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A review by hereiskyra
Torment: Part Two by Dylan Page
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book, this duet, is I like anything I’ve ever read and it both made me question my own sanity and broke my freaking heart.
First and foremost, although Mina got to have an ending that involved a better and more stable life, my head is swimming with questions I don’t know if I’ll ever get answered. But, that’s life, as the author said…
Mina is strong, that much I learned. And she is a victim but also a survivor. Her childhood was stolen from her by selfish people and she was manipulated and isolated so much so that she thought she experienced love the way other people do.
I’m glad we got some answers on Keenan and his… motivations for being her friend for all of those years because I was suspicious. I love that they ended up together and I’m not even that upset that more of Key wasn’t included in the story. It wasn’t about him…
Shay… the most conflicted I have ever felt about a fictional character. I had a small, I mean small, inkling that he could be responsible for her mothers death but I thought I was just being paranoid. Just horrific, honestly. How is a person so awful, so tender and loving sometimes? But that is why illness is absolutely heartbreaking and Shay really was like two very different people.
Did I ever root for them to come out of this a couple and together? No. Did I want to see Mina get out and thrive? Yes. Did I also want Shay to have a redemption arc of some kind? Yes. And… I got what I wanted, in a way. The most selfless thing he ever did was take himself out of the equation. It absolutely shattered my heart even though I had been bracing for it since the end of Part One, because how else could this end in a way that didn’t include him chasing Mina down relentlessly for the rest of her life? She was never going to be safe or live a normal life with him… alive. That doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
The epilogue SET. ME. OFF.
We didn’t even get her perspective. Or even Key’s?! Ugh. And then to find out about their son. That always punches me in the gut. Because coming from a child of parents with mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, it is never ideal but… the thought of Shay never finding out about his child broke me a second time.
He was a horrific human being and a sadistic man but he loved Mina in the only way he was capable and that is real, even if these characters weren’t.
I love to find books that break me and put me back together. Unfortunately, this is not that. This broke me, it really did. But I don’t know if I’ll ever be fully put back together after this.
And l know I will forever cry when listening to “The Night We Met” after this.
Tropes:
Taboo-Forbidden
Step-Siblings
Age-Gap
First and foremost, although Mina got to have an ending that involved a better and more stable life, my head is swimming with questions I don’t know if I’ll ever get answered. But, that’s life, as the author said…
Mina is strong, that much I learned. And she is a victim but also a survivor. Her childhood was stolen from her by selfish people and she was manipulated and isolated so much so that she thought she experienced love the way other people do.
I’m glad we got some answers on Keenan and his… motivations for being her friend for all of those years because I was suspicious. I love that they ended up together and I’m not even that upset that more of Key wasn’t included in the story. It wasn’t about him…
Shay… the most conflicted I have ever felt about a fictional character. I had a small, I mean small, inkling that he could be responsible for her mothers death but I thought I was just being paranoid. Just horrific, honestly. How is a person so awful, so tender and loving sometimes? But that is why illness is absolutely heartbreaking and Shay really was like two very different people.
Did I ever root for them to come out of this a couple and together? No. Did I want to see Mina get out and thrive? Yes. Did I also want Shay to have a redemption arc of some kind? Yes. And… I got what I wanted, in a way. The most selfless thing he ever did was take himself out of the equation. It absolutely shattered my heart even though I had been bracing for it since the end of Part One, because how else could this end in a way that didn’t include him chasing Mina down relentlessly for the rest of her life? She was never going to be safe or live a normal life with him… alive. That doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
The epilogue SET. ME. OFF.
We didn’t even get her perspective. Or even Key’s?! Ugh. And then to find out about their son. That always punches me in the gut. Because coming from a child of parents with mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, it is never ideal but… the thought of Shay never finding out about his child broke me a second time.
He was a horrific human being and a sadistic man but he loved Mina in the only way he was capable and that is real, even if these characters weren’t.
I love to find books that break me and put me back together. Unfortunately, this is not that. This broke me, it really did. But I don’t know if I’ll ever be fully put back together after this.
And l know I will forever cry when listening to “The Night We Met” after this.
Tropes:
Taboo-Forbidden
Step-Siblings
Age-Gap
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Car accident, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Gore, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Gun violence