Review: Sometimes the worst monsters are nothing more than people.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 11, 2014
Lessons I learned from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer apply to reading this book since it reminded me that sometimes the worst monsters? They're only people. Plain old human beings who do cruel, terrible things to one another for no other reason than that they can or because they can't help themselves.Ridge was set up to the be the tortured hero archetype except---there's nothing heroic about this guy. Literally nothing. The one good thing that he's done in his life? He hates himself for and takes that hate out on good people every single chance he gets! It's magically delicious how much I hate this guy from the moment I started to really get into his head which is pretty much from page one since the whole thing is told from his POV.Loathe. Him.Loathe.That's a real word right there.Why am I giving this book 4 stars if I hated the title character?Easy: it's brilliantly written and it made me FEEL IT. My skin was nearly blistered with how much genuine emotion I got out of reading this book. I wanted him to get hit by a train or a meteor from space. I wanted aliens to spontaneously appear and disintegrate him like something straight out of Looney Tunes. There was no way to be INDIFFERENT to this guy or his story and that takes talent.Adriane Leigh is a fantastic writer. She doesn't write people that everyone is going to like -she certainly didn't write a guy that *I* as an individual liked- but she writes characters who reach out beyond the pages to grab the reader to shake them until they feel something, even if that something is negative.Given that I did not like the guy, were there good points? Absolutely! The sex with Mia almost made up for the scenes with Amy. Mia and Ridge were sensational together, fireworks of glory, volcanic even and I did love seeing the complete train wreck that was the pair of them coming together time after time after time; I do think they were each perfectly broken enough to fit together as one cracked, tortured whole. The epilogue showcasing their aftermath was touching, fitting, and almost enough to make me stop hating the guy long enough to at least accept him as being the person that would work for someone who was as damaged as he was all the way down to their core. The ending wasn't precisely what I'd call happy as much as satisfying for me. It soothed the wild beast that woke up while reading this guy's nightmare of a life.There were moments that stood out for me. I loved Mia's family when they cameo'd in. I loved seeing Lane being Lane. The stilted, awkward way the brothers interacted was perfect in my opinion and their fishing trip moved me.Ridge isn't the kind of read that is for everyone. I'm glad that I finished it. I am grateful to have had the chance to read it since I do applaud Adriane Leigh for writing something with as much bite (sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively) as this book had to it.It's fantastic from a technical writing standpoint.I hope people read it with an open mind to the author's skill level, the obvious heart she put into the work, and the three-dimensional quality that she put into every character who graced the pages.From page one to the very end of the epilogue, Ridge is who he is and the author maintained a very true-to-character depiction of him -for better or worse- continuously which is worth at least 4 stars. Kudos for bring the guy to life! This one will stick with me for a while.***COMPLIMENTARY COPY PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW ON BEHALF OF THIS REDHEAD LOVES BOOKS BLOG***