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A review by highladyofdelulu
Never Let Go by Lauren Biel
5.0
My song for Never Let Go: Breathe Tommee Profitt, Fleurie
„He’d done unmentionable things, but I wanted to be the one to wiggle into his heart and stroke the beast inside him.”
———
Disclaimer: Never Let Go is a heavy dark romance/thriller including possible triggers like abduction, SA, heavy non con talk and abuse and more. Please make sure to check the Trigger Warnings before diving into the book!
https://laurenbiel.com/trigger-warnings/
This review contains out-of-context quotes that could be considered spoilers
———
This might be the darkest book I’ve read so far and what can I say… I loved it.
It’s depraved, twisted and morally problematic to say the least and my therapist will most definitely never hear about it.
“You don’t even know the definition of a monster. If you want me to show you, I’ll fucking show you. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life than to have you. To fuck you.”
I don’t want to dive too deep into the different characters as to not give too much away. They were well written, they made sense and while Mackenzie sometimes seemed a little flat in the beginning, it was the dynamic between characters that mattered. Seeing them through each other’s eyes told me everything I needed to know.
‘I’d be the hurricane while she was the grass weathering my storm. I’d be the wildfire while she doused me until I was unable to burn her. She would be the drug that tamed the beast, leaving him curled up on the floor between us.’
It was also this very dynamic that drove the book – in a restricted environment with a limited possibility of actions, the ever-evolving and shifting relationship between all three characters was triggered by Mackenzie’s arrival. Like a chemical reaction caused by the finally added component and slowly building up to an explosion.
“I don’t want to hurt you, but knowing I am drives me harder. I want you to feel all of it. Pleasure and pain.”
The fact that Lauren Biel made this story work, that she made me feel compassion and love, that I could appreciate the later smut scenes is, in my opinion, a testament to her genius. She even solved the imposing question of how there could be any sort of ‘after’ by offering an epilogue that was no more than the suggestion of an answer.
‘When a wild animal mauls everyone else and then gently licks your hand, you can’t help but feel chosen.’
Fun fact: I picked up Never Let Go because I read Frisky the Snowman on a hilarious whim and ended up being positively surprised by the writing.
In Never Let Go, Lauren Biel proved that she knows what she is doing. It is a short book because she put in exactly what was needed without dragging it out artificially and the dialogues were just as perfect as what remained unsaid.
‘When his body pressed against mine, it felt like home. And I was homesick.’
Never Let Go is, in my opinion, an impressive example of dark romance because it uses the precipices of psychology to create a twisted version of love amidst one of the most depraved scenarios imaginable.
„He’d done unmentionable things, but I wanted to be the one to wiggle into his heart and stroke the beast inside him.”
———
Disclaimer: Never Let Go is a heavy dark romance/thriller including possible triggers like abduction, SA, heavy non con talk and abuse and more. Please make sure to check the Trigger Warnings before diving into the book!
https://laurenbiel.com/trigger-warnings/
This review contains out-of-context quotes that could be considered spoilers
———
This might be the darkest book I’ve read so far and what can I say… I loved it.
It’s depraved, twisted and morally problematic to say the least and my therapist will most definitely never hear about it.
“You don’t even know the definition of a monster. If you want me to show you, I’ll fucking show you. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life than to have you. To fuck you.”
I don’t want to dive too deep into the different characters as to not give too much away. They were well written, they made sense and while Mackenzie sometimes seemed a little flat in the beginning, it was the dynamic between characters that mattered. Seeing them through each other’s eyes told me everything I needed to know.
‘I’d be the hurricane while she was the grass weathering my storm. I’d be the wildfire while she doused me until I was unable to burn her. She would be the drug that tamed the beast, leaving him curled up on the floor between us.’
It was also this very dynamic that drove the book – in a restricted environment with a limited possibility of actions, the ever-evolving and shifting relationship between all three characters was triggered by Mackenzie’s arrival. Like a chemical reaction caused by the finally added component and slowly building up to an explosion.
“I don’t want to hurt you, but knowing I am drives me harder. I want you to feel all of it. Pleasure and pain.”
The fact that Lauren Biel made this story work, that she made me feel compassion and love, that I could appreciate the later smut scenes is, in my opinion, a testament to her genius. She even solved the imposing question of how there could be any sort of ‘after’ by offering an epilogue that was no more than the suggestion of an answer.
‘When a wild animal mauls everyone else and then gently licks your hand, you can’t help but feel chosen.’
Fun fact: I picked up Never Let Go because I read Frisky the Snowman on a hilarious whim and ended up being positively surprised by the writing.
In Never Let Go, Lauren Biel proved that she knows what she is doing. It is a short book because she put in exactly what was needed without dragging it out artificially and the dialogues were just as perfect as what remained unsaid.
‘When his body pressed against mine, it felt like home. And I was homesick.’
Never Let Go is, in my opinion, an impressive example of dark romance because it uses the precipices of psychology to create a twisted version of love amidst one of the most depraved scenarios imaginable.