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227 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 18, 2016
**UNPOPULAR OPINION**
I see you looking at me sideways. Yes, I know and I'm sorry but let me tell you why this was a near miss for me.
A Harmless Little Game falls within the romantic suspense genre which is one of my favorite genres because it's so deliciously thrilling.
......Your nerves should be shot and your nails chewed raw by the end of a suspenseful story. This story attempts but didn't quite connect with me; indulge me while I tell you the 3 reasons. (1) The plot holes (2) The plot holes (3) The plot holes
Sorry, but I'm nothing if not pragmatic, so I did a little internet reading on the rights of a US ADULT citizen. So much medical and legal jargon, but I distilled them to these two.
1. The right to refuse treatment is conferred on each and every US adult citizen. (Lindsay was 19 at the time of admission)
2. Without a court order, a psychiatry facility can only hold for a maximum 96 hours.
What's that you say? 4 yrs v. 96hrs? Yes. Plot hole 1. But let's allow for literary license and move on from this.
Plot hole 2 seems so obvious.
Here it is. Lindsay has beenincarceratedhospitalized for 4 years. Are we to believe she just accepted being held against her will and for 4 years at that? Would you have been so accepting?
My mind latched on to this long time-frame and couldn't move beyond it. So I ask, If she couldn't plot her way out of a low-security-hospital, how will she navigate the outside world and have the balls to exact revenge? I know what you're thinking. Delicious Drew will help her. Fair enough.
I will say one good thing about this period, and it's that she got psychiatric help and could heal (in a manner) away from prying and judgmental eyes. NO one should ever have to experience the horrors she passed through, but still, 4 years is a long time to remain quiet and be deprived of basic human rights.
Never mind, we can dismiss 2.
Moving on to 3. The stolen 4 yrs. Now, I don't know about you but if someone violated my body and some other person violates my rights, they all better make sure I'm dead and buried or they ALL better be dead and buried. What is Lindsay's reaction to all this once she rejoins society, you ask? Let's talk about that.
But before we get into that, let's discuss the prose and writing style of this book.“I’m completely encased by some giant, thick-vined plant that feels like a spiny cage”
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“I’m encased in cotton candy that someone has lit on fire with a flamethrower”
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“I halt suddenly, the epiphany so strong it’s like it sucked all the kinetic energy out of me.”
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“I'm fleeing, no pace, no steady gait. I’m running like a spooked fawn in the woods, fleeing a potential predator”
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“God help me, he smells so good. I look at his mouth. I kissed that mouth. Yesterday. Why am I thinking about kissing him now? No. I can’t do this. I can’t”
-This? This is the thought and speech process of a woman we're meant to take seriously? A woman we all expect will take no prisoners?
Needless to say, I was unimpressed by Lindsay. She's 23 for fucks sakes and still she has nothing of importance to say. Moreover, her thought process contradicts the character that Raine told us she created. Spooked fawns, cotton candy, and so many other lyrical similes? Who thinks like this?
Okay. Rant over. I know this is a trilogy and book 2 may well negate my rants. I want to know if there'll be a transformation for Lindsay, and I NEED to see her attackers get what's coming to them. Fin.
**Update** 29/12/2016Sadly, at the recommendation of my personal physician- who asks that I limit eye-rolls and head shakes-, I had to DNF the second book of this trilogy. Please, no sympathies. *stares impassively* I have accepted my lot and if that includes never knowing the who or the what of this story, well, so be it.
Thanks for your understanding. My review for A Harmless Little Ruse can be found here