Review of The Cost of Living
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[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Cost of Living" by Daisy DeMay.]
The raging storms have demolished Sara’s house into a pile of wreckage and shattered her life as she knew it. Sara, a 38-year-old housewife, finds herself desperately searching for her two precious children, Tina and Thomas. To her vast horror, she finds out that the storms have taken their lives. In the middle of her grief, she reunites with Sam Alperstein, her long-lost high school friend and secret crush. Sam helps her survive and awakens some long-buried feelings in her. Her husband, Kyle, has also survived the storms and blames their children's fate on Sara. In the turmoil, she feels she no longer knows who she is and is torn between her responsibilities and her emotions. Then she meets Adam, who seems like an angel sent to save her. All these events trigger a journey of self-discovery. What is real? Who is Sara? And who will she become?
The Cost of Living by Daisy DeMay is a fictional take on domestic violence and abuse in marriage. It is rich in strong emotions, delivering a powerful story of a woman who struggles to rediscover her long-lost identity and femininity and to find her place in the world. And true enough, this book succeeds in painting a picture of a woman in an abusive marriage, being constantly body-shamed by the person who should love and cherish her the most. Sara’s life had gone awry long before the storms hit; those only made all the wreckage visible. I loved the author’s choice of using the outer devastation to reflect Sara’s inner turmoil; it was impressive. Sara’s thought processes accurately describe those of an abused woman who does not see her own worth.
However, this book is not only the family drama I expected based on its premise. Moreover, it is a story of revenge, featuring some extremely chilling, macabre scenes and even intimate encounters. The vast amount of death, gory details, and sexual acts did not sit well with me. The most off-putting scenes were those about Sara’s sexual escapades. I could not help but think that they were so absurd that they could have been from one of those romance novels she stored in her basement. In addition, the descriptions of her misery dragged on unnecessarily long. This story really started getting interesting more than halfway through the book, after the narration shifted to Sam Alperstein.
My favorite aspect of this book is the element of surprise: there is no way of knowing what will happen next, and the ending, especially, is totally unpredictable. Daisy DeMay is obviously a skilled word artist who knows how to paint strong emotions and use the element of surprise in her writing. Unfortunately, the book’s premise led me to expect something different from what I got, and I simply did not like the gore and steamy scenes included in the story. For these reasons, I rate The Cost of Living4 out of 5 stars. Giving it a lower rating would be inappropriate, given the author’s obvious talent. A higher rating would conflict with my moral sense, although I recognize that the reasons why I deducted a star might not be a problem for other readers.
Those who enjoy stories with strong emotions and don’t mind macabre details or themes such as abuse and grief, spiced up with steamy romance, will find this book enjoyable.
******
The Cost of Living
View: on Bookshelves |
The raging storms have demolished Sara’s house into a pile of wreckage and shattered her life as she knew it. Sara, a 38-year-old housewife, finds herself desperately searching for her two precious children, Tina and Thomas. To her vast horror, she finds out that the storms have taken their lives. In the middle of her grief, she reunites with Sam Alperstein, her long-lost high school friend and secret crush. Sam helps her survive and awakens some long-buried feelings in her. Her husband, Kyle, has also survived the storms and blames their children's fate on Sara. In the turmoil, she feels she no longer knows who she is and is torn between her responsibilities and her emotions. Then she meets Adam, who seems like an angel sent to save her. All these events trigger a journey of self-discovery. What is real? Who is Sara? And who will she become?
The Cost of Living by Daisy DeMay is a fictional take on domestic violence and abuse in marriage. It is rich in strong emotions, delivering a powerful story of a woman who struggles to rediscover her long-lost identity and femininity and to find her place in the world. And true enough, this book succeeds in painting a picture of a woman in an abusive marriage, being constantly body-shamed by the person who should love and cherish her the most. Sara’s life had gone awry long before the storms hit; those only made all the wreckage visible. I loved the author’s choice of using the outer devastation to reflect Sara’s inner turmoil; it was impressive. Sara’s thought processes accurately describe those of an abused woman who does not see her own worth.
However, this book is not only the family drama I expected based on its premise. Moreover, it is a story of revenge, featuring some extremely chilling, macabre scenes and even intimate encounters. The vast amount of death, gory details, and sexual acts did not sit well with me. The most off-putting scenes were those about Sara’s sexual escapades. I could not help but think that they were so absurd that they could have been from one of those romance novels she stored in her basement. In addition, the descriptions of her misery dragged on unnecessarily long. This story really started getting interesting more than halfway through the book, after the narration shifted to Sam Alperstein.
My favorite aspect of this book is the element of surprise: there is no way of knowing what will happen next, and the ending, especially, is totally unpredictable. Daisy DeMay is obviously a skilled word artist who knows how to paint strong emotions and use the element of surprise in her writing. Unfortunately, the book’s premise led me to expect something different from what I got, and I simply did not like the gore and steamy scenes included in the story. For these reasons, I rate The Cost of Living4 out of 5 stars. Giving it a lower rating would be inappropriate, given the author’s obvious talent. A higher rating would conflict with my moral sense, although I recognize that the reasons why I deducted a star might not be a problem for other readers.
Those who enjoy stories with strong emotions and don’t mind macabre details or themes such as abuse and grief, spiced up with steamy romance, will find this book enjoyable.
******
The Cost of Living
View: on Bookshelves |
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