Still Beating released in 2020, but it’s a book I still keep hearing about three years later. So when Bloom announced they were publishing it and I was lucky to receive and eARC, I decided to finally sit down and read it. This book was quite the surprise! Keep on reading to find out what Still Beating is about and what I thought!
This book does get pretty dark, so if you have a hard time reading about certain things, definitely look up the warnings.
He puts his hand against my chest. “It’s still beating,” he whispers, his words a soft kiss to my lips. “As long as it’s beating, you’re okay.”
When Cora Lawson attends her sister’s birthday party, she expects at most a hangover or a walk of shame by the end of it. She doesn’t anticipate a stolen wallet, leaving her stranded and dependent on her sister’s fiancé, Dean Asher―her archnemesis and perpetual thorn in her side.
And she really doesn’t anticipate getting knocked out and waking up chained in a madman’s basement, Dean in his own shackles beside her.
After fifteen years of teasing, insults, and never-ending pranks, the ultimate joke seems to be on them. The two people who always thought they’d end up killing each other must now work together if they want to survive long enough to escape.
But Cora and Dean don’t know that their abductor has a plan for them. A plan that will alter the course of their relationship, blur the line between hate and love, and shackle them to each other long after they are freed from their chains. They’re in this together―no matter what their unexpected bond might cost them.
Review
Still Beating is a book I heard a lot about and knew it was dark, but that’s just about all I knew. When I started this book I was hooked and it really hit me in all the feels. I appreciated that the author chose to give us both POVs throughout the book. It really felt like we got to know the characters and to see both sides.
Cora and Dean haven’t had the best relationship, but still he comes to pick her up asking no questions when she calls. What they didn’t know was that it was going to turn into their worst nightmare. They’re kidnapped and endure things no one should ever have to go through. The author wrote this in such a way that it made you feel so much while reading it. Dean was Cora’s rock while they were down there and their lives are forever intertwined with this.
After they are back in the real world it’s clear that this trauma affected them both in many ways. It would be weird if that wasn’t the case. I appreciated that the author didn’t make it seem like all is well and everything heals as soon as someone is back home. Cora and Dean’s story is heartbreaking, but seeing them heal and come together gave a little bit of hope. Believe me there are plenty of ups and downs, but it’s quite the journey.
I don’t want to say too much about Still Beating, because I really think it’s a book you need to read for yourself (if you can handle these darker subjects). Lotus is the book I’ll be reading next by Jennifer Hartmann.
Still Beating was such an emotional roller coaster and I have to say I definitely want to read more by Jennifer Hartmann. Have you read anything by her? If you have, let me know what you thought!