Busy Brunette's Bookshelf: Book Review: Here Lies Love

Would death be less painful than life? When she is sold by her father, Abbey discovers that nightmares can occur when you’re awake. Trapped inside a wooden cage, Abbey is forced to listen to the horrors and atrocities above; time ticking down until it is her turn. But Abbey isn’t prepared to become a victim; she will escape.

Although, what Abbey isn’t prepared for, is how harsh and unfair the world can be. With the sun turning its back on humanity long ago, life gives no opportunity. The only thing Abbey can do is learn to survive. To exist. And that means stealing any opportunity that comes her way. Haunted by the unpleasant memories bestowed upon her only nurtures Abbey’s paranoia, until she realises that to truly live in the world, she must confront the person who was responsible for her misfortune – her father.

Here Lies Love is a New Adult tale of actuality, of facing up to the fact that love comes in many guises. Can Abbey find the one glimmer of hope or will she be overcome with the darkness of revenge?

This has been a book that I’ve had to let sit with me for a couple of days to try to figure out how I feel about it.

Here Lies Love takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting in which the characters are forced to try to survive in a world without the sun. As I didn’t research much about this book before I started reading it, I was surprised and confused by this aspect at first. Dan Thompson truly created a dark and ominous new world in which basic needs can’t be met and everyone has to scavenge and suffer because the sun was destroyed as a result of global warming. Knowing this point ahead of time will definitely help the story connect and make more sense for you right away.

The main focus of Here Lies Love is of Abbey, a 17-year-old girl who was sold into slavery by her father, and how she has to exist in a place of torture, grief, and pain. The story begins with Abbey being kept prisoner in the house of her perverted and sick captor, Stefan. I was intrigued from the get-go but also disturbed as the scenes are described in detail and really allow you to feel the fear and pain that Abbey does. I knew this was going to be a dark book from the beginning but was curious about the rest of the story as I knew this author had written something that not many others have dared to broach before. Abbey sets out to seek revenge on those who have hurt her.

Throughout the story, Abbey meets two young men, Ryan and Tristan, who want to open their home to her and become her friend. She is dealing with obvious trust issues and grief in which she doesn’t know if she can be apart of their world or if she needs to finish her mission on her own. She continues to struggle with post-traumatic stress and troubling thoughts and has to try to heal all on her own.

The reason I had to sit for a couple of days before I could write this review was the fact that this was a very dark novel with a lot of disturbing subject matter and situations. While I did read the book and appreciate the writing, I can’t say that I really enjoyed reading it. How can you when you are dealing with these disconcerting scenes? This is definitely a book that I would say is not for all readers and one needs to be fully aware that there are graphic scenes about murder, violence, rape, and abuse.

I did enjoy seeing the transformation that Abbey made and how she did it basically all on her own despite the horrible things she had gone through. I felt like her character really evolved throughout the story and came out stronger in the end. I gave this book a rating of 3 out of 5 because of this reason.

If you are looking for a dystopian book in a futuristic setting in which a strong character works through traumatic situations, then this book is definitely for you. Thompson has a catchy writing style that will suck you in. He created a place that will bring you into the story and take you on an adventure into the strange world of Abbey.

About Dan Thompson

Dan lives in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire (England) with his young daughter and his shabby dog, Skye.

He is the Author of the charity poetry book Life is all but a vast array of Colours and phobia Novella The Caseworker's Memoirs. His first full length novel, A YA Fantasy entitled The Black Petal will be available soon. Here Lies Love is his first foray into the NA and Dystopian genres.

A lover of YA and fantasy fiction, you can often find him writing on his blog, writing book reviews and connecting online with other writer-type people and interviewing authors. Dan grew up reading Enid Blyton's The Famous Five series, secretly coming up with his own inventive adventures, and R.L Stine's The Goosebump series, before turning to the works of Philip Pullman, Eoin Colfer and Marcus Sedgwick and slipping away into alternate realities. He also loves a good Historical Thriller too. Deborah Harkness, Danielle Trussoni and Dianne Gray are some of his favourite authors who write for adults.

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Connect with Dan Thompson!

Website: http://danthompsonauthor.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dan_pentagram
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBlackPetal