Where do I even start with this one.

This story is told from the perspective of Mella, a child who lives in a little house in the forest with her mother and baby brother. Mella is young and doesn’t really understand, but the reader is immediately clued in to the fact that something isn’t right about their living situation. She knows that her daddy has another family and that they are a secret part of his life. She refers to things that happen during his visits and casually mentions her mother’s tether and collar as though they are the most normal thing in the world because this is the only life she knows.

Let’s talk about the audiobook for a moment. This book was published in July, and while I have owned it that long, I hadn’t gotten around to it. My tbr is unending and when I can’t decide what to read next, I get into some monster porn for a while. Anyway, when the audiobook was released a little over a week ago, Angel Van Atta offered review copies to her readers in an Instagram post. I happily requested one and started listening right away. I knew immediately that it was going to break my heart. The narrator, Laura Greaves, really blew me away. Some narrators read the books, others overact, but every once in a while I come across one who fully embodies the voice of the character who is telling the story. Laura Greaves’ reading in Mella’s voice is exactly that. Great casting.

This book was fantastic. As an adult who understands the things Mella is describing, it is bleak and heartbreaking. Yet somehow Mella remains innocent and hopeful, even when she starts to understand that her daddy and the bad man are one and the same. The author’s note at the end describing her personal childhood experience shed light on how she was able to write this subject so well. I don’t want to give away the whole story, but if you like bleak, you should definitely read it. You can read this as part of your Kindle Unlimited subscription, but I highly recommend the audiobook.