My rating: 5/5 stars
When the ARC’s of “Where the blame lies” were released and I didn’t receive anything I was crushed ☹ I am not in many groups on Facebook, but my presence in Mia Mafia is mandatory. Fortunately, my sorrow was not long lasted, because Mia Sheridan saved the day and sent me an ARC, which brought me extreme joy. I read the blurb a little, but I didn’t want to learn a lot about the book, just dive and discover everything as the story goes. It was amazing and breathtaking, something extremely different from what Mia delivers to us, readers. It is a love story, but within a peculiar scenario.
The storyline is crushing and raw, some moments very painful to read. Josie was abducted at the age of 19 and kept in a basement for 10 months. During that time she was sexually abused, left to starve and tortured on a daily bases. Now, after 10 years, this awful past is still haunting her and won’t let her continue with her life. When the body of a young woman is found under the same conditions she was, everything will start to repeat, brining back painful memories. Apparently there is a connection between the killers and the police is brought into the picture. Zach knows about this case, because when he was younger we witnessed the aftermath of the happenings as a rookie. He saw Josie broken and recalls everything about the tragedy that changed her life. The moment he laid eyes on the girls’ body, he knew something was wrong and that history was on repeat. This case will bring the 2 of them together in this horrible scenario, but their story will be a spark of warm and light in all this madness.
I loved Josie and just couldn’t imagine what she went through. It was heart breaking and I was with her every step of the way, admiring her and just rooting for her to move on. Besides from that, I was constantly trying to imagine what I could have done in her case, because she was so strong and so willed in that hell. She is truly an inspiration and seeing that someone like Zach came into her life to protect and take care of her was something that relieved me very much. She will start to let go of the past, to confront it and we will see at the end of the line what the future will have in store for her.
Zach was perfect in every sense the word and his presence was a true blessing for her. He was supportive and brave, a truly healing presence that could take the hurt away in a single touch. I think Mia did a fantastic job in drafting this characters and within the story they managed to stand out and impress the readers with a depth hard to explain. I just loved them to bits. I think Josie was not healed only by Zach, she managed to heal herself, to be brave, look the evil in his eyes and tell him to go back where he came from.
As I’ve mentioned above, this story is very different from what I am used to when it comes to Mia. The only 2 books that come in mind on similarities are “Midnight Lily” and “Savaged”, but this one is off the charts when it comes to drama and angst. It literally broke my heart to read some chapters, especially the “before” ones. They were raw and full of hurt, but also made me aware of a cruel reality and the fact that million of girls are living this around the world. It was a hard message to transmit, but I think books are meant to make us forget, but also make us aware of our surroundings and current problems. Abduction is one of them!! Putting Josie in this position was an eye opener, but also a life lesson and a “keep on fighting message” for girls that might have experienced the same. A very brave lesson held by Mia. 😊
ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review. The book is out 15 of September 2019!!
Ramonisme 