Review: A wonderful rollercoaster ride that had me shedding a few tears.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 12, 2014
Very Wicked Things is probably my most anticipated read of the year.  I fell in love with Ilsa Madden-Mills' writing when I read Nora and Leo's story in Very Bad Things.  She delivered heartfelt story surrounding an ultra privileged High School, that read nothing at all like a Young Adult novel. It also introduced us to numerous other characters, all deserving of much more attention.VWT focuses on one of those characters. Cuba. A guy that came across as not much more than a complete player in VBT. But he is more. So much more.Cuba is tragic, lost in his life. In his own mind, really.  Believing the worst about himself and refusing to see that he can be better, have better, deserves better.  There are profound moments from his past that make him the way he is and though I can't blame his mind for going where it did...the wake he leaves behind him because of it, is saddening and avoidable.  I had moments of wanting to wrap him up in a big fluffy blanket, feeding him hot cocoa with whip cream and rainbow sprinkles; followed quickly be moments of wanting to slap the taste out of his mouth.Where as Cuba grew up in luxury, Dovey grew up in the slums. Nothing was handed to Dovey, not even basic necessities like food.  She learned to survive, learned to rely on herself, learned to lose herself in dance.  Living above a dance studio, seeing little ballerinas everyday, she mimicked and until she found a way to study.All things considered Dovey should be the tragic one. Yet she isn't. She doesn't have an easy life but she refuses to let that show and is determined to work her way to a better life.  I admired that about her, so much.  She makes some incredibly hard decisions.  Decisions that some readers will probably take great issue with. I found them to be understandable and I can't say that put in the same situation, I would not have made the same ones.  Difference is, I don't think I would have come out them with the same resolve and strength that Dovey did. Again, something I greatly admire about her as a character.I loved Dovey.  She did make some mistakes, there were things I wanted her to do that seemed natural to me, that she didn't.  And things she did do that utterly broke my heart. But I love her no less for them.Cuba ran me through the ringer. I loved him, then hated him, then loved him, then hated him.  By the end I loved him again.  And even my hate came from a loving place.These are two incredibly passionate, broken characters lost in their lives. They're trying to work through problems of their own hearts, twisted relationships with others and an outside source who is determined to shatter Dovey and all she loves.  Dovey's determination to not lose anything more than she has and Cuba's struggle to regain one good thing in his life creates one hell of an emotional roller coaster of a story.While I'm not sure that I had quite the same connection with Very Wicked Things that I did Very Bad Things, it still stretched my heart nearly to its limits.  I shed a couple tears. I didn't cry, mind you. I leaked a little. It was just excess moisture, I'm sure I must have had something in my eyes because I am NOT a crier. ;)Other than a few bumps and a slightly rushed feeling to the end, this is one hell of a good read and I predict much love for both Dovey and Cuba.