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A review by hilary89
Torment: Part Two by Dylan Page
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
This is my first 5 star read of 2025, but god did it gut me. I'm still processing what I just read and may come back to edit this review later, but here are my thoughts for now. I'm struggling with whether or not this qualifies as a romance... even as a dark romance. I'm not someone that needs every story tied up with a bow in a perfect HEA at the ending, but I do feel like a romance needs some sort of satisfying conclusion. Shay's ending (which was perfectly done with his POV) was tragic, but it did give him some degree of redemption. The fact that he made the ultimate sacrifice so that Mina could live on is beautiful in its own tragic way.
But what I can't get past is how fundamentally abusive Shay and Mina's relationship was. I think what it really comes down to is that Mina was completely stripped of her agency by Shay's controlling nature. While I do think she loved him as a brother throughout, I was never convinced that she had truly fallen in love with him because the circumstances he forced her into prevented her from making her own decisions. Perhaps if Shay didn't have so many demons (poor boy just needed some damn therapy) and had allowed her to come to him on his own, that would have been romantic. But the horrific things he did to Mina and those around her prevented her from ever being able to love him in the way he wanted.
I know in dark romance we toe the line with romanticizing abusive behavior, but I think the key is whether or not both parties have enough agency to express themselves genuinely. In this case, with Mina having been groomed by Shay from the time she was a young girl, I don't think she had - or was given - the agency to truly love him.
I think if it were to be a true romance, it would have focused on Mina and Keenan's forbidden love. We got a hint of their HEA in the epilogue that was very satisfying. I'm really hoping we get more peaks into their lives after the events of this duology in future books.
But what I can't get past is how fundamentally abusive Shay and Mina's relationship was. I think what it really comes down to is that Mina was completely stripped of her agency by Shay's controlling nature. While I do think she loved him as a brother throughout, I was never convinced that she had truly fallen in love with him because the circumstances he forced her into prevented her from making her own decisions. Perhaps if Shay didn't have so many demons (poor boy just needed some damn therapy) and had allowed her to come to him on his own, that would have been romantic. But the horrific things he did to Mina and those around her prevented her from ever being able to love him in the way he wanted.
I know in dark romance we toe the line with romanticizing abusive behavior, but I think the key is whether or not both parties have enough agency to express themselves genuinely. In this case, with Mina having been groomed by Shay from the time she was a young girl, I don't think she had - or was given - the agency to truly love him.
I think if it were to be a true romance, it would have focused on Mina and Keenan's forbidden love. We got a hint of their HEA in the epilogue that was very satisfying. I'm really hoping we get more peaks into their lives after the events of this duology in future books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Vomit, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail