Title: Still Beating
Author: Jennifer Hartmann
Genre: Dark Romance, Contemporary, Thriller
Rating: 5 Stars
Description/Synopsis:
WARNING: This is a dark romance. This book contains subject matter that may be sensitive for some readers, including rape, as well as strong language and explicit sex. 18+ only. Please read responsibly.
When Cora attends her sister’s birthday party, she expects at most a hangover or a walk of shame. She doesn’t anticipate a stolen wallet, leaving her stranded and dependent on Dean—her arch nemesis and ultimate thorn in her side.
WARNING – SPOILERS MAY ENSUE BEYOND THIS POINT – REVIEW BELOW
This was a difficult book to read. I cried. I never cry at books. I thought going into this book that it was going to be a simple dark romance where two people fall in love who may be a little broken, and maybe some taboo stuff happens, but I didn’t realize the depths this book would have. It broke my heart.
Let me throw out a warning for you: this book contains dark, heavy topics. There is repeated sexual assault, suicide, miscarriage, and savage cruelty. It is not an easy book to read, and if those topics are difficult for you, I would heavily advise you to consider your mental well-being before picking up this book. It hit me hard. As someone who suffers from PTSD myself, I was triggered at some points. I found myself frowning a lot of the time as I was reading, and unhappy with what was going on with the story. If you are not in an okay place, I would set this book aside for a later date, and I hope that gets across to other readers with the amount of weight I am trying to portray.
…But it’s a good book. I don’t say that lightly either. It was powerful – because above all else that happened in this book, this is a survival story. It is at its core about two people who are forced together in a horrific situation that fight for survival together – both in the basement of a serial killer, and afterward when their worlds are torn apart by the ordeals they had to suffer through. Along the way, they discover how toxic their relationship has become, because although they are leaning on each other for support, they are also drowning together.
There’s a lot of tension in this story, a lot of conflicts, and hard-fought, complicated choices. There is terror and savagery. The author did a spectacular job writing this difficult topic though – it was beautifully crafted, even in its savagery. This book meant a lot to me in a way I didn’t expect, and even if it was difficult at times, I am glad I read it.
Author Unpublished 