Review by indubitabubbly -- Lara's Journal by A. Gavazzoni
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Review by indubitabubbly -- Lara's Journal by A. Gavazzoni
[Following is a volunteer review of "Lara's Journal" by A. Gavazzoni.]
3 out of 4 stars
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With the psychopathic serial killer, Peter Hay, on the run, can Dr. Simone Bennet even begin to find a sense of normalcy? With her only child in France and her partner and best friends professing love for her, can she even begin to put together the pieces of her love and family life. When her patients start being poisoned Simone knows she has to let go of her fantasy of happiness and keep a watchful eye as the nightmares begin creeping close to home for Simone. With the introduction of Lara's journal into her life, can she find an escape for her mind? Will she solve the mystery that is the sex-crazed and unsociable Lara? Will Simone's daughter Tamara make it out of France alive?
In the second installment of Reader's Choice Award winner A. Gavazzoni's Hidden Motives saga, Lara's Journal, we catch up with Dr. Simone Bennet who is attempting to heal her scars from the traumatic occurrences in Behind Closed Doors,the first installment of the Hidden Motives saga. While Simone is a talented sex-therapist, she is forced into a world of psychopathy and murder, that doesn't seem to have much to do with sex.
Lara's Journal is both an erotic romance novel and a psychological thriller. The two main protagonists, Simone and Lara, we experience two opposites of the erotic spectrum - both the romance and the more dark and kinky. We also read about two very different psychological traumas - child abuse and molestation and then adult kidnapping and murder. Both Lara and Simone's stories are sure to keep you reading and wanting to know more.
What I really enjoyed about Lara's Journal is that while I was reading about both Simone and Lara's lives, it was at a natural pace that constantly dropped off at cliffhangers to keep me fully intrigued. It felt like a kind of book club between Simone and myself that after we would read an installment of Lara's journal, Simone would psychoanalyze her and I felt myself agreeing with her. Given the heavy issues addressed in Lara's journal - rape, child prostitution, and betrayal, it was a good mental break to address and sift through them from a psychological angle with Simone.
While the more thrilling and psychologically disturbing scenes were detailed and gratuitous, so were the romance and erotic scenes which brought a balance to the story. None of the more graphic scenes disrupted the natural flow of the story line and fit well into what was actually happening.
I applaud A. Gavazzoni for truly drawing me into two very different, very detailed stories - Lara and Simone. As a reader, it was at times heart wrenching to follow these two character's struggles with loneliness, trauma, fear, romance, and self-discovery. I found myself analyzing the ways in which they were coping and discovering that no one is perfect when it comes to hardship and suffering.
While the story was well-paced and the character development excellent, I found the grammatical and spelling errors, including character name inconsistencies, distracting. We are introduced to a few minor characters whose names are spelled differently on other pages, or are even referred to by a different name altogether. For example, "Oscar" becomes "Oliver" two pages after he was introduced into the story. Also, the author refers to Simone as Agnostic, but then describes her throughout the story as having Atheistic beliefs. Lastly, there was an unrealistic and vague timeline related to Lara's story - she is described as starting Graduate school at 18 years old.
Overall, I would rate Lara's Journal 3 out of 4 stars. Once I got past the grammatical and consistency errors, I found a riveting and titillating story of survival and romance that I could not put down. The author did a fantastic job of juggling two difficult stories and addressing some heavy issues in a way that, as a reader, I did not feel overwhelmed. The story is well-paced and flows naturally and really set itself up for the next installment in the Hidden Motives series. The cliffhangers for each character at the end of this story have me excited to continue on the series.
Reader caution: Lara's Journal continues extremely graphic scenes of pedophilia, child molestation, verbal and mental abuse, repeated rape, along with the aftermath of such events. Kindly, take care when reading.
******
Lara's Journal
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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3 out of 4 stars
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With the psychopathic serial killer, Peter Hay, on the run, can Dr. Simone Bennet even begin to find a sense of normalcy? With her only child in France and her partner and best friends professing love for her, can she even begin to put together the pieces of her love and family life. When her patients start being poisoned Simone knows she has to let go of her fantasy of happiness and keep a watchful eye as the nightmares begin creeping close to home for Simone. With the introduction of Lara's journal into her life, can she find an escape for her mind? Will she solve the mystery that is the sex-crazed and unsociable Lara? Will Simone's daughter Tamara make it out of France alive?
In the second installment of Reader's Choice Award winner A. Gavazzoni's Hidden Motives saga, Lara's Journal, we catch up with Dr. Simone Bennet who is attempting to heal her scars from the traumatic occurrences in Behind Closed Doors,the first installment of the Hidden Motives saga. While Simone is a talented sex-therapist, she is forced into a world of psychopathy and murder, that doesn't seem to have much to do with sex.
Lara's Journal is both an erotic romance novel and a psychological thriller. The two main protagonists, Simone and Lara, we experience two opposites of the erotic spectrum - both the romance and the more dark and kinky. We also read about two very different psychological traumas - child abuse and molestation and then adult kidnapping and murder. Both Lara and Simone's stories are sure to keep you reading and wanting to know more.
What I really enjoyed about Lara's Journal is that while I was reading about both Simone and Lara's lives, it was at a natural pace that constantly dropped off at cliffhangers to keep me fully intrigued. It felt like a kind of book club between Simone and myself that after we would read an installment of Lara's journal, Simone would psychoanalyze her and I felt myself agreeing with her. Given the heavy issues addressed in Lara's journal - rape, child prostitution, and betrayal, it was a good mental break to address and sift through them from a psychological angle with Simone.
While the more thrilling and psychologically disturbing scenes were detailed and gratuitous, so were the romance and erotic scenes which brought a balance to the story. None of the more graphic scenes disrupted the natural flow of the story line and fit well into what was actually happening.
I applaud A. Gavazzoni for truly drawing me into two very different, very detailed stories - Lara and Simone. As a reader, it was at times heart wrenching to follow these two character's struggles with loneliness, trauma, fear, romance, and self-discovery. I found myself analyzing the ways in which they were coping and discovering that no one is perfect when it comes to hardship and suffering.
While the story was well-paced and the character development excellent, I found the grammatical and spelling errors, including character name inconsistencies, distracting. We are introduced to a few minor characters whose names are spelled differently on other pages, or are even referred to by a different name altogether. For example, "Oscar" becomes "Oliver" two pages after he was introduced into the story. Also, the author refers to Simone as Agnostic, but then describes her throughout the story as having Atheistic beliefs. Lastly, there was an unrealistic and vague timeline related to Lara's story - she is described as starting Graduate school at 18 years old.
Overall, I would rate Lara's Journal 3 out of 4 stars. Once I got past the grammatical and consistency errors, I found a riveting and titillating story of survival and romance that I could not put down. The author did a fantastic job of juggling two difficult stories and addressing some heavy issues in a way that, as a reader, I did not feel overwhelmed. The story is well-paced and flows naturally and really set itself up for the next installment in the Hidden Motives series. The cliffhangers for each character at the end of this story have me excited to continue on the series.
Reader caution: Lara's Journal continues extremely graphic scenes of pedophilia, child molestation, verbal and mental abuse, repeated rape, along with the aftermath of such events. Kindly, take care when reading.
******
Lara's Journal
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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Latest Review: "Can I Be Frank?" by Rob Wyatt
