Review: Not for the faint of heart.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 25, 2013
This book is most definitely not for the faint of heart. It portrays  some really sick sexual behaviour, non-consensual sex, heavy drug abuse and extreme violence. Mature audience only - I can't stress this enough.I loved the book. The author really has a way with words, I could almost see the prison that is Albermarle Hall, the characters are so alive they seem like real people. The horror of the story was unspeakable, and yet, she managed to weave one of the sweetest love stories into it. I don't remember the last time I was rooting for the protagonists or cared about them so much.Lilith is this extremely strong, intelligent and absolutely unbreakable spirit. Even if at the beginning her attitude was putting me off, I just knew I'd rather be on her side than the opposite.Finn, the sweet, sweet man. Everyone has failed him. I just wanted to hug him and keep all the harm away from him. Now there's a character that, even completely emasculated, was the strongest I've ever read. I just felt for him so much.God, I hated the vicious game Blaine was playing with the two of them. Despite how intense the story is, the budding romance is so subtle, there's a really slow build-up between the two of them and for some strange reason, it completely worked - it's a nice contrast to all the intense things that were happening, peaceful and sweet. There's great chemistry between Finn and Lilith, but it only takes center stage every once in a while.Every time the violence and the abuse would happen, I kept thinking it just couldn't get any worse than it was at that moment, dreading every next scene, but I couldn't make myself put it down! I sobbed during a particularly bad scene, I just hoped that was the worst the author would throw our way.There are some really suspenseful moments that keep you on the edge of the seat, but there was also some comic relief that had me laugh out loud. The horror moments were exactly that, horror.Seriously, the writing was terrific! Such colorful characters, great development, so many layers to each of them. THE DIALOGUE! Absolutely amazing.After that warning, I don't even have to say there are some graphic sex and violence scenes in this. Most of it isn't hot by a long shot, so don't expect that. It's just plain disturbing, and painfully detailed.On the other hand, the sex between the main characters was...sweet, in a word.I wasn't satisfied with the ending, I needed just a tad more than that. Don't worry, everything is tied up nicely in the end, I just needed some more Finn and Lilith. However, the sequel is being written as you are reading this, so no doubt, we'll see more of Tabitha's beautiful writing and Finn and Lilith's story.Do I recommend it? If you're into this genre, I most definitely do. This automatically went to the top of my 2013 favorites shelf.