2 out of 4 stars
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Heartaches 3 by H.M. Irwing is centered on Rafe and Anna, two rape survivors who only wish to live and love each other peacefully and overcome their trauma. The road to reach their aim is bombarded with shadows from their pasts, attempting to ruin everything they have. The Prestons will not fall down easily, and it is Anna and Rafe's mission to get their vengeance because no one else will get it for them. Anna and Rafe’s story is far from a fairy tale, but their love will not be easily conquered as long as they have each other.
The third installment of the book demonstrated the obvious improvement in story-telling. I noticed immediately how the author put much more thought into better word selection and description. The plot flowed much more smoothly and I felt like the characters’ growth was very apparent and pleasing to read.
Rafe and Anna’s relationship has definitely matured since the last book. Now they understand that sometimes when people are too similar they could clash a lot too, like two magnets with the same poles trying to come together, which I completely agree with. They are trying to work through their blatant uncertainties and Anna is even shown having an inner dialogue with herself about her own insecurities, something she didn’t do at all in the last book. I greatly enjoyed this character's development.
I also found the book to be more insightful than the last one. The author added drugs and drug-dealing to the equation, so now we have a very perceptive plot that includes many of the societies' taboo subjects such as, drugs, rape, homosexuality, homosexual relationships and so on. The problems presented in this book could educate many but sadly don't fit a wide range of audiences under 18 because of its heavy themes. Alas, I enjoyed the author’s efforts and bravery to talk about such topics with great detail and delicacy.
However, some of the aspects that I didn’t enjoy in the previous installments were still present. There were many scenes that I questioned occurring in real life and which I found extremely hard to believe. To elaborate, Anna is portrayed as a woman with many insecurities and fears especially since the traumatic incident of her rape. She is a bit shy when she shows some skin and is displayed falling into a different state of mind — a more fearful one — whenever she is faced with one of the Prestons. Therefore, I found it extremely peculiar that she would agree to a plan where she’ll have to expose a lot of skin while in front of her rapists and even attempt to dominate them. I honestly couldn’t believe that someone who has lived through the same circumstances as Anna could agree to such a dangerous plan and even succeed in it. It was tremendously out of character for Anna and very farfetched.
Also, there were many parts that were briefly explained and the author skipped through. For instance, Suzi and David’s relationship was very fast-paced and didn’t quite fit the story-line, which was saddening because I got very excited since the last book and was waiting to see how their relationship will unfold. I feel like the author should have attempted to expand their love story a bit more because it came out as very unbelievable in the end.
The dialogues throughout the story were not as convincing as they could have been. I even found myself questioning many of the conversations and their validity because I didn’t think people in real life could have similar discussions. Also, the author attempted to show Matt and Brian in a different light and tried to deliver a message that sometimes decent people could do terrible things depending on the circumstances, but sadly I was not influenced. After convincing us in the last two books that certain characters are bad seeds and should be hated, you can’t tell me in the last book that ‘no, everything I said before could be wrong.’ Maybe if the author released another book with a more in-depth theory, then I could be a little persuaded. But right now I find myself hardly agreeing with her.
For the reasons above, I will be rating this book a 2 out of 4 stars. I congratulate the author’s obvious attempts at improving her writing style and the obvious growth of her characters. There was never a dull moment in the plot, but I think she should have lessened the overly long descriptions a bit since they can get very boring. I recommend this book for ages above 18 since it includes extremely heavy themes, but also very interesting perspectives and insights on topics that many usually find off-limits.
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Heartaches 3
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