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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Catherine meets Lee and quickly enters an intense, rapid relationship with him. Before she realizes it, he is trying to control her in ways no one should try to control anyone, and it quickly goes downhill from there. Lee is an incredibly manipulative scumbag, and has every one of her friends skeptical of her issues with him. The abuse (mental, physical, and sexual) gets to a horrific breaking point, and he eventually ends up in prison for three years. And one day, she receives a call that he has been released from prison, and now she’s unsure if the noises she hears and the demons that haunt her are really him trying to get her again, or if it is the side effects of her trauma.
I want to tread lightly on this because it’s so easy to say that someone should’ve done something different when in an abusive relationship. It doesn’t start out that way, of course. It sneaks up on you. It can be a lot of infuriating head games, gas-lighting, and control. On the outside, it’s so easy to say, “Why didn’t you just ______?” – but it’s never that simple.
So, when Catherine first begins her relationship with Lee, there were red flags that I initially questioned (why doesn’t she see how bad he is?) but I tried to look at it from Catherine’s POV. A new guy, all his attention on her, she’s been single for a while, and it feels nice. We can be our own worst enemies; we can internally turn a blind eye to things and make ourselves see what we WANT to see rather than what we SHOULD see.
It wasn’t the best written book, but it did keep me intrigued. I wanted to know if it really was him that moved things in her apartment. I really wanted to know if she would be her own hero. There were also things that I SWORE were going to happen that didn’t, so it wasn’t as predictable as I expected.
I want to tread lightly on this because it’s so easy to say that someone should’ve done something different when in an abusive relationship. It doesn’t start out that way, of course. It sneaks up on you. It can be a lot of infuriating head games, gas-lighting, and control. On the outside, it’s so easy to say, “Why didn’t you just ______?” – but it’s never that simple.
So, when Catherine first begins her relationship with Lee, there were red flags that I initially questioned (why doesn’t she see how bad he is?) but I tried to look at it from Catherine’s POV. A new guy, all his attention on her, she’s been single for a while, and it feels nice. We can be our own worst enemies; we can internally turn a blind eye to things and make ourselves see what we WANT to see rather than what we SHOULD see.
It wasn’t the best written book, but it did keep me intrigued. I wanted to know if it really was him that moved things in her apartment. I really wanted to know if she would be her own hero. There were also things that I SWORE were going to happen that didn’t, so it wasn’t as predictable as I expected.
DNF at 50%.
I'm just not in the right head-space for this one right now. The writing of this is excellent and it creates such a heavy feeling of dread throughout, honestly this is usually everything i'd want in a thriller. However, it deals heavily with a toxic relationship and I feel like it's making me too uncomfortable that I just need to give it a bit of a break. I'll probably come back to this in the next few months, but it's a DNF for now until i'm in the right mindset again.
I'm just not in the right head-space for this one right now. The writing of this is excellent and it creates such a heavy feeling of dread throughout, honestly this is usually everything i'd want in a thriller. However, it deals heavily with a toxic relationship and I feel like it's making me too uncomfortable that I just need to give it a bit of a break. I'll probably come back to this in the next few months, but it's a DNF for now until i'm in the right mindset again.
This book didn't catch my attention almost till I was done reading it about 50% on my kindle & there it was suddenly I didn't want to stop reading it.
Well written book towards the 2nd half.
Well written book towards the 2nd half.
“I’d always thought that women who stayed in bad relationships must be foolish. After all, there had to be a moment, a realization that things had taken a wrong turn and you were suddenly afraid to be with your partner – surely that was the moment to leave. Walk away and don’t look back, I always thought. Why would you stay? And I’d seen women on television, interviewed in magazines, saying things like, “It isn’t that simple,” and I’d always thought yes, it is that simple – just leave, just walk away from it.
“In addition to that moment of realization, a moment that had already passed for me, there was a new realization that walking away wasn’t a simple option after all” (pg. 222).
This was terrifying. Following two perspectives – Present day Cathy Bailey who is tormented by horrible memories, terror and OCD and the Catherine Bailey of the past, a vivacious, outgoing woman – Into the Darkest Corner tells two separate stories: The story of beautiful, confident woman being broken down into the shell her abuser wants her to be and the story of a broken, frightened woman overcoming her past and becoming whole again.
And I loved it.
This book, truly, was phenomenal and terrifying and heartbreaking and beautiful as Haynes crafted a believable monster, a heroine that I found genuine, and a relationship that developed plausibly and subtly into the darkest horror I’ve ever read about.
It’s one that I wish fans of Jamie McGuire’s awful Beautiful Disaster novel would read before declaring Travis their dream guy, Travis and Abby’s “love” their dream relationship. Before they end up in that/this kind of relationship themselves. Because, that is how it starts, but this? This is how it ends. With violence and fear and broken minds and bodies. And that is something that no one deserves.
The topic of domestic violence and partner rape is one that is still, sadly, taboo to talk about and rarely portrayed accurately, but this book did just that. Catherine wasn’t an awful person who somehow had it coming or a pushover who allowed herself to be victimized or even some stupid girl who knew better and could have gotten away at any time. She was a strong, confident, assertive, fun-loving woman who met a normal man, fell in love, and was slowly broken down over time until she had nowhere to go, no one to turn to, and no idea what to do. Despite this, she tried. She set limits, broke up with him, changed her locks, called her friends for help. All to no avail.
The thing about abusers? They know how to trap you.
That’s what made this book so terrifying: How realistic it was. She called her friends for help and they didn’t believe her, didn’t stand up for her, accused her of being in the wrong. Every step she tried to take in the right direction blew up in her face or had already been blocked by Lee, leaving her more and more afraid, more and more isolated, and putting her more and more in danger until it all came to a violent, terrifying, humiliating head.
And, trust me, the author’s attempts at sharing the emotion and humiliation and fear were not in vain.
Just as deserving of respect, though, is survivor Cathy. She was amazing. Barely escaping with her life, it’s no wonder she’s lacking sanity, but absolutely amazing how strong and brave she is, even as the terror and trauma of her past overwhelms her every waking moment, her will to live and her struggle to survive were as inspiring as they were heartbreaking.
It was beautiful, watching her heal and grow into a more powerful woman than ever before and that growth alone is a reason to read this book. Because you need to know how it ends, who she becomes, if it’s real or in her head.
This book kept my pulse pounding in terror, my anxiety at a solid 70, and left me unable to do anything but read it. I am so impressed that I don’t even know what else to say.
This book is a must read. I highly highly highly recommend it.
“In addition to that moment of realization, a moment that had already passed for me, there was a new realization that walking away wasn’t a simple option after all” (pg. 222).
This was terrifying. Following two perspectives – Present day Cathy Bailey who is tormented by horrible memories, terror and OCD and the Catherine Bailey of the past, a vivacious, outgoing woman – Into the Darkest Corner tells two separate stories: The story of beautiful, confident woman being broken down into the shell her abuser wants her to be and the story of a broken, frightened woman overcoming her past and becoming whole again.
And I loved it.
This book, truly, was phenomenal and terrifying and heartbreaking and beautiful as Haynes crafted a believable monster, a heroine that I found genuine, and a relationship that developed plausibly and subtly into the darkest horror I’ve ever read about.
It’s one that I wish fans of Jamie McGuire’s awful Beautiful Disaster novel would read before declaring Travis their dream guy, Travis and Abby’s “love” their dream relationship. Before they end up in that/this kind of relationship themselves. Because, that is how it starts, but this? This is how it ends. With violence and fear and broken minds and bodies. And that is something that no one deserves.
The topic of domestic violence and partner rape is one that is still, sadly, taboo to talk about and rarely portrayed accurately, but this book did just that. Catherine wasn’t an awful person who somehow had it coming or a pushover who allowed herself to be victimized or even some stupid girl who knew better and could have gotten away at any time. She was a strong, confident, assertive, fun-loving woman who met a normal man, fell in love, and was slowly broken down over time until she had nowhere to go, no one to turn to, and no idea what to do. Despite this, she tried. She set limits, broke up with him, changed her locks, called her friends for help. All to no avail.
The thing about abusers? They know how to trap you.
That’s what made this book so terrifying: How realistic it was. She called her friends for help and they didn’t believe her, didn’t stand up for her, accused her of being in the wrong. Every step she tried to take in the right direction blew up in her face or had already been blocked by Lee, leaving her more and more afraid, more and more isolated, and putting her more and more in danger until it all came to a violent, terrifying, humiliating head.
And, trust me, the author’s attempts at sharing the emotion and humiliation and fear were not in vain.
Just as deserving of respect, though, is survivor Cathy. She was amazing. Barely escaping with her life, it’s no wonder she’s lacking sanity, but absolutely amazing how strong and brave she is, even as the terror and trauma of her past overwhelms her every waking moment, her will to live and her struggle to survive were as inspiring as they were heartbreaking.
It was beautiful, watching her heal and grow into a more powerful woman than ever before and that growth alone is a reason to read this book. Because you need to know how it ends, who she becomes, if it’s real or in her head.
This book kept my pulse pounding in terror, my anxiety at a solid 70, and left me unable to do anything but read it. I am so impressed that I don’t even know what else to say.
This book is a must read. I highly highly highly recommend it.