"I like pain. I like when it lingers. It reminds a person of what they've lived through."

Tarryn Fisher slayed me. She gutted me. She took my heart out of my chest by ripping it from my throat and then shoved it right back in - knowing it would never be the same, that my heart would be a little jagged, a little off, for the rest of my life.

I wish I could write as prettily as Tarryn does just so I could express my love for this book. I just want to borrow her ability for ten minutes - long enough to tell her how amazing she is and how beautiful, tragic, incredible Mud Vein is.

Going into this book, I had expectations - I knew it would be dark, I knew everyone was talking about it, I knew there was kidnapping involved and I knew that - from what I was told - I would probably like it. However, here are a few things I did not expect...

1) I did not expect to get pulled into this book so quickly and so completely that I found it hard to exist anywhere else in the world until I finished.
2) I did not expect to be feverishly highlighting passages, quotes, and scenes because I could relate to them, because they were beautiful, and because they were real.
3) I did not expect to see a little of myself in the "crazy" heroine - but I did. More than I care to admit, actually.

And most of all... I did not expect to cry. No one warned me. Sure, they warned me when I read TFIOS. They warned me when I went to see The Notebook for the first time. But no one - NO ONE - told me I would be wrecked, sobbing, gross ugly snot-filled crying when I read the last page of Mud Vein. But I was. I so, so was.

This book is a captivator. It's a kidnapper. It will take your thoughts, your heart, your mind, your soul - and it will take them all just long enough to change them. It will change you.

I loved this book. I hated this book. I was confused and angry and elated and sad. I loved, I hurt, I hated, I laughed, I cried - this book pulled more emotion from me than my first real relationship that lasted over two years.

I don't have the right words to describe why this book is so amazing because it just... is. Tarryn Fisher is a poet in sinister clothing. She is dark and eye opening and so, so damn beautiful. Her writing style will have you engulfed within the first few pages, and the deeper you go - the deeper the words will scar you.

Thank you, Tarryn Fisher, for sharing your incredible gift with the world. It's writers like you who make me want to try harder, be better, write more. You're an inspiration and a literary genius.

This book gets 5 stars, but I wish I could give it 10. Bravo.

"Why are you here?"
"Because you are."