Growing up, a majority of the rhymes I was taught in school highlighted the repercussions of being sneaky and deceitful. On the flip side, the elders around seemed to love saying the proverb “ninety-nine days for the thief and one day for the owner”. This automatically inculcated the idea that bad things are meant to happen to bad people; and sometimes, it does.
Nonetheless, I read a book that initially and briefly portrayed the above discussed notion. Althy, it isn't usually an interesting read without the unexpected twists and sudden turns.
“Does It Hurt by H.D Carlton.”
I cannot quite remember who made a review of this book a few months ago. The review was appealing and the little conversation afterwards was equally engaging, which led to my adding the novel to my reading list. I counted the days until I started reading the book and when I was done, I wanted to go over it as many times as possible.
About The Book
“Does it Hurt” is a dark romance novel with elements of horror, suspense and sprinkles of supernatural encounters. These elements surprisingly went so well together, leading to the creation of a masterpiece.
Sawyer, an identity thief who has been in the business of stealing people's identities for quite some time, steals from Enzo, a stoic Italian man. Eventually, both Enzo and Sawyer end up shipwrecked on Raven island. They are ultimately faced with the option of surviving and vacating the island in one piece. The big question now is how would they do that?
I can say that the book has a healthy degree of suspense because as I read on, I kept asking ‘why’. Why is Sawyer an identity thief? Why can't Enzo just let go? Why would a man choose to live on an island in a decrepit lighthouse, so far away from civilization? Just why? Why would a person have such sinister intentions towards strangers? These questions however kept me going because they gave me something to look forward to.
My Opinion
Sawyer and Enzo had a really complicated relationship with Enzo's desire to seek revenge and Sawyer's yearning to escape her dark past. Along the line, I came to understand that they both had one thing in common and that is the fact that they were scarred at some point in their lives and for some reason, they didn't want to or couldn't get themselves to let go.
Their relationship could be likened to when a person loves something as much as they hate that thing. Simply put, the same kind of love diabetic patients have for sugary things. This led to the kindling and flourishing of passion between them.
Additionally, the book has such an intriguing and appealing title and right from the title, one if forced to ask questions.
I must also say that I liked the way the novel ended as it was quite satisfactory even though the author still allowed room for readers to fill in some gaps. Many readers probably predicted the end but certainly not the events that led to such an ending.
Recommendation
Personally, this was a very good read for me as it focused on themes like self discovery and growth, pain and healing and even the complexity of human relationships.
This was one book that effortlessly brought me out of my reading slump and as such, I highly recommend it to everyone.
Love🤍