amyl00wh00 's review for:

Tainted Black by Shanora Williams

4.0

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Oh, my broken heart.

"Don't think. It complicates things. Just feel, and if it feels like home, then follow its path. - R.M. Drake"

I have a love/hate relationship with angst, as in "I hate to love it" like I do. The angst in this book isn't really delved into until the epilogue, but once I got to it, I wasn't sure I'd survive it. The masochist in me doesn't need an HEA, but I also don't necessarily enjoy closure either - especially when it doesn't go as I expected. (Although, in this instance, I'm not sure it could have healthily gone any other way.)

This was one of the best "age-gap taboo's" I've read, and was really very beautiful in parts throughout. I felt a sincerity in Theo's feelings for Chloe, rooted in a genuine friendship and protectiveness. Clearly,

Spoiler

unable to get their lives lined up right, their love required selfless sacrifice in the end, and though it was undoubtedly the best way it could have possibly ended,

it broke my heart.

Truly, a beautiful examination of grief, friendship, sacrificial love, lust and longing, and a deeper look into the forbidden love taboo of the "older, best friend's dad/younger woman."

"I remember everything when it comes to you."