Do you ever stop and think why?
How did I end up here?
My life is the definition of a tragedy, moving from one horror to the next. I had gone through most of my life concealing it, lying. Yet my English teacher is determined to know the truth and for once I had run out of lies to tell.
He's running from a past of darkness. She's trying to find an ember of light. He is a teacher. She is a student...
They both knew it was wrong, yet their broken hearts could not resist. For they each lived in a corrupted world where the line of what was right, blurred into nothingness.
Do you ever stop and think why?
How did I end up here?
My life is the definition of a tragedy, moving from one horror to the next. I had gone through most of my life concealing it, lying. Yet my English teacher is determined to know the truth and for once I had run out of lies to tell.
He's running from a past of darkness. She's trying to find an ember of light. He is a teacher. She is a student...
They both knew it was wrong, yet their broken hearts could not resist. For they each lived in a corrupted world where the line of what was right, blurred into nothingness.
Third person
“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again,” a woman read to her two daughters.
“Poor Humpty Dumpty,” said the younger of the two. Lana was her name. Her black hair was short in comparison to her sister whose head was layered in long brown hair.
“Justice for Humpty,” spoke the elder sibling lifting her small fist into the air.
“But…surely they could fix him, right?” Lana said looking at the image of Humpty’s egg-shaped head.
“Not everything can be fixed, and that’s all right. It’s best not to dwell on what we can’t solve,” responded the mother. She had tears in her eyes as she looked over at the two girls. Her own brown hair was medium in length, just enough to cover the bruises on her face. The broken parts she couldn’t fix.
“Go to sleep. Tomorrow I’ll read you your favorite story.”
“The one you made?” asked Lana hopefully.
“Yes,” said her mom as she tucked her daughter into the blankets.
“I like that one. Everything is happy in the end.”
“So it is, but don’t forget the beginning,” replied the mother with a warm smile. “Life is about the whole journey, that’s what makes it special.”
Lana York is in trouble. Since the death of her mother and sister, her father's abuse has escalated. She is forbidden the essentials of parental care like food, safety, and love. His cruelty escalates to extreme mental and physical abuse until Lana is given shelter by her English teacher, Kol Harrington. His official nickname among the students is "Mr Grumpy Hot Pants" but Lana must admit that the "Hot Pants" part is true. He is handsome, attractive, and genuinely concerned that she escape her abuser. However, their relationship is taboo as she is his student and only seventeen. They both must confront the morality of their burgeoning relationship and potential consequences. Is the reward worth the risk?
Lana's situation is dire. The narrative warrants many trigger warnings describing self-harm, severe abuse, forced prostitution, rape, and incest. It's not easy to read Lana's harrowing story. It gets very intense and as a fictional tale feels a bit embellished for the shock value. The darkness makes it difficult for the reader to then accept the sudden plot twist. How can Lana emotionally experience not just love but lust soon after multiple violent rapes? It takes a real suspension of disbelief to follow her story arc. Yet the argument can also be made that the shocking elements keep the reader engaged in order to find out where the story is going, making it a quick read.
The book itself demonstrates quality writing in spite of some minor typos. The pacing and character development are quite solid until the final third. At that point, throw-away elements are inserted which really don't add to the overall plot and could have been omitted. Lana and Kol's sexual relationship is fairly explicit between a seventeen-year-old and a twenty-two-year-old teacher which may not be to some reader's tastes. Overall, an expanded middle leading to a less sudden denouement would strengthen the narrative. Yet it still remains a solid read for fans of enemy-to-lovers or forced-proximity tropes.