myhappilyneverendingtbr 's review for:

The Savage by Daniela Romero

4.0

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

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The Savage by Daniela Romero is a college sports romance dealing with some pretty heavy topics. There are some major TW including Sexual Assault (and resulting emotional harm), Suicide, Suicidal Ideations and Grief (aftermath of the loss of a sibling). The same trigger warnings apply to this review because I am going to be taking about them. 

 

This book is not a standalone and continues the main characters stories in the Striker. 

 

Reading these TW I knew this book was going to be heavy but I didn’t think it was going to tackle these topics in such vivid detail. However I think Daniella did a great job showing the real raw side to these difficult topics. She showed the panic, the anger, the despair, and the constant uncertainty so incredibly well. It was like she was writing from experience. while I hope she wasn’t statistically 1 in 6 women are subjected to Sexual Assault at least once in their lifetime. 

 

Cecilia was too relatable for me as a woman who has been in a similar situation. But my heart hurt for her as not only was she violated her attacker continued to harass her, violate her boundaries and taunt her. The word NO is a complete sentence and it was one that jerk didn’t understand. 

 

Gabriel’s friends were so heartwarming. And their bond was so perfect. 

 

I loved Gabriel but he also frustrated me. Some spoilers next: Having lost his twin brother to suicide and watching his family fall apart, he is angry. So when he finds a young woman barely alive and is able to save her, he makes it his mission to make sure she stays alive. What I loved was his unwavering support and commitment to Cecilia but I didn’t love his approach. It did have compassion but it also had so much misdirected anger. He want to help her and he will do anything to accomplish that.