A review by lindseycope
Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. I was quickly pulled into the romance between Iris and August, and thought that Ryan's portrayal of Iris' abusive relationship did a strong job of capturing the isolation, control, and violence. However, I found the on-page violence to be too much at times, and felt that Ryan could've still conveyed the seriousness, fear, and lack of power Iris experienced without putting so much on page. 

The second half also took a dip for me; I understand Ryan needed to transition Iris out of the abusive relationship, but found it was the least realistic part of the book. I also found the shift in Iris and August's relationship when Iris is available to be sudden and focused more on connecting through sex than anything else. The ending dropped my review quite a bit; again, there are some realistic elements but it felt overly dramatic and used a way to cleanly tie up some of the loose ends. 

Overall, I loved Ryan's writing; some elements were just not for me, but I look forward to reading her next.
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