Dollars

"DNF at 86% 2.5 stars<br/><br/>I was so close to finishing this one, I know. But I'm struggling to continue with this one due to the fact that I am strongly morally opposed to everything that is happening. In my review in the first book, I stated that I was glad it wasn't technically a romance (as there really was no love/ loving relationship between any characters). I'm not sure the same can be said for this book, or for the rest of the series, which is exactly what I did not want.<br/><br/>Tasmin does not need a romantic interest. She does not need a sexual partner (not yet anyway, though it is good for her to disassociate sex with trauma and abuse), she does need a boyfriend. What she does need is help. She needs therapy. She needs counselling. She needs rehabilitation. But most of all, she needs freedom.<br/><br/>I can see that Elder was struggling with himself to be a decent human being, which is why I only disliked him about 60% of the time in this one. Though I will never get over the fact that he has not and (probably) will not free her. It is so insanely selfish that I find myself struggling to get through any part of the story without thinking about that. He instead has decided to take Tasmin's healing upon himself. Of all the characters I've read about, I have to say he is one of the most unqualified people to handle this task. He can't even sort his own **** on, yet all of a sudden I'm supposed to support him trying to "help" (quotes because his motivations are questionable and very selfish) Tasmin.<br/><br/>I just can't. I really can't. I was hoping for a book about the difficulties and psychological complexes of the healing process involved in severely traumatized and abused persons, and instead I find it as a plot point to push two severely damaged people into a codependent relationship. I really can't get behind this one.<br/><br/>That's not to say that there weren't good parts in this book. Pepper Winters did a good job writing about Tasmins psychological struggles and etc. (even though it was fairly repetitive), and for a while it was interesting. But the story wasn't really moving too much. <br/><br/>one last thing? If you heard music that was scaring/traumatizing the living **** out of you, why would you run TO the source, and not FROM it??? Why make Tasmin run into the room where the cello was. That was some legitimate nonsense. <br/><br/>That's it from me. On to the next."