Ruthless - Dani René

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

I received an ARC of this book from the author and I voluntarily reviewed it. Thank you Dani René!

This has got to be René's best work yet. Don't be fooled by the delicious cover; this book has depth, and deals with dark themes. She explored worlds she had yet to touch upon, pushing her limits further, while still keeping her signature story style.

Not only that, René also really pushed herself with the quality of the writing of this book. She paints vivid images with her words, and this is the clearest they've been. Dani is truly able to be consistent with the symbols, and metaphors she uses to throughout the novel without sounding repetitious. For example, the colour orange is significant in the novel, yet it's rarely stated that something is orange; it's the scent of citrus and orange blossoms, it's the fire in their eyes, it's the warmth they feel around each other, it's the memories of orange juice in the morning... It's the pluri-sensual experience of colour that really stuck out for me.

Dani René also presents to us beautifully broken characters. Scarred characters that find solace in each other. Callan and Madison sparking life into one another and lighting up the darkness in them. Seeing them evolve and heal is an incredible experience.

I was unable to put this book down. I may have snapped at my mom when she interrupted my reading... oops... sorry, not sorry... okay maybe a little, but it was justified. *shrugs*