R

I'm not sure about the rating, through most of the book, I was determined to on-star it.

***Spoilers are hidden***, those are my impressions about the book

It dragged, I had to strive through shopping trip, extensive description of lavish places, brand names for every piece of clothing she saw...
If well edited, it could've been a decent length and not the 10000+ kindle word count.

what saved it was

-it was addictive and emotionally engaging.I could feel knots in my stomach most of the time I was reading it.I put it down after 2.am and my heart was beating so hard I couldn't sleep.

-the beginning was far from slow, we dive straight in, and then Romig takes us a few days back.I hate slow starts.

-we were spared the gruesome details of Clair's abuse (if only she's spared us endless shopping as well)

-The end: even though I spoiled some of it for myself reading review, it was still a punch to the guts

All the reasons that made me want to throttle Clair were acknowledged.(Even though I still find her reasoning weak, and her situation at the beginning was not as desperate as it was presented to be. Even after finishing this book, I'm still convinced Clair kinda brought it on herself when she didn't flee at the first opportunity. FIGHT OR FLIGHT should've been her instinct.)It was nice to have someoneher attorney hearing her version of the facts say what I thought [...]believed that she had been living in hell, but there were points and events that she would need to explain. She stated she was kidnapped, yet did she ever try to call for help? Didn’t she live in a multimillion dollar mansion? Did she expect people to believe she had no access to telephone, Internet, or anything? Didn’t she marry this man she described as a monster? Didn’t she accept gifts: clothing, money, jewelry, etc.? Didn’t she accompany him on multiple extravagant trips?

-At the end, Clair is becoming the strong woman I wanted her to be. the last chapter has been like a breath of fresh air.At last she's doing what I wanted her to do from the start.I can't wait to read the next book.(once I can stop myself from re-reading the last chapter, I think I've memorized it by now)

Favorite quotes from the very last pages.The ones that appeased my rage at all the wrong things Clair, said, thought, done, or allowed to be done to her.

[...]She also knew that obedience took more strength than retaliation. Today with each echoing step she took, her strength transformed into an overwhelming desire for retaliation.

Two and a half years ago, she had one goal—survival. Now she had a new one: Mr. Anthony Rawlings will learn that his actions have consequences