ARC Review: If You Dare by A.R. Torre

5:35:00 PM

You've been warned. Try if you dare.

Equal parts Dexter and 50 Shades, this is the eagerly awaited new novel from A. R. Torre, author of the award winning erotic thriller, The Girl in 6E.

The rules are the same. I can't open the door. I can't leave. I can't kill anyone.

The only difference is, I don't set the rules anymore. Guards in grey uniforms do. It is everything I never wanted and everything I always deserved. I write to you now, from a prison cell. My home for the next twenty to thirty years.

That's the going term for murder.

“I inhale air that smells of cigarettes and cheap labor and wonder if this is the end of my story.”

Deanna Madden series is one of my favorite series ever, and is by far on the very top. That Girl in 6E have come a long way, and I have always been greedy for more of her. This is the third installment in the series and after reading Do Not Disturb, I can’t wait for November 2015 because I wanted more of her. But before I started reading, I was in trepidation. Call it gut instinct, or ‘knowing’ but for the first time ever, I was afraid of where A.R. Torre would take Deanna on her journey.

“I have learned one thing, and that is that I am dangerous.”

What enticed me to the series was the danger, the mystery, the intrigue. AT will keep you on the edge and in the dark, and there’s always only two emotions you would feel above all else: throw your reader because it is fucked up in every way or continue reading because damn, psychopaths are fun.

I am and forever will be #TeamJeremy. I’ve love him because he makes me giddy and makes my heart beat. Although I also have a sick fascination with Dr.Derek, I’d rather have him with his voice. I guess it was just the idea of mystery that made me fantasize about him. Mike, I love the guy, seriously. But it was akin to admiration and the knowledge that he will always be there for Deanna no matter what sicko ideas she have.

And Deanna, somehow for me, I’ve seen her evolved. She was a very complex character with a very complex character development. She still doesn’t believe in herself, but I was thinking otherwise. I’ve always love how her mind works. It was in a way that I describe that I will always think of killing someone, and she will always do kill someone. The only sick part about it is she will enjoy, jump with glee and have a fucking party if she can.

“Understand that there is a part of me that is broken and it can’t be fixed and it doesn’t want to be fixed. It is how I was made; it is how I will be until the day that I die.”

This has been one of the most emotional read for me. A roller coaster of emotions and a feeling of too much. I tried to be detached actually, but no matter, I can’t because it just sucked me in. Consumed me to the point of pain and heartache. I want to reread this and examine my feelings if it will be the same, I tried on a random page, and yes it still brings out what I felt the very first time I did lay my eyes on the words.

This book is a bittersweet read for me. It ended perfectly and all I can think is that Alessandra Torre is fucking brilliant! This is, by far, the best she have written. I mean who does that? It’s an ending I don’t really want but I accepted it as it is. But the sweet part for me is that there is hope. That somehow, Deanna’s journey may have just ended or maybe, a start of something new. Soul searching, perhaps. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking.

You have been warned. Try If You Dare.