Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by noellelovesbooks
Through a Glass, Darkly by Nenia Campbell
3.5
Okay so this is definitely nowhere near a warm and fuzzy romance...its dark, brutal, honest, and painful...and I enjoyed every minute of it.
I also love that it's set in SF going back and forth between the years of 1997 and 2007...as someone who moved to the bay in 2008...it brought so many fond memories back to me 🥰
I think I connected to this story so much because it was easy to relate to Bethany...someone who's always felt like an outcast no matter what she did...like she was unworthy of love, affection, and true devotion...so when she meets someone [albeit toxic AF, manipulative, and just overall selfish] who wants to possess her...she's untrusting of it and pretty freaked out by it...especially when he reveals he's a vampire.
There's so much about this relationship that's bad...like irl...the red flags are knocking her on her ass...and any real friend would have her evaluated...but we're in a fictional realm and things happen 😅
I do love that though she does chose to turn...she doesn't say she forgives him or that everything is okay...she's merely giving them each time to figure it all out...I would imagine once she's turned he can't take her memories anymore...so if he fucks up there's no way to erase it...he'll genuinely have to work for that forgiveness...
Really I feel like the ending was so honest though...I mean you're telling me if someone offered you forever and really the two closest ppl in your life are already immortal...you wouldn't take it? I call BS.
In no way do I think the ways in which he pursued her were good or romantic, okay some of the things were romantic ...I mean noticing she didn't like the restaurant and then taking her to another place to eat after? That's sweet. Okay, and even his weird stalking...and essentially "50 First Date"-ing her though in a dark alternate universe...was kind of cute...showing that there was some kind of attraction even when she had no memory of him...BUT overall all the bad he did is much heavier on the scale than the sweet things...this is one of those couples that's going to need time and maybe a little therapy 😅
I also love that it's set in SF going back and forth between the years of 1997 and 2007...as someone who moved to the bay in 2008...it brought so many fond memories back to me 🥰
I think I connected to this story so much because it was easy to relate to Bethany...someone who's always felt like an outcast no matter what she did...like she was unworthy of love, affection, and true devotion...so when she meets someone [albeit toxic AF, manipulative, and just overall selfish] who wants to possess her...she's untrusting of it and pretty freaked out by it...especially when he reveals he's a vampire.
There's so much about this relationship that's bad...like irl...the red flags are knocking her on her ass...and any real friend would have her evaluated...but we're in a fictional realm and things happen 😅
Really I feel like the ending was so honest though...I mean you're telling me if someone offered you forever and really the two closest ppl in your life are already immortal...you wouldn't take it? I call BS.
In no way do I think the ways in which he pursued her were good or romantic, okay some of the things were romantic ...I mean noticing she didn't like the restaurant and then taking her to another place to eat after? That's sweet. Okay, and even his weird stalking...and essentially "50 First Date"-ing her though in a dark alternate universe...was kind of cute...showing that there was some kind of attraction even when she had no memory of him...BUT overall all the bad he did is much heavier on the scale than the sweet things...this is one of those couples that's going to need time and maybe a little therapy 😅