BOOK REVIEW :: /// Dark Themed
Red Water by Kristen Mae ::: // Genre Dark/ Adult Romance
How do you let love in when the only thing that feels right is pain?
Compared to the beat-up trailer she’s had to call home since her mom died, Malory Shoemaker’s tiny dorm room is a significant upgrade. An escape. An escape from the terrible things her father put her family through. An escape from the whispers—his whispers—that still skitter through her mind. An escape from darkness. And though Malory has not yet managed to silence her father’s whispers, she is excelling at school, making new friends, and shining as the music school’s new star cellist. She has even attracted an enigmatic admirer. But when this new love interest begins to reveal his more unsavory appetites, Malory finds herself a hapless participant in a sick game—a game that forces her to confront her own nasty inner demons. And as the game intensifies, so do the old, familiar whispers in Malory’s head. Now she must decide: sink back into the darkness, or claw her way to the surface and discover a life worth fighting for.
EXCERPT
At the far end of the table, Liza’s little blonde head is bouncing in a way that tells me she’s kicking her legs under the tabletop, her tiny body gone delirious with joy. The love in the room is expanding and contracting in time with my lungs, and I can almost believe that the universe was predestined to align in precisely this happy way. My chest just might explode from so much happiness. “No one else has this, you know,” I say, still smiling but quite serious now. My parents stop laughing and look at me with expectant smiles. Liza stops swinging her legs—I can tell because her head isn’t bobbing anymore. “Think about it.” I set down my fork. “Brianna’s parents are getting a divorce. Rachel’s parents hate each other. Kyla screams at her mom and dad, and they just let her. Isn’t it amazing, how happy we are?”“It’s true,” says Liza in her mousy voice. “We’re the perfect family.” “Yes,” I say. “We really are.” Mom is smiling. There are tears in her eyes. My dad swallows a bite of food and nods, setting his solemn gaze on each of us in turn. “We’re very blessed. We should never, ever take it for granted.” “I’m so happy I wanna scream,” Liza squeaks. She hugs her arms around herself, and she’s bouncing again, her little legs pumping furiously beneath the table. I am proud, not just that I have a perfect family, but that I am wise enough to see it. I feel very grown up to have pointed out our good fortune. I am not like other children who take everything for granted. But what I don’t know, what I cannot possibly know because I am only eight for Christ’s sake, is that my father, with intent and forethought nourished by an untainted evil my young brain cannot begin to contemplate, has already begun the process of killing my mother. I should have known.I should have known, because he was trying to kill me too. 
***WARNING*** I tried I really tried to like this BUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Excuse me but hell no, this book should be slapped with a HUGE warning, It may cause triggers is a major understatement in my opinion, If you have any mental health problems, or have done or know someone who has, might be advisable to avoid this book. Especially as mental health is prominent in the news these days, It as an extremely disturbing read, as someone with mental health issues her self. This for me was disturbing and had me awake at night and completely out of touch with reality when I was reading it. Its taken me some time to finish this, I am usually a very fast reader, but have had to put this one down and go and read something else. I started reading this October 10th its now the 18th, and I have read 7 other books in the same time its taken me to read this. I suffer from major flashbacks as an adult about my childhood and teenage years so it was difficult, but I think even if you didn’t have problems, it would be a tough book.
I LOVE DARK THEMED, which is why this one is difficult to write a review about. It’s supposed to be erotic but dark erotic, err nope and I am convinced it wasn’t for the main female lead either, we have Garrett who for me was creep from the get go, he was a sexual sadist and possibly more, think serial and add killer, not far from what I thought he really was, He meets poor Mallory who has had a terrible life, she is needy, I would say manic depressive, always trying to hard, over extending over achieving you might say. Trying to make her self into something she thinks she is. When all she really needs i to be accepted. The other downside to this book, is major and I do mean major holes in the script, Its like you are reading, it stops and you have to finish the story. Its left dangling in the air. No explanation for a lot of things that goes on, you sort of get the general idea, but you are not certain if your train of thought is the correct one. The entire cast of characters have all got major issues, but we never get to find out what they are, The so called male lead I knew nothing about other than he is a sexual sadist and he lives with his mother. Not how old he is, or about his father, it’s like the writer just glanced at him, yet he is an integral part of the book. The more I read of this the more depressed I became, which is why I had to put it down and go read something else, I couldn’t wait for the book to finish’ So why did I carry on and not mark it up to a “DNF”?
I wanted to see Mallory become more than she thought she was or had to be, The poor sweetheart was an emotional cripple, she wasn’t the masochist to Garrets sadist, she was lost, she was looking for someone to love her, to give her security, she so desperately wanted to fit in, become something more than what she was, she needed therapy, she needed a cuddle. Not one time in this entire story was this poor girl happy. Instead she was the perfect victim for Garrett’s sadistic nature she became a punch bag a submissive that she was neither didn’t seem to matter. At the start of this book she is described as major manic depressive with suicidal thoughts. When really all she was like I said was a lost young lady. I have given the book 3 stars because the book flowed even though the subject matter was difficult for me to read, he is physically hurting this girl and yet she is describing it as a beautiful, she is 18 has lead a very very sheltered life, come from an incredible horrific background, she wasn’t looking for a man to hurt her she was looking for someone to notice and care for her. There is nothing beautiful or happy about this book at all. I have given the book 2 stars because I don’t like to be all negative, but honestly the 4 and 5 star ratings has got me scratching my head, I picked this up because AMAZON recommended it as I am into the dark reads, but this isn’t dark, Its depressive, extremely sad and seriously needs to come with better warnings.
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