Review: A powerful story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 28, 2014
This novella is distressingly painful and heartbreaking in its honesty, made more so by the fact that that in the author's note Lizzy Ford explains that Broken Beauty is written as part of her own therapy, drawing on personal experiences.It is impossible to read Broken Beauty and not feel a sympathy and respect for Mia. She struggles in the aftermath of the rape, with only the support of the police officers, to have the truth concealed for the sake of her father's political reputation. Yet using her public persona to speak out she becomes a figurehead and admired by many women.Despite Mia's facade of strength, Lizzy Ford reminds the reader of her pain when she relapses several times. Mia has little support and we see her retreat to her closet; it was during these times I wanted to hug her.The author develops the relationship between Mia and the police officer Dom, but I did not feel that this was anything sinister, instead Mia was reaching out for comfort and a friend who understood her distress.Although Broken Beauty is a difficult book to read, Lizzy Ford writes it excellently and almost "supports" her reader through the process. I will be continuing the series with Broken World.I received this as a review copy from NetGalley, but this has had no influence on my opinion.