Book Review – Beautiful Savage by Lisa Sorbe

5 HUGE STARS for this one!!! The writing is incredible and the story flowed perfectly. I one-clicked it a year ago ’cause of the crazy blurb jolt it gave me, and lost it in my “sea of books” until the author emailed me last week. And I AM SO THANKFUL. I was wholeheartedly entertained and appalled, and swooning throughout.

It kept me hooked from the very start, sucked me in, and spit me right back out when I hit the end of the book. And WHAT AN ENDING IT WAS!! HOLY MOLY. The heroine (or should I say villain? <— Yes… for sure that), was intense, devious, conniving, snarky, funny… but also so vulnerable at times, it HURT.

A master manipulator, but as her story builds, you see where she’s coming from, and why she’s become so obsessed about getting what she wants, and is no holds barred about it. But it’s not all “psycho-stalker”, I promise. Though many of you are going to just absolutely hate her, anyway. I think. 😏

So what’s it about?

Rebecca has re-invented herself since her college days.

I’m a wolf in sheep’s clothing, waiting for her dinner. Every inch of my outfit is designer camouflage, starting with my A.L.C top and trickling all the way down to my Manolo Blahnik sandals. It’s my armor, my security blanket, a way to wrap wealth around me, keep me afloat in a cold world, a cruel society.

Bite me, and I’ll bite you back. Harder.

While at one time she was your typical “poor college student/starving artist”, she was happy. Deeply in love with her boyfriend, Hollis (both of them, writers), they were planning their lives together, though a few bumps along the way had them separating for good. I’ll let you find that part out.

Now in a loveless marriage (to a wealthy husband that she was once so fond of), she’s bored, and lonely.

It doesn’t take long to know I’m alone. Years of marriage have instilled in me the ability to feel into the emptiness of a room, to suss out the lack of another’s heartbeat, another’s breath. It’s the sort of hollow that rings loudly, so loudly that, sometimes, it feels as if the very absence of sound might rupture my eardrums, leaving me deaf.

But something tells me I’d still hear it, even then, that f*cking void.

Senses beyond senses, the crux and curse of humanity.

That is… until reading a recent book her college ex-boyfriend has successfully published, she’s found a whole new lease on life. She’s stalked him online, she’s found him…

My heart hurts as I study his bent head, yet I can’t tear my gaze away.

Believe me, I’m not a masochist. (Well, maybe a little.) But when it comes down to it, I prefer pleasure over pain.

Though, sometimes I feel I deserve the pain more.

I’ve heard it said that pain is penance. And I suppose that’s a good thing, because seeing him today hurts more than ever.

… and now she’s getting him back, because it’s so obvious to her, that the depth of the words and story he’s written, are all about her.

…this particular novel is so intriguing, so heart-wrenching, so full of life, that I’m now on my third read-through.

And it’s his novel, his story, his heart-on-his-sleeve. How can I not read it at least a dozen times? How can I not search its pages for meaning, for memory, for signs? For even a hint of remembrance of what we were, of what we used to be?

There’s just one problem. He’s married.

Hollis wants to be with me, has always wanted to be with me, and she’s just some chick he settled for after I left.

Well, now I’m back.

And I think it’s time we all got on with our lives.

Though that doesn’t seem to pose much of a problem for Rebecca. She’s got this covered. 😉

Hollis Thatcher.

The only man I’ve ever loved.

And probably ever will.

The question I’ve been asking myself lately is: What the hell am I going to do about it?

Sure, being in her head through the entire book can be at times chaotic (and sometimes pretty funny even – she’s clever and she’s witty even if she’s got that evil edge), 😉

BUT being in her head AND her heart when she meets a stranger while she’s stalking Hollis (even as she’s fighting her emotions) made this story SO much more than just a “psych-thriller”.

A body slides into a seat at the table next to mine, a large presence that draws my attention, despite the Hollis-sized blinders I’ve been donning this past week. I turn my head, some magnetism I can’t pinpoint pulling my awareness, and am met with a pair of dark eyes that are annoyingly kind. Which is irritating, because I don’t want kind. I want intensity. I want passion and burning indignation. I want to look into eyes that carry in their depths a tumultuous storm railing on my behalf.

I want someone to match my fury, to rage with me. To mirror my pain so I don’t have to bear it alone.

It had an amazing love story, a romance intertwined within her devious obsession that threw her off guard, and had ME SWOOOOOONING.

What a hero.

My heart fell hard for him, and I had all sorts of hopes and dreams… for her. 😉

…inside, I’m utter destruction, a wasteland of bad decisions and even worse desires. And the serenity this man exudes only serves to magnify that ruin. Darkness can’t survive in the light, and this man is like the sun to my shadow.

Did they come to fruition? My lips are sealed my friends.

And I know the quotes I chose make this one sound deeeeeep and darrrrrrrk, but there’s plenty of funny (well, funny-snarky anyway), and moments of happy light, too.  😉

This one needs to be experienced in its entirety, to really appreciate each step she takes for her master plan, and the hiccups she encounters along the way.

Is she a good person?

I guess it depends on your perspective and how open you are to understanding what makes her tick. She’s an extremely flawed person, a sociopath for sure, and her flaws stem from traumas, that I will let you uncover. Mind you, if you’re worried that she’s going to be absolutely awful, she’s not all bad. Occasionally, good decisions were made despite the hate in her heart. But then she’d turn around and still blow it all up. LOL!! I just LOVED it.

The writing is spot on perfection for me. The character development, the ability to make me root for the “bad guy” despite the awful choices she makes, the story leading me each step of the way and me never getting bored in the process. Fluctuating from hateful to lovable, from heartache, to victory (and not necessarily in that order). It’s ALL over the place, but never ever confusing.

5 STARS <— If you like books with clever, maybe even occasionally relatable <— eeeeeep!!! psycho-stalker, sociopaths obsessed with getting their man (whether he’s “taken” or not), with a huge dose of love story in the process, this is your read!

Just to give you a “feel” for this one (including the incredible writing)… do you enjoy Tarryn Fisher’s villains, focusing solely on their own priorities, selfish needs and wants, culminating in a tumultuous love story and who knows HOW it will end? Then this one will be right up your alley.

P.S. Does it need a part 2? No… In the grand scheme of things, it’s pretty perfect as is. But do I want one? HECK YES!!!!

➔➔➔  Looking for more of my must-read recommendations? Browse my 5 star and 4.5 star and 4 starreviews. 😀

➔➔➔ Love this trope? Check out more of my psych-thriller & stalker & obsessive love & marital strife features and reviews on my blog!