Review: Used's Antithesis and Denver's Awakening
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 5, 2014
How do you redefine yourself when you have only ever seen yourself as a user and a whore?How do you give up your control and give into your feelings without giving up everything you think you need to survive?How do you free yourself from the binds of your own making and feel worth an unconditional love you have never had before?These are the questions that Denver is struggling with in Lynetta Halat’s new release, Freed. Freed is the second book in the Unlovable Series, and it begins right where Used left off. Denver and Greer’s dysfunctional relationship has crumbled after Greer’s betrayal, and Denver is left shattered. Ransom is doing everything in his power to help Denver through this ordeal and offers her his shoulder as well as his ear, but what he really wants to give her is his heart. But it's not that easy when Denver is torn between what she wants and what she thinks, due to her past actions, she deserves.Freed is Used’s antithesis – there’s an immense amount of deception, betrayal, and breakdowns in the first installment. None of the main characters, Denver, Greer, or Ransom, are truly honest about what they want and need. All three have pasts that drive them to act in certain ways, and Denver and Greer use each other and those around them to hide how they truly think and feel about each other and themselves. Freed is their awakening, and while all three are still broken in some ways as the text continues, by the end of the story, healing has occurred, and new lives have been chosen and fulfilled.Denver is as strong as she is weak; she allowed her mother’s actions and people’s perceptions to dictate how she lived her life for too many years, but with Ransom’s help and Greer’s honesty, she builds herself up and moves past her own weaknesses. Ransom understood that her “rebirth” had to begin by her own choosing, and Denver demonstrates great strength in taking the steps to live happily and to accept that she deserves the love of a good man. Her journey is not an easy one, and Lynetta does a fantastic job of illustrating the road blocks Denver faces in this quest. I love the fact that Denver had a few setbacks and over thinks everything entirely too much because that is exactly how I would think someone with such a negative self perception would act. The fact that she gives herself fully to Ransom shows her growth and gives hope to those who have experienced the kind of life she has.Ransom is an amazing man – he is open and honest; passionate and loving; compassionate and demanding. He has all of the attributes that Denver needs to give up the control she has so desperately held onto for so long. His life has not been easy, which is why control is so important to him, but he also doesn’t allow his past to hold him back. He knows what’s important in life, and he grabs it by the horns and rides it as fast and as hard as he can!I was not at all happy with Greer at the end of Used, but I’m glad that Lynetta showed his healing in this book along with Denver’s because as much as I want to solely blame him for everything that happened, it’s not completely his fault, which Denver explains quite well throughout the story. Greer’s mistakes cost him the one person he thought he would never lose, and he will have to leave with that and find a way to accept it and hopefully allow himself to be in a healthy relationship somewhere down the line.Freed is a character driven story, and I loved it! Because it’s told through both Denver and Ransom’s point of views, readers are allowed to understand the inner turmoil that both experience as they work to start a life together and learn what it means to love someone unconditionally. Although much of the story focuses on Denver and Ransom figuring out how to make their new relationship blossom, there is still a bit of angst, a few surprises, and quite a few laughs due to their great group of friends. Lynetta writes her characters and storyline in such a way that readers cannot help but be pulled into their lives and experience all that they do along the way. We feel each and every emotion that the characters feel because the writing allows us to, and even if a few tears are shed, it’s a journey that not one reader would willingly give up.A complimentary copy of the text was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.4.5 poison apples (The Fairest of All Book Reviews)