Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Beautiful Chaos

AUTHOR: Riley Hart & Devon McCormack

PUBLISHER: Treycore Publishing

LENGTH: 257 pages

RELEASE DATE: October 14, 2018

BLURB:

SILAS

My home is my sanctuary. Or is it my prison? Some days it’s hard to tell.

I’ve confined myself behind these walls for protection. I have my reasons, but that doesn’t change the profound loneliness I’ve discovered in the process.

Then one day I find myself drifting toward the window to see him. Corey Marshall, my new neighbor. Quiet, reserved, and cute as can be. He infects my thoughts, becomes the image I fantasize about.

I want to taste his lips, smell his scent…feel what it’s like to be inside him.

And soon, watching becomes exchanging gifts and messages, which becomes so much more.

It’s wrong to want this as badly as I do, but I can’t help myself. I crave him so desperately. It’s hard to tell if what we’re doing is going to make me lose my mind or change my entire world, but it’s too late to turn back now…

COREY

I’ve never been quite right. Too high or too low. Pain is my constant companion…at the hands of my abusive ex, and often from myself. The sweet relief is only temporary, but in those moments, it’s like I can finally breathe.

Then I meet him. Silas Rizner calms the chaotic storms inside me. He makes me feel loved, treasured, even when I don’t deserve it. I cherish the moments we share–cooking, cuddling, and when Silas reads to me until I fall asleep. When he’s inside me, it’s the only time in my life I’ve ever felt complete.

Silas becomes the glue that holds me together, that bandages my scars. Inside the walls of his home, we’re almost safe, but our demons are always there, waiting to break free.

We’re a mess. We’re broken, chaotic, beautiful; we’re in love.

But not even love can slay our monsters. No, only we can do that.

Unless our monsters destroy us first.

TRIGGERS: Self-harm, depression, anxiety, mentions of past domestic violence.

REVIEW:

This amazing book on how people deal with mental illness, domestic violence and kidnapping is thought provoking.

Silas Rizner suffers from agoraphobia as the result of an unspeakable violence done to him as a young adult. Because of this he is literally a prisoner within his own home. He has shut out the rest of the world except for his one and only friend, Dyna, the only person he trusts to cross his threshold and enter his house. Corey Marshall moves in next door and attracts Silas’ immediate attention. Corey has fought his inner demons for as long as he can remember. He lost his only person who truly loved him, his mom, when he was eighteen and the only other person to show him attention almost killed him during a domestic violence situation. Now he barely goes through daily life. He can never let anyone close to him because he know deep down he doesn’t deserve to be loved. Physical pain is his only release and that is extremely short lived. When these two men become attracted to each other how can anything possibly work?

This has to be one of the darkest stories I have ever read! Devon McCormack actually warned me of this at GRL. It has been haunting me since I read it. I am still not entirely sure how to write this review to be honest. I don’t want to give anything away in an accidental spoiler. But what I can tell you is that this story has truly stuck with me and it is a story that deals with mental illness in a gripping and honest way. I read that the authors worked with two psychologists and a therapist to make sure they got this right. They actually had them read the book for authenticity purposes. These men, Silas and Corey, have dealt with some of the most horrific things that can be done to a human by the hands of another person. How anyone could survive all they have been through and even function is beyond me. There is no such thing as trust left in their lives yet they need to find a way or the life that is left in them isn’t worth living.

I will warn you again, this story is very dark and disturbing at times. It deals with the aftermath of extreme violence. I know that this is not for everyone however, if you are strong enough, this will be one of the most touching stories you will ever read. It is a story of how strong a human can be and can rise above all no matter how hard they are struck down. The story of how love prevails. I highly recommend this gripping book.

RATING: 

BUY LINK:

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