Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Still Beating

Normally we get to see kidnappings in books only as another thing happening to make the plot more interesting and often the aftershocks aren’t even mentioned. I love that in this book the main focus is actually on these effects after the kidnapping. There’s deep trauma, overwhelming emotions and feelings of betrayal. But there’s also new found trust, hope, love and most importantly healing.

I loved accompanying both Cora and Deacon along their own and very different ways of coping. It’s a rollercoaster going up as much as down always trying to find balance with each other when in the end they find balance in their own selves.
There are a lot of setbacks and the book ends with a Happy Ever After.

This story touched my heart. There were parts I could hardly get through and was near tears praying for the characters to find a way out of their misery (during as well as after the kidnapping).

Check the trigger warnings on this one! Most of it is graphic and this is definitely not a lovely romance where “love conquers all”. Though there definitely are some parts like that the majority of this book is about trauma and healing; together as well as alone, yet always supported.

I’m sure I’ll be thinking about this book a lot even a long time after I’ve read it. This is just the kind of story that sticks to you through its darkness and personal connection.

Quotes (maybe contain minor spoilers?):

„We are bound, chained, tied—to our trauma and to each other.

We’re in this together.“

„My whole life I’ve been terrified of the ocean. I’ve been scared of being dragged down into a cold, dark sea, swallowed by waves, clutching my chest and gasping for air.

But this sea is not made of water.

And maybe drowning is the only way out.“

„The only thing I wanted more was to see her smile.

I wanted to see her glowing and thriving and truly living her life.

I wanted to see her just like this, just like she is right now, happy and healing and learning to love herself again.

So, it’s all been worth it“

Content Warnings

whatjasread's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

• super traumatic and haunting
• definitely going to stay with me for a long time
• not really a fan of the miscommunication, many times I wished things would’ve just been stated plainly
• Mandy sucked so badly I don’t think I could ever deal with someone so self centred
• pretty sure I had tears in my eyes the entire time I was reading this
• enjoyed dean’s character development but still some moments where I didn’t care for him, mostly in the first part
• really not a fan of pick me girls so Cora was not the best character in my opinion although she did get slightly better as the book progressed
• super complex, moments where I had mixed feelings and could see both sides of arguments
• understood the need for connection and familiarity and understanding but still don’t think the cheating was necessary
• also don’t know why he ended up with Mandy based on his high school experience lol

TWs: Alcoholism, smoking, bullying (before book), kidnapping, murder (before book), torture, sexual assault (in book), spiking (before book), serial killing, physical abuse, discussion of miscarriage, animal abuse, PTSD, cheating, pet euthanasia, self-harm, death of parent (father, before book, heart attack), dementia, attempted suicide (overdose), nicotine withdrawal

Content Warnings

sophiejo_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

where do i even start with this. firstly, pretty much any trigger you can think of this book has, and it’s very dark so just be aware of that before reading. (full list at the bottom of my review). i will say tho that it’s VERY important to know what you’re getting into before reading this book, so hopefully my non spoiler review can inform you.

I went back-and-forth as to whether I wanted to read this book because I knew it was very dark, but I ended up giving in after watching some of my favorite book tube channels recommend it. Of course this book focuses very heavily on sexual assault, r@pe, and kidnapping, but I think the real focus was what happens AFTER the characters escape.

Let me take a step back for a second. The first chunk of this book is even Dean and Cora are kidnapped and in the basement, and it is very difficult to read. But I did appreciate how she went through it pretty quickly as to not linger in the most traumatic parts of the book. It was definitely graphic and accurately written, but I thought that she handled it in a very appropriate and succinct way.

Moving on to the latter 2/3 of the book, I was very interested to see how she would depict the characters struggling from PTSD, their newfound relationship, and of course the press. This part is going to get a little spoiler-y so skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want them:

[there were a LOT of really good decisions that she made. For example, I loved how Dean and Cora connected and how much they were drawn to each other after their experience. It was very painful to listen to Mandy try to get together with Dean and hook Cora up with someone, but it’s realistic because as much trauma as they went through, no one except the two of them really understood the extent to which happened, and so I can relate to both sides. Mandy is uninformed but also needs to be more sympathetic. Another example is the dog Blizzard. I personally do not have any pets, I’m not a huge pet lover, but reading the parts of the book where Blizzard had to die and Dean was there for Cora just broke my heart and I almost started sobbing. It’s the little things like that that would deeply affect them especially after of course their experience, but the way that they were there for each other and the way that they connected it to the blizzard that was literally happening in the weather… it was just all beautifully written. Which brings me to the end of the book which I also SO SOO appreciate. It seemed the last couple chapters - especially in Cora‘s point of view - they would go back-and-forth between being together and lovers and then regretting their decisions and not speaking to each other. It hurt me to read this part of the book and read almost as a friends-with-benefits relationship. I knew that’s not what either of them wanted, but they were convincing themselves that they could live like that. Which is why I LOVE Dean for making the decision to move away for almost a year and give Cora some space. It hurt a little to read, but I understand that that was the absolute BEST decision he could’ve made. that’s why I can really appreciate the ending when they came back together as smarter, and more stable people who could then fall back into a true romantic relationship.]

Spoilers over. For a second let’s talk about characters because I have a few mixed feelings. Above all I think the two of them are soulmates, and I don’t put that label on too many people in books but I can definitely understand why these people are perfect for each other. Out of the two of them Dean is absolutely my favorite. He has the biggest heart, is an actual PRINCE, and his chapters were the best because he just seemed so much more pulled together, levelheaded, and there for Cora every time that she needed him. Of course he went through his own trauma, but I feel like he handled it better than she did. On the other hand Cora was a little annoying because she kept going back-and-forth on her emotions, and she couldn’t figure herself out, but AGAIN I think that’s so realistic because in a real life situation what would you do when you come back from such a horrific experience, and are trying to convince yourself you’re not in love with your sister’s ex fiancé?

Speaking of which, I understand how it might be difficult for us readers to grasp why a couple like them to actually stay together. People might say that they are only in love with each other because of the experience that they went through, and after they heal from it they’re not gonna feel the same feelings as they did while in the basement. But what I think this author did SO BEAUTIFULLY WELL was she gave them experiences 15 years beforehand. She really illustrated how the two of them had always had a connection even if one of them didn’t always feel it. It was the years and years of emotions and pranks that led up to such a strong emotional connection while in the dungeon, and when they came out they just had layers and layers of feelings for each other that would culminate in such a relationship that they had. it was just so expertly done and I applaud the author for what she wrote.

I feel like this review was all over the place although I tried to gather my thoughts as best as I could. I am slightly overwhelmed by this book because of the topics that it delved into, but I’m glad I was at least aware of them before walking into this book blind. Like I mentioned earlier there are so so SO many triggers so please be careful before reading, but I think there’s books like this that need to be read so we can be more informed of situation that unfortunately do happen in every day life.

TW:

[r@pe, sexual harassment, miscarriage, alcoholism, death of an animal, suicide attempt, and kidnapping, probably more]

Content Warnings

fato_profuga's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Content Warnings

valeria_gzz's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

5 stars yeah Cora was annoying in the begin but she got better with time. Anyway 5 MFING STARS wow wow wow I was prepared for this to be a 3 star palate cleanser but NOPE it was anything but.

I highlighted this book so much and mostly because of the things Dean thought and said about Cora

Content Warnings

More...