asteriskpearl's book blog: Review: Innocents (Dusty #1) by Mary Elizabeth & Sarah Elizabeth

Publish Date: July 14th, 2014

Publisher: CreateSpace

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Downloaded a free copy from Amazon.

Blurb:

The girl with an innocent heart knows all about bad choices, but has yet to make them for herself. Searching for freedom, she finds it in the delinquent down the hall.

The troublemaker with summer-sky blue eyes knows he should stay away, but can’t resist the blissful wonder who makes his house a home.

She’s a hopeless romantic. He’s just hopeless.

She’s his reason, but he might not catch her when she falls.

She loves him. He loves her crazy.

This is what happens when a love made of secrets is kept with rules instead of promises.

First Thoughts

What the hell did I just read? I feel a major book hangover coming on. This love was obsessive. This love was dangerous. This love was unhealthy. My heart hurts. My heart hurts for Dusty. I want to scream and kick at him for all of the poor decisions he makes. My heart hurts for Bliss. I want to pull her hair and grab her by the face and yell at her to end this "relationship" with Dusty. What the hell. Just... what the hell.

Don't read this if you don't want to feel conflicted. Don't read this if you can't stand unhealthy relationships. Don't read this if you can't stomach watching a boy's life wash down the toilet through drugs, parties, and sex. Don't read this if you despise girls who just can't walk away. But read it, though. Read it because your heart will hurt. Read it because you'll feel all kinds of sh*t. Read it because it's a train wreck and you can't not read it. Sigh. Book hangover, forreal. I'm scared to pick up part two.

What I Enjoyed

The flowery writing. Hair isn't tangled from sleeping on it. It's sleep tangled. Eyelids aren't half closed from drugs. They're high-low. The moments Dusty and Bliss spend together are "whisper-wrapped" and "breath-filled". This writing made me feel. This writing made me imagine. I loved it.

This feeling of anxiety in my gut. I don't know where this story is going, but I know it can go nowhere good. The endless amounts of drug abuse in this book is devastating. Dusty is destroying his life, his body, and the only things he cares about-- his love with his girl, his princess-baby, his Bliss. I felt tense, distraught, and stressed while reading Innocents, but that's good right? A book is good when it makes you feel.