[ARC Review] Beautifully Damaged by J.A. Owenby
River Collins has had a rough life. Abandoned by her mother and abused by her guardian, Dan, it's all River can do but escape her trailer park as soon as she can. But once the opportunity presents itself, River finds herself at the mercy of Holden Alastair - a young man who is instantly drawn to River and will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. Holden might be from one of the richest families in the Pacific Northwest and independently wealthy on his own, but that can't save River when it turns out the enemy is inside the house. If River and Holden want their happily-ever-after, they must first survive today.
Beautifully Damaged was definitely a dark romance through and through. I couldn't help but want River to safely get away from Dan and out of Montana; no one should have to suffer abuse at the hands of their guardian the way River did. And maybe it was because she was so broken from the very beginning, but I just couldn't make myself sympathize with River as a character. I was so far removed from everything she went through that I couldn't empathize with her at all. I understand why she would be cautious and paranoid that someone was waiting for her around every corner, but that was where my understanding of this character ended. River mentioned her gut instinct several times, but then she was often worried when there was no threat and careless when there was one; to me, her character just didn't always make sense.
Like with River, I felt I had little connection to Holden as well. I spent the whole book feeling like there was just something off about him that made me wish that he and River weren't together. Holden comes from one of the richest families in Washington, and he himself is independently wealthy from an adult club - that he has owned since he was a freshman in high school?!? The more I learned about Holden, the more sketchy he felt every time he was on the page. Holden was also very quick to emotion: quick to profess his love for River, quick to get angry whenever someone even dared look at her. The speed at which he fell in love with River almost came across as disingenuous; it just didn't feel honest and real to me.
While I didn't love the characters, I thought Owenby's writing was fantastic. There was a whole lot of tension among the characters, and I could easily feel it in every scene. As every revelation came out, you could feel the suspense ramping up. As someone who also enjoys a good thriller, I loved that part of Beautifully Damaged.
So, while I ended up not loving River and Holden as characters, I did love the plot. Unfortunately, this book does end on a pretty big cliffhanger, so readers might want to have Beautifully Broken on standby before reaching the end of this first book.
Owenby does include trigger warnings for this book; given the nature of these warnings, I would recommend readers check her warnings before embarking on this series.
A huge thank you to Grey's Promotions for providing a review copy of Beautifully Damaged!
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Release date: 1/26/22
Format: eARC
eARC provided via: Grey's Promotions
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