A review by violentai
The Pawn and The Puppet by Brandi Elise Szeker

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a hard book to swallow. Very slow burn for me. Very hard  debilitating abuse occurs within these pages. Some of which seemed over the top and unnecessary. Like one would use it to hit a word threshold instead of for plot or character development. 
This is definitely 100% not a book for a LOT of people. It is not for the feint at heart and it is not for those who find themselves upset with darker themes. Because the abuse makes it pretty damn dark. I went into this knowing how bad it would it could be and some of it as said previously seemed unnecessary or as if it was not researched properly. I am going to now have a rant.
A person would die if they were locked in a closet for weeks at a time without food. They will die if they consume drywall to survive. A person would die if they’re locked for weeks in a basement if not going insane themselves from the pitch blackness. A person would go insane from numerous years of torture as a child. He started being tortured at 6. He would not come away from that with ONLY split personalities. If a person gets their clothes torn, cut up or bloodied from a battle or a knife cutting them or a person ripping their clothes for nefarious reasons they should not suddenly seem okay in the next scene! Their clothes dried with blood on them. Are you seriously telling me she didn’t feel it crusting on her or between her cleavage when he grazed his finger there???

End rant.

The romance between the characters and the mystery were interesting if not fun. I enjoyed the romance just not the seemingly unnecessary volume of abuse. 

Thank you for reading. I hope this helps others see if this book is right for them or not.
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