Beck by Harper Sloan
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Well… I was so excited to read this. I didn’t feel like Axel or Cage were 5 star epic reads or anything but I enjoyed them for what they were and what they were trying to accomplish. I attempted to put that same way of thinking forward when reading this… especially since a piece of the proceeds are going to a great cause. Also, being a therapist I am usually drawn to stories that have some type of relation to or touch on mental health issues in some way.
Through a great deal of the book I vacillated from…
To just looking at it like…
And then by the end…
I was really bored through the first half or so of this book. It was so heavy and depressing and believe me if anyone gets the depth of the issues that they were discussing, I do. I just felt like it was poured on really thick and it wasn’t consistent. On the one hand you have someone dealing with severe depression, PTSD, and suicidal ideations… yet this person has the capacity to hide how they are really feeling from those that they love and the only ones that they have identified that they would trust to offer support. Many people do not reach out for help, and unfortunately that can end tragically. I am not saying that it is impossible for someone to have these issues and be able to hide how much they are hurting. In my experience though, I just didn’t find this variation believable. The blame game really began to wear on me as well. All of the constant throwing it in their faces and getting angry and arguing about it just felt contrived. These people are supposedly as close as family and especially the arguments between Beck and Greg really made me go “huh?” I didn’t get it.
As the book goes on every single thing that happens those that are aware of the issues are afraid it’s going to trigger a downward spiral or suicide attempt… Yet, this person chose to tell their story to multiple people several times through out the book. Someone who has experienced trauma and has PTSD would need to be able to ground themselves and have dealt with the trauma so that when they tell their story they do not re-traumatize them self. If someone has dealt with the trauma to the point where they are wanting to talk about it and their experience to others it is safe to say that they are not at a place where telling the story or going through an additionally difficult experience will automatically cause them to lose their shit. Especially, if they are still under consistent psychiatric care and getting support from those closest to them. It’s similar to when a therapist asks someone if they are suicidal… if they aren’t asking that question isn’t going to some how magically make them suicidal!
I found Beck to be a lackluster hero/alpha. I honestly think that he and Dee probably could have split a book with another couple and that this would have worked out a great deal better. I also find it interesting in these kinds of books when there is a threat or danger and then those who are at risk are put under lock down and then somehow every time the bad guy shows up it’s when they are alone or almost completely alone…
There were things that I did enjoy but so much of those other issues were too distracting for me. I put the book down several times and honestly almost DNF, many times. I understood what was attempted here and it just really missed the mark for me. Despite that I will continue with the series as I am interested in seeing what happens next.
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