dark Bully Romance
• Love Bug
• Triggers everywhere (but hey, I am addicted to this trope!)
• Single POV
• Seems like a modern Cinderella theme. The Olympic athlete-in-training who loses her home and wealth after a serious accident. Instead of stepsisters, she inherits stepbrothers. But where is Prince Charming?
• This is the first time the mother really is a gold-digger.
• The nicest person is the father. The cruelest person is the father. Ugh!
“You know, you might get a lot further along in life if you’d be a little nicer.”
Colt’s right. Leni is mousy, acts like a victim, and reminds me of a time of life I never want to revisit. Her attitude is like depression. Once you stop smiling, you isolate and lose your friends. You get more depressed. It is an endless spiral downward, and I see her spiraling. I want her to stop and take charge of her life instead of seeking out a nonexistent hero. The only thing I like about her is her desire to become a teacher and her decision to tutor virtually while imprisoned. That is cool!
And what a victim she becomes! I almost dropped the novel at 55%. The depravity exceeded my tolerance level. The rape and torture shocked me. I basically slid through pages until 80% of the novel (hey, I finally adjusted to the lack of consistent page numbers!) when her mother catches Leni in the act. Her mom doesn’t believe Leni’s lack of consent. Ouch. I wanted noncon…well, oops, I got noncon.
While I never really liked her, I got what I wanted out of the novel: redemption, groveling, and a statement about humanity. When you have bad experiences (and I have had many), one way to heal one’s pain: “You can forget all of that now. Let’s replace it with good memories.”
• Love Bug
• Triggers everywhere (but hey, I am addicted to this trope!)
• Single POV
• Seems like a modern Cinderella theme. The Olympic athlete-in-training who loses her home and wealth after a serious accident. Instead of stepsisters, she inherits stepbrothers. But where is Prince Charming?
• This is the first time the mother really is a gold-digger.
• The nicest person is the father. The cruelest person is the father. Ugh!
“You know, you might get a lot further along in life if you’d be a little nicer.”
Colt’s right. Leni is mousy, acts like a victim, and reminds me of a time of life I never want to revisit. Her attitude is like depression. Once you stop smiling, you isolate and lose your friends. You get more depressed. It is an endless spiral downward, and I see her spiraling. I want her to stop and take charge of her life instead of seeking out a nonexistent hero. The only thing I like about her is her desire to become a teacher and her decision to tutor virtually while imprisoned. That is cool!
And what a victim she becomes! I almost dropped the novel at 55%. The depravity exceeded my tolerance level. The rape and torture shocked me. I basically slid through pages until 80% of the novel (hey, I finally adjusted to the lack of consistent page numbers!) when her mother catches Leni in the act. Her mom doesn’t believe Leni’s lack of consent. Ouch. I wanted noncon…well, oops, I got noncon.
While I never really liked her, I got what I wanted out of the novel: redemption, groveling, and a statement about humanity. When you have bad experiences (and I have had many), one way to heal one’s pain: “You can forget all of that now. Let’s replace it with good memories.”