Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Stolen Virtue by Y. Deonna: Triggers and Trauma Ahead!


Stolen Virtue (The Virtuous Trilogy Book 1) by [Deonna, Y. ]



Stolen Virtue (The Virtuous Trilogy Book, #1) by Y. Deonna
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Psychologist Dr. Zoe Broussard has always been a no-nonsense, play by the rules woman until she meets her new client. From the moment the impossibly gorgeous Michael Carson walks into her office, she finds herself dangerously drawn to him and irrevocably hooked. 

Michael is an NFL quarterback with a multimillion dollar contract and a penchant for breaking hearts. He’s used to getting what he wants, and he’s determined to tempt his hot new therapist into exploring the obvious passion between them. Even though there’s another man in her life.
Can Zoe resist Michael’s charms and her growing feelings for him? More importantly, is she willing to risk everything for a man who may not be there tomorrow?
This was a doozy. I couldn’t have expected the page after page of mental and sexual abuse I and the character would have to endure. Though the author does a good job of keeping the physical part of the abuse off the pages; it did nothing to assuage my discomfort. 

Virtuous lives with her adoptive family, having been left behind by her mother—and separated from her twin brother, Valor. 

The problem is her adoptive family is less than ideal; worse even. Her adopted father mentally and physically abuses her. And that is where the book lost me. I almost couldn’t stomach any of it, knowing what was going on behind closed doors.

I appreciated the overall Christian background, but even that could not turn me back on. 

The romance was so so, as you don’t get to see the pair spend a lot of time together. Even when they snuck off, a lot of the development of their relationship was left out.

The thing it has going for it is its readability. It’s easy to read and has a good flow.

But I struggled to wrap my head around it all.  I struggled to get through it due to the content. Like I mentioned it wasn’t vulgar, but it was uncomfortable.

The characters themselves were okay. I wasn’t fully invested in them, but I wasn’t bored. But what really got me was the backhanded comments and jokes. I use the term joke lightly. I’ve never been a fan of stereotyped “black jokes.” You know the kind. The ones where the black girl is made fun of for being the EBT girl, or the gold-digger. Or lacking edges or whatever other derogatory black girl “jokes.” The male characters in this book couldn’t get enough of telling them, and I cringed.

It definitely rubbed me the wrong way. Could I be sensitive? Maybe. But, I’ll never make an apology for being off-put by it.

But, I won’t dwell. *shrugs shoulders* Anyway, the book was okay. Not too badly written, fairly entertaining despite the explicit content. This should definitely come with a strong warning if it doesn’t have one. This will trigger for sure.

It has an overall positive message, but it’s a lot to get through to see it.

It ends on a cliff-hanger that leads the story in a positive direction. If these types of reads are your thing, the climactic ending will give you something to look forward to. I’m on the fence. Though I'd be interested to see where the author takes the series. 

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