A review by novanother
Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann

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

3.75

I really, really enjoyed this book. Of course it has the usual pick me main character symptoms (I’m not like other girls type beat) but I’ve learned to just ignore that, and once you do the book it actually pretty good.

One thing I didn’t like is how
after Cora and Dean are free, eventually Cora begins acting extremely selfish and toxic. I understand that this is not an entirely inaccurate portrayal of someone coping with trauma, but when Dean told her not to kiss and fck him anymore because it’s hurting him and she basically smugly says “But you’re turned on rn so I won’t stop”…
I had to take a walk to get over that. 

In general Cora’s personality was imo sometimes hard to… emphasise with? I mean,
adopting her kidnappers and rapists dogs
is CRAZY. 
I think Dean’s character and Dean’s way of coping was handled much more gracefully, and
I’m glad he got his happy end with her.


But despite all that I still enjoyed the book, read it all in one sitting instead of sleeping.
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