Published by Cornerstone Digital on May 3, 2018
Format: eARC, Audiobook
Source: Net Galley, Library
Pages: 368
Amazon UK
Goodreads
PASSION. OBSESSION. MURDER.
Mike and Verity have a special game. The Crave.
They play it to prove what they already know: that Verity loves Mike. That she needs Mike.
Even though she’s marrying another man.
Now Mike knows that the stakes of their private game are rising.
This time, someone has to die…
OH MY GOD! What a book!! I think I need a shower after reading that, it was so dark. So twisted. So, oh I don’t even know what the word is that I want to say but it was fantastic!!
Although I feel like Mike is just a little bit batshit crazy, when you get to the third part of the book you do wonder how much of it was in Mike’s head. But then you also wonder how much was real. Also, how much of it could be real? I love the fact that it was never very clear. The lines have been drawn and blurred all at the same time. There was just so much that makes me question what was actually going on. I mean, there’s just so much that I loved about this book.
I listened to the audiobook. The guy in the book was just fantastic. He was enough to send shivers down your spine when you read certain elements of the book. Even though you’re reading the story, you know that it’s not right. You know, the actions of some of the characters are not right. Yet, you can’t tear yourself away from the pages in front of you. You can’t take yourself away from the story that you find enveloping you and unfolding in front of you. It was mesmerising at the same time. You feel like you’re intruding on something that you probably shouldn’t be.
Mike, was just a little bit different. A little bit not quite right. He made the best unreliable narrator. However, the final scenes of this book showed how messed up he really is. They sent chills, they are some of the most horrifying and yet exciting things I read. Just this book needs to be read by everybody. It was so cleverly done. It’s all through Mike’s eyes and you have to kind of wonder what the heck is going on!!
I mean, Jesus, I just I don’t know what words to tell you about this book. I mean, oh my god, just read it. It just had everything I loved in a book.
One thing I didn’t really get was the game that was described by these two characters that they played, the crave. But at the same time, I felt like I didn’t need to. We only needed to really understand the relationship between Mike and Verity was wrong. It was toxic. It was dark. There was a bit of malevolence. And it was really, really unhealthy.
As I say the story is told by Mike and then it’s only when you get to the court scenes at the end of the book, you see another side to him. It makes you wonder what else was in his head and what else was true. I love that fine line. You’re never quite sure whether Mike was truly delusional or whether Verity was just a really skillful manipulator. I hope this isn’t too much spoilery I don’t think it is.
The way the book finishes was cold and chilling. On a hot summer’s day, that sent shivers down my spine. I’ve never read anything by Aramtina before but that is definitely changing. She has written a book that I’m going to be obsessed with now. I’ve already told quite a few people to read it. I just think there was something so fantastic about this book and it’s hard to put my finger on it.
It was such a great book in the way it made you feel uncomfortable. You feel like you’re intruding on something that you shouldn’t be as I’ve already mentioned, and this makes me feel like I need to go and have a shower and cleanse myself and cleanse my palate and cleanse everything. It was disturbing. It was chilling. It was just everything I needed to read and it was a fab book. It’s one I definitely recommend to everybody. I loved every bit of the book. Every single minute every page, every word, and it was just the perfect, obsessive love story that I needed. Although I didn’t know I needed but now I do. Absolutely fantastic.
Until the next time xxx
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2022 NetGalley
- 2022 Reading
- Published before 2022
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