Meli Mel's Book Reviews

♥♥♥ 4 Unforgiven Stars ♥♥♥

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'Hatred was a one-way street with them, and it flowed directly from him to her.'

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This book had me hella emotional! It hurt deep that I couldn't stop the tears. The entire story was a total rollercoaster ride, but it was an enjoyable one. Yes, it had a lot of heartbreaking moments all caused by just ONE mistake. They were painful to read but it also had some steam and a few good moments that made you smile. I really liked this book.

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‘This was her hell. Being trapped in a room with a reminder of who she used to be, a reminder of everything she lost, a reminder of everything she’d destroyed.’

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Bailey Trent has finally returned home after being in prison for six years. She is unsure of how she will be received and soon finds out it isn't by a welcome committee. One mistake was all it took for the town to turn on her. As well as her old friend, Darren. Despite their efforts to stay away from each other, they seem to bump into each other frequently. And soon staying away is just too hard.

I really enjoyed the fact that the first part of the book contained flashbacks of how her life was like with Darren. This is was held me captive. I loved seeing such a drastic change from the past to the future. Bailey and Darren were once close and were emotionally closeted. They would not admit what one felt about the other. So they played a game where they had to say one word to describe what they were feeling. However, they always stayed away from saying the one feeling they felt for each other. It was really beautiful to see them in the past, and really heartwrenching seeing how much they hurt each other in the present.

Bailey was a strong character that had endured so much guilt. There were moments in which she seemed weak, though. Those were the moments I wished she would find that strength I knew she had to defend herself. I didn't get how she could stand all of the pain Darren threw at her. I honestly wouldn't have lasted as long as she did. It was just too much.

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“Convince me not to hate you because…because hating you is the end of me.”

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Darren Cory's life is moving on, but he is barely living. Ever since he suffered a tragedy that changed his life forever, he has never been the same. He is a zombie that seems to be in a constant state of grief. To others he may seem fine, but for the people that know him, he is not doing good at all. The only time he has intense feelings is when he sees or thinks of Bailey, the woman that caused his hurt to begin with. He feels hatred towards her and he can't seem to stop. But he also feels love, and these two feeling are constantly battling to be at the forefront. He may want to forgive, but he doesn't know if he can.

Darren in the past seemed like a fun, alpha, protective, and caring guy. He had an easy attitude and a playful personality. I really liked him in the past. He was at times confusing with the way he would give Bailey mixed signals. I also thought he was a bit of a coward whenever their feelings were starting to show or were almost said. He would always retreat.

The future Darren was difficult for me to like. He had changed so much. I understood his pain but I didn't get why he still held on to it for all these years. I wanted him to be free and find peace. Instead, he was a complete bastard to Bailey, who in my opinion was suffering her own bigger hurt by feelings guilty. They both suffered a loss. I wondered why Darren couldn't be more understanding. His parents got it, why not him? He caused my heart to ache and he also made me cry many times. It was so painful.




Their journey has been a long one. Darren needed to learn to forgive. Bailey needed to learn how to heal. This is what most of the last part was about. While the first part was completely interesting to me, the second half wasn't so much. It was still really good, just not as great. This is because I became frustrated with Bailey for, like I mentioned before, not standing up for herself when she needed to. She seemed weak at times when it came to Darren. I didn't get why since he was such a cruel jerk to her. But then I realized it was because she thought she deserved that punishment.

The steam was really hot for most of the book, which didn't bother me none. In fact, I really loved the HIGH sexy scenes. But what did bug me was that it was happening at all between them. I didn't think they were ready for that yet. There was so much they needed to talk about and weren't. I was afraid more hurt would come of it. I was so glad that Darren had his mother to help him see the light. And I was super happy that Bailey had her best friend Michelle, who always had her back.

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“I've loved you forever.”

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The entire story was crazy emotional for me. I was deeply hurt, angered, frustrated, and happy. I was everywhere. This book did that to me. I thought the writing and story was really great. However, it wasn't perfect. Still, the fact that this book made me feel was awesome, even if the emotions weren't all that great. The characters were broken and interesting. I loved having both of their POV to see where they were coming from. If I hadn't had that, I wouldn't have enjoyed it. It took me a long while to like Darren again, I didn't end up loving him but I did like him in the end. The ending was as emotional as the rest of the book. The epilogue was truly wonderful. A book full of tragedy and heartcrushing pain, but such a great read that I would for sure recommend it.