Review: Very Dark
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 24, 2013
This book was dark and disturbing but that wasn’t a surprise because the author makes that known So if you cannot handle rape scenes, bondage, mental illness  etc then skip this book. One thing that I noticed very quickly was that there was not much in the way of character or story development. It literally jumps right into Mia working at the coffee shop and Brandon offering her a ride home and kidnapping her.I was really frustrated with Mia because at times she seemed scared but other times not so much. Brandon rapes her and keeps her in his basement – complete with pool table. He is Jekel and Hyde for sure. Mia seems to appreciate the soft side of him and sees compassions and guilt in his eyes. Again, this is the man that just raped her, held her against her will and threatens her. Sometimes he is good to her. For the most part he is not abusive to her well… other than rape and keeping her captive. After reading the book I had to sit and think about Mia for a minute and one part that I forgot when reading the story is that Mia is only 18 years old and seemingly lacking some common sense. Mia was drawn to the good Brandon but in her mind knew that the bad Brandon was far away. At one point he punishes Mia by raping another young woman. He is mentally unstable and although Mia sees this she pushes it away maybe for survival or because she so desperately wants to hold onto the good.Another thing is that once they become closer Mia is given a computer to use to keep herself busy and she never contacts the police because she doesn’t want Brandon to get arrested. She wants things to work out. Later on in the story you’ll learn that Brandon is diagnosed with a few mental illness –psychosis being one of them. Even after Mia is told by Brandon his illnesses are she doesn’t run away. It’s really very strange. He is literally psychotic among other things. He gets off on rape and women fighting his sexual advances. I’m all for giving people a chance and accepting what is but uhhh… that’s a but much to try to get past.Eventually, Mia and Brandon fall in love and try to make things work. They begin to make a future but Brandon must stay on meds everyday. Things turn bad again after he stops taking his meds. Mia can see the change quickly. Brandon isn’t the only crazy one in his family, his father is patriarch of this madness and his older brother is equally as crazy. The brother rapes his cousin at the age of 15 and takes her virginity and continues to rape her. There is a very disturbing scene where the cousin ends up pregnant by him and he gives her a home abortion with a knitting needle. Mia was bound and forced to watch. Extremely disturbing. So Mia knows that all the men in this family are crazy and the only sane one is the mother. She still stays. The brother rapes her for 3 days straight and drugs her. She still stays.The story continues and Brandon’s love for Mia is real. Mia’s love for Brandon is also real. Mental illness aside their love binds them together and we’ll see if a future is in store for them or if Brandon goes crazy again.Very dark story but held my interest throughout and I finished in 1 night.