Review of The Girl In The Closet (A Southern Heroes Novel Book 2) by Michelle Heard
Birdie went through the worst kinds of hell before being adopted by wonderful parents. At the start of The Girl In The Closet, she's 17 and still scarred, emotionally, mentally, and physically. Cole is the boy who's pushing to be with her, but she's so traumatized by her past that she cannot let him in. So he leaves and enlists in the Marines, then comes back home 8 years later. And that's when their story really begins. Unfortunately, it's not pretty at all. It's unrelentingly dark and graphic until the very end, when we're given their very sweet epilogue.
The juxtaposition between the entirety of their story that was dark and heartbreaking, to the sweet epilogue was a bit jarring, but without that ending, the story would have been unbearable, so I appreciated the contrast. I just wish everything that had come before the ending were lightened up just a tad. But I will say that The Girl In The Closet is very well-written, well-paced, and the characters are amazing. Cole and Birdie are both layered and detailed well, and their connection is strong. I just could not bring myself to give it 5 stars because it was a bit too depressing for my tastes. I can do dark, in fact, some of my favorite stories are dark (ie: almost everything of A. Zavarelli's, especially her Boston Underworld series, J.M. Walker's MC series, etc.) but The Girl In The Closet was just grim in a way I almost couldn't get past. It felt so fatalistic that I wondered if Birdie and Cole would ever reach the other side intact and in love. Thankfully, though, they did reach the other side and we were given their sweet ending. So I'll leave it at that - 4 stars because it's well-written, the characters are awesome and the epilogue is so sweet, but not 5 stars because it's almost too depressing and heartbreaking for my tastes.
ARC via Social Butterfly PR.
#bookreview #TheGirlInTheCloset #SouthernHeroesSeries #darkromance #newrelease #SocialButterflyPR #ARC
Birdie went through the worst kinds of hell before being adopted by wonderful parents. At the start of The Girl In The Closet, she's 17 and still scarred, emotionally, mentally, and physically. Cole is the boy who's pushing to be with her, but she's so traumatized by her past that she cannot let him in. So he leaves and enlists in the Marines, then comes back home 8 years later. And that's when their story really begins. Unfortunately, it's not pretty at all. It's unrelentingly dark and graphic until the very end, when we're given their very sweet epilogue.
The juxtaposition between the entirety of their story that was dark and heartbreaking, to the sweet epilogue was a bit jarring, but without that ending, the story would have been unbearable, so I appreciated the contrast. I just wish everything that had come before the ending were lightened up just a tad. But I will say that The Girl In The Closet is very well-written, well-paced, and the characters are amazing. Cole and Birdie are both layered and detailed well, and their connection is strong. I just could not bring myself to give it 5 stars because it was a bit too depressing for my tastes. I can do dark, in fact, some of my favorite stories are dark (ie: almost everything of A. Zavarelli's, especially her Boston Underworld series, J.M. Walker's MC series, etc.) but The Girl In The Closet was just grim in a way I almost couldn't get past. It felt so fatalistic that I wondered if Birdie and Cole would ever reach the other side intact and in love. Thankfully, though, they did reach the other side and we were given their sweet ending. So I'll leave it at that - 4 stars because it's well-written, the characters are awesome and the epilogue is so sweet, but not 5 stars because it's almost too depressing and heartbreaking for my tastes.
ARC via Social Butterfly PR.
#bookreview #TheGirlInTheCloset #SouthernHeroesSeries #darkromance #newrelease #SocialButterflyPR #ARC
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