Sean Dolter

At times, the character Vanessa infuriated me. Especially in the latter years when the abuse she lived was justified through the lens of her abuser. The responsibility we have as adults to protect our children, even when they are not our own, is paramount to being a human being. But Kate Russell ended the story wonderfully as I began to understand how Vanessa hadn’t had a chance to form her own moral compass and took its corruption from a master. I also appreciate the author’s ability to make Jacob a sympathetic monster who was placed in a fantasy environment of his choosing where boundaries were justified according to his own delusions of innocence. But what is innocence? Bravo, Kate Russell.

I am more than halfway through and, honestly, there is nothing here to keep me going.