Book Review: Raw

Raw by Belle Aurora is one of those books that was following me. It was constantly turning up in my Goodreads search. It appeared, repeatedly, when I was on Google. I saw it on other book blogs. It was in my  Twitter feed. Seriously, the book was stalking me! Which is funny because…

In a nutshell:
Twitch is a sociopathic stalker. He’s been watching Alexa (Lexi), forever–and she knows it. He’s covered head to toe in tattoos, constantly wears a hoodie, and lurks in the shadows. Lexi, is a straight and narrow, upstanding social worker, helping underprivileged teenagers. Lexi soon learns that nothing is at is seems with Twitch–or is it? Aurora takes the reader through incredibly emotional twists and turns with this story–drug use, graphic sexual situations, and heart wrenching trauma. The story of Twitch and Lexi is complex and certainly not for the faint of heart.

Tara’s Take:
I admit that when I first started reading this book, it was a bit of a challenge for me. I almost gave up. Suffice to say, I persevered and finished–and I am sooooo glad I did! I cried. Literally, shed real tears. Be warned, this book is not an easy read. There are some very disturbing scenes. Often, Lexi wonders what the H*ll she’s thinking and doing and so does the reader. But it works. This is more than opposites attract or the good girl being drawn to the bad boy. There is a lot of depth to the main characters and to the supporting cast in the book.

The story is set in Australia, which I was looking forward to ‘seeing’ some of in the book. However, you don’t. It is really more of an in-depth emotional character development, which again, works. I’ve never been ‘Down Under’ so bringing some of the beauty I’ve heard about to life through words, would’ve been nice–but by no means was I disappointed.

One can only hope that there will be a sequel. Raw was released in Jan. 2014 as a stand alone and currently, Aurora hasn’t let the world know if there’s a sequel coming. But my fingers are crossed!