Received ARC in exchange for an honest review* Rating: 4 Stars! bookboyfriendsdoitbetter.com This book had me hooked from the ending of the prologue! This was a very different book than what I usually read and I loved it! I was a bit hesitant to read this at first because as I said, it really is different. The romance is more of an after-thought and I actually really enjoyed it! Don't get me wrong there is some romance but this book is gritty and raw so don't expect sunshine and flowers. I do have to say that Maddox was not my favorite. He annoyed me for the first half of this book. *But* he did get better (for me) in the second half! I'm also pretty sure that I am in the minority here but oh my god April is the one who REALLY annoyed me. Everything she did and said made me roll my eyes and I honestly couldn't tell you why. And Orion, wow did I love Orion. Her story was so enjoyable and I adore how *she* was the one who saved herself, *she* was the one who decided to survive, and *she* is the one who made every decision for herself and acknowledges the terrible decisions she made along her recovery journey. The reason I ended up going with 4 stars was just because of April.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.While reading Hush B.T Urruela and Anne Malcolm, I felt the need for a strong drink and that is saying a lot as I am not a drinker. This story is definitely not for the faint of heart, its dark, twisted, intense, disturbing and gut wrenching. The story began on a cheerful note with the heroine, Orion, experiencing her first kiss from the boy she had been crushing on since second grade. However, the story took a dark turn shortly after, when on her way home she was abducted and held at the mercy of sexual deviants for ten years. For ten years her home was a dark cell, chained by her ankles to a wall, sleeping on a soiled mattress and her companions, other girls who were taken before and after her. Some were taken from a life of luxury and some not so luxurious. They were scared, beaten, raped and tortured with no hope of escape. I believe one should go into this story as blindly as possible, therefore I will not go into much details for fear of giving away too much. What I will say though is that this was a superbly written story. It held me captive from start to finish. Two authors wrote this book and I found it to be a great colloboration as the story flowed seamlessly. Spending time with the characters proved bittersweet. My heart broke for the situation they found themselves in. Despite escaping their physical prison, the memories of their torturous past held them captive. It was these memories that aided in determining path they would take. In Orion’s case, it took her on the path of revenge. A relationship developed between Orion and her childhood crush, but it was not roses and sunshine. Their journey towards becoming a couple encountered a myriad of obstacles, which was understandable given what Orion had endured. So, if you were expecting a sweet and rosy romance, then you should avoid this book and besides their relationship was quite unconventional. It was my first time reading a story of this nature, and it left an indelible mark. I know for a fact I will not be forgetting it soon. Hush is a story of survival, its abut facing one’s demons, healing, overcoming the terrors of the past and finding strength in the face of adversity. It shows that even though persons may have the same traumatic experience, the psychological effects for each will differ. Overall, a great story and one I would definitely recommend to fans of psychological thrillers. This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading

"𝑰’𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝑴𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒐𝒙,” 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌. “𝑰’𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒚𝒆𝒕.” I feel like someone has ripped my heart out of my chest. This book is so very intense, dark, emotional, violent, disturbing, consuming and soul shattering. There are so many emotions going through me which cannot be explained. To be honest, this is the darkest book I've read till date. There are horrifying scenes of physical and sexual abuse along with scenes of murder. According to me this isn't romance or dark romance. There are a few parts where they're trying to romanticize the scene but there's no spark or chemistry. Warning: This is no ordinary fairytale or knight in shining armour kind of story. We see the different realities of how people survive and try to overcome such absuses. Every single female is strong and tough in their own way, at their own time. I truly felt that this book only has female characters in the lead and the male characters are only for supporting purposes. Orion only plans for revenge, Jaclyn's is the spitfire who's dealing with her newfound freedom flames, while Shelby struggles with her 'new' life back with her parents. April's determination is commendable along with Maddox's patience and Eric's ability to put situations at ease. As the book is written in third person, we can read the story from every characters' view point and that is absolutely amazing which helps us understand everyone's situation precisely. The story was totally unpredictable and I guess that's why made it soul consuming. The chapters during the end are amazing and the ending couldn't have been better! Definitely recommended, but not for the weak hearted. Follow me on instagram for edits and reviews @read.yourbooks https://www.instagram.com/read.yourbo...