3 ½ Stars!

I actually marked it down by half a star because of the twist.

I had to read that last chapter 4 times because I was so confused. I can’t help but feel fairly certain that he/she him/her pronouns were used. However, I am willing to suspend my belief here and maybe just assume I made presumptions on who was who etc.

Sal and Charlie’s story was very well written and interesting enough to keep you going. You find yourself hating Charlie and feeling pity towards Sal, as well as happy when Sal’s fight comes back. Neither character is particularly relatable, to me, however I feel that these were so well written that people who have experienced in the past would relate.

The secondary characters were also interesting and I thought it kind of odd how Sal’s family members didn’t suspect anything. In hindsight though, physical abuse can often be like what is described in this.

As much as I did enjoy this though, the “twist” wasn’t needed and it didn’t add anything to the story. I normally love a good twist but found myself not liking this one. In a way, it distracted from how good this was in the first place. Because, it was also one chapter and a small epilogue that described a few things. A couple of extra chapters would have made this a little more padded out and left me a lot less confused. The ending felt rushed.

I will definitely be looking in other books by this author because overall I did enjoy this.