Review: The title says it all!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 20, 2014
Brutally Beautiful was not like anything I was expecting. It is a really good story; dark, edgy, and well written. Brutally Beautiful is evocative in many ways. The mystery of the characters felt just as detached to me as they felt from the world. I felt more for them because of their past rather than from the present they were crafting together. Both Sam/Lainey and Kade's stories are powerful and though provoking; pure tragedy. The repressed emotion they garnered from each other was soul-deep. I liked the characters. Sam/Lainey is brilliant, witty, and fierce. Kade is dominant, smart, and broken. When they first lay on each other something happens to both of them, like their recoginizing the ghost of their own soul in each other. Some details of the story felt too rushed for me or I got confused and had to go back and re-read. And Sam/Lainey's character left a lot to be desired. There is a cloud of mystery surrounding this woman and the little bit of information we were given just fueld my curiosity more. She is completely willing to break someone's walls down and succeeds in doing so that she is completely blinded to the fact that her own walls are impenetrable. Sam and Kade's journey for the better part of the book is them skirting around each other, finding ways to be friends in their own way. I liked the build up of their relationship but it was slow. I liked the secondary characters of Dylan and Bree. Overall, it's a good story and worth reading but some minor things bothered me and while there is no cliffhanger I'm left wanting to know more about Sam and Kade. I hope a sequel is coming so I can find out.