Margaret McHeyzerBesprekingen

I started off enjoying this book but then found that the writing style got a bit too repetitive and mundane. I ended up abandoning it half way through.

This was a heart-wrenching trainwreck. I could see the horrible things that were going to happen to poor Lily from the first page and there was no way of stopping it, and in that regard it killed me. This was very blunt and very explicit, and a sign of strong story telling.

Though I didn't particularly race through this book, I found myself often unable to look away and resultantly stayed up half the night to finish it. I loved how blunt and unforgiving this was, how matter-of-fact the telling of all the events was.

However, this book was often much slower than it needed to be. Instead of summarizing a scene or conversation, every tiny little detail was played out, and a lot of these didn't add to the story. It was then surprising that multiple years were skipped with a lack of detail.

The tone also often felt very jilted. This worked really well for the first half of the book; however, I expected that as Lily evolved, her tone would as well and the writing would be a bit more smooth. Especially considering the field Lily works in, I expected her to have very flowing prose, but this wasn't the case.

I was also surprised in the second half of the book by how easily resolved many things were. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing; however, I felt like it had a chance to make an already impactful punch even stronger, but it was missed.

Definitely if you're easily triggered be careful with this. Otherwise, I highly recommend this as a touching look into the type of life many may live without us knowing.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 3.36 out of 5 stars
Something was wrong.
Or maybe somthing was right.
This is how I recieved my gift.
. . . Or maybe it's my curse. - Margaret McHeyzer, The Gift
After having to an emergency appendectomy 17 year old Alexa discovers that she can get glimpses into someone's future through touch. If this isn't hard enough to get use to. She suddenly finds herself a kidnapped victim of a handsome but dangerous man named Jude. A man she recently saved with her gift. Now he wants to use her and her gift to his advantage, and claiming to "protect" her in the mean time, but from what?
So I honestly don't know how I feel about this book. It wasn't awful, but wasn't amazing either. I'm very torn. It was a nice and entertaining read, but I'll only read the next book in the series cause their are far to many questions left over and I must know. The romance of the story fell so bad for me due to him being a violent man and kidnapper, and considering her gift being the main focal point of the story, I don't feel she really used it all that much. So it was 'interesting'.
My rating system:
initial feeling= 3
writing= 3.5
story= 3.5
originality= 2.75
unpredictability= 4.25
ending= 2.5
interest= 4

I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler-free way. If you feel anything in my review is a spoiler and is not already hidden in spoiler brackets please let me know. Thank you.

The conclusion of this series was good. It wrapped everything up nicely. However, even though I liked it, I didn't love it. It was hard to really want to read, even though there was a lot going on, it was still kind of boring for me. It was worth it to finish the duo though.

How I choose my rating:
1* Hated it. I had to force myself to finish it.
2** Didn't like it. I didn't hate it but not sure why I finished it other than for some closure.
3*** I liked it. I had some issues with it, but as a whole it was good. I probably won't reread ever, but there is a chance I might finish the series. (If part of one) But if not it's not a huge loss.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this, and I will finish the series. (If part of one) I would recommend to those I know hold interest in this book's content.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will be rereading this and probably more than once. I will finish the series and reread it multiple times. (If part of one) I will recommend this book to EVERYONE!!!!

Ooh, I'm totally in love with this book. It was a beautiful story of love and tragedy. I liked how Pierre and Holly were so connected and the loss of a loved one brought them even closer together. Then of course, they was Emma, who brightens even the gloomiest day and all in all, she was a very lovely character.
This wasn't just a simple love story where two people fall in love, then they have problems, they fight, and then they make up and live happily ever after. This was more. It was a very touching story and it made me believe in true love once again, even though it is just fiction. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

*Gotten from Netgalley

I hate rating a book that approaches a tough subject so low, but I felt I had to in this case. Abuse, domestic violence, and sexual abuse are very hard subjects to talk about, write about, and think about. While it is the reality for many, it is easy to shy away from the subject and remain blissfully unaware. I don't feel that way, I want to embrace the problem and bring hope for a better future. I applaud books that approach it, that can open up the communication lines for friends, family members, and those suffering or who have suffered in the past. In this case, I feel let down.

Margaret McHeyzer is a wonderful writer, she has an ability to bring a situation to life and allow the reader to feel the emotions with the character. I felt like I was right there with the main character during Ugly, because it is described with such depth. Lily was a great character, one I rooted for, because she's lost her identity in the abuse she's suffered from for the majority of her life. As she found her strength and learned to lean on good friends I rejoiced. She is one of the more believable characters I have read in novels related to abusive situations. I also liked a handful of the minor characters and how they stood up for Lily and stood behind her when she needed it. Those are the kind of minor characters that bring a story to life, allowing you as the reader to see the main character has hope for a better future, even if the main character doesn't see it yet.

Unfortunately, the story line was incredibly hard to keep track of and fairly unbelievable. At one point we'd skipped years, the writing went from first person POV to journal entries, and the abuse got to the point that I didn't see how no one had noticed. While I liked Lily and rooted for her, I didn't understand her desire to stay in bad situations. I understand how abuse can trick someone into staying, but this was beyond normal situations. Then, when good friends came, it was incredibly positive, also to the point of being unbelievable. I kept reading, because I wanted to know more, I wanted to know what happened to Lily and her past, but it kept going and going and going. Then, the ending is wrapped up so quickly, with another completely unbelievable moment. At one point I caught myself skimming the pages instead of reading and that's disappointing for me to admit. I need a book to hold me from the beginning and Ugly, while it started with a bang, just didn't the further I got.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

4.25 stars

What a beautifully written story about a horrifying event. This story showed the beauty of life after a trauma when you take back control and learn to overcome it. Instead of being the victim and instead being the fighter.

When I requested this book on NetGalley, I was intrigued by the summary and the fact that it is a dark YA/NA book. I love dark tales regardless of the subject, but as someone who has never read anything pertaining to the well-known subject of domestic violence, I didn't really know what to expect. If I had any expectations to begin with, they would have been absolutely blown away.

I was angry. Really angry. Not at the book itself and not at the main character. I was angry at the author. WHY WOULD YOU MAKE YOUR CHARACTER SUFFER SO HARSHLY? I was angry that I was reading a book that pertains to things that happen to people in real life -- not just women, but men, too. I was angry because... (more via website)

Goodreads Synopsis:
New York Times Bestselling YA Book

If I were dead, I wouldn't be able to see.
If I were dead, I wouldn't be able to feel.
If I were dead, he'd never raise his hand to me again.
If I were dead, his words wouldn't cut as deep as they do.
If I were dead, I'd be beautiful and I wouldn't be so...ugly.
I'm not dead...but I wish I was.

*This is a dark YA/NA standalone, full-length novel. Contains violence and some explicit language.

My Review:
I received a copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

This was a hard book to read, but in a good way. It was so good and so unlike anything I've read lately, but it was all about abuse and that's hard to read. Lilly starts the book as a seventeen year old girl who lives with her dad. She makes up, goes to school, doesn't get to eat hardly ever, and hen she comes home her dad more often than not is already drunk and beats her. She's been convinced it's all her fault. This is her life.

Finally she thinks she's caught a break. After eleven horrible years with her dad, she meets a boy named Trent who seems like he really cares about her and wants what's best for her. One night after being beaten black and blue by her dad, she calls him and escapes to his house away from the danger. Little does she know Trent and his family are not what they seem. She's just dragged from one abuse to another and never seems to get a moment to breathe.

This book deals with a lot of hard issues and I really feel bad for Lilly, for the stuff she's put through. She's grown up with this for all her life and it continues to happen. By the end of the book she's twenty seven. I wish I could help her. She really grows and develops as a character as she's pulled away from all the bad things and replaces them with good things. She shines. I absolutely loved this book and although I see it getting a lot of low rates and reviews for the trigger warnings, I think they make the book better. I did cry reading this a couple times. It's a real issue and these things actually happen to people. It's definitely one of my new favourites, despite the low points in the book. Definitely check it out if you get the chance! Push through the parts that scare you because the end is worth it.

I've included a link to buy the book from amazon, and a link to the authors twitter in case you have any questions.

https://www.amazon.ca/Ugly-Margaret-McHeyzer-ebook/dp/B016Y7ZU1G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=U...

https://twitter.com/MargaretMAuthor

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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Although I found this to be a wonderful book about a topic that is needed to be brought out in the open more to teens, I did find it a bit predictable. The book seemed to follow the classic lines of tragedy and had some unrealistic, or at the least, suspicious questions. As someone from an emotional and somewhat physically abusive relationship, I do know that police will believe the abuser and not allow the "victim" to even say anything. But, there just seems to be too many times at the beginning of the book where you wonder why nobody noticed anything for so long.
I do think how the main character Lily is shown to go from one abusive situation to another is classic. I know from years of therapy that it is often the case so I was glad to see that realistic portrayal.
Overall, it was a good book. One that didn't bore me, but wasn't one that grabbed me and held me captive either. I do have to hope and recommend pre-teens on up give this book a chance. It is so important topic wise and has a great message: you are worthy no matter what anyone says.

Ugly by Margaret McHeyzer is a captivating story about the life of Lily from her senior year through marriage and adulthood. Lily endures horrible abuse from her father for so long that it shapes who she believes herself to be. A life of abuse becomes her normal state of being, although never not terrifying. It is this that causes her to be what many of us would consider a doormat. Lily gets to the place where she blames every bout of domestic abuse as her own fault, no matter how irrational that seems.

It is Lily's self hatred and willingness to accept the blame for everything that goes badly in her life that makes her tough to like, but this is a realistic part of who a victim becomes after their abuser strips the all self worth, outside influences, access to money, etc.

Where I feel like this went wrong, and what makes Lily hard to sympathize with on an emotional level is her lack of character development. Lily is one dimensional for the majority of the story. Now, don't get me wrong, I did feel for her, but not in the way that I would have liked when reading a book that has such heavy content.

The other difficulty I had was pacing. The beginning of the book has a ton of action and then things shift after Lily's moment of awakening and we watch her heal and find love...slowly. It isn't at all that I would expect the process to be fast, but it certainly could have been told in a different way. Margaret McHeyzer didn't have any problem jumping over years of Lily's marriage through journal entries, I only wish that she would have taken some of the same approach for the last half of the book. There was entirely too much filler like dinners, pointless conversations, and other frivolities of everyday life.

In the end, I was glad to have read Ugly. It gave me a memorable story with an important message and moments of real inspiration. This is a very good book that with some tweaking could have rocked my world.

A warning this book can cause triggers, as it deals with certain issues.

This is a dark read and I love dark reads.
Lily is a a woman that has suffered unthinkable things and we follow her throughout her life as a girl to a woman. Abused, hurt, and abandoned, living with a father that is such an evil man. She is such a broken woman and her first love made matters worse.

This read takes you on an emotional rollercoaster, you will cry and live Lily's life through her life. Margaret has delivered a read that is very well written, she has touched on subjects that are taboo, but very well done. It shows that no matter what, you can survive and there is hope in the world where unspeakable evil things happen.

*****A copy was received via Obsessed by Books*********