⭐⭐⭐
While this book may be a confusing and heavy read, it is well-written and as
always, Levig excels in romance.
⭐⭐⭐
This is a mixture of a romance alternated by some kind of a
dystopian ‘erase gayness’ extreme.
Hannah Lewis and Jordan Webber have been a relationship for
three years and living together for two. The book starts dramatically with a
hot sex scene immediately followed by Jordan being abducted. Hannah obviously
embarks on trying to find her girlfriend. Her rock solid support in this search
is Nikki, Jordan’s best friend, who has carried a torch for Hannah from the
time they met.
Early on, it turns out that Hannah is somewhat self-absorbed
and Jordan is a serial cheater. Clearly it is not a good relationship despite
what appears on the surface.
Initially we thought that this book is going to be about
self-exploration and self-realisations that will lead to a stronger, cleaner
relationship between Hannah and Jordan; and the possibility was quite exciting.
However, when Nikki got more developed, we found ourselves rooting for her and
the fulfilment of her silent love for Hannah.
What we didn’t expect was that the book would have two
parallel storylines: the first being the burgeoning romance between Hannah and
Nikki based firmly in reality and the second taking place in an imagined
alternative reality of using different form of torture and abuse to ‘cure’
Jordan of being a lesbian. Sure, there were a lot of times when our sympathy
for Jordan was nil as her misdemeanours in the ‘real’ world kept getting
unfolded but it was all still too much to digest.
To her great credit, Levig finally makes the two worlds
overlap and leaves us feeling warmly towards every character. That is
quite a feat.
⭐⭐⭐
