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I received this book as a review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.
Set against the backdrop of The Wizard of Oz, this tale is both a chilling story of abuse and a timeless teen romance.
Sixteen-year-old good girl Dorothy just blew into the small town of Highland Park—where the social headquarters is Munchkinland (Dunkin’ Donuts). There, she meets Joey—a bad boy who tells no one about the catastrophic domestic violence he witnesses at home.
He had the look of an animal caught in a trap. It was like he was caged inside that beautiful body, like he was asking me to carve deeper and set his soul free.
Can these two lovers survive peer pressure, Joey’s reputation, and his alcoholism? And then there’s his family secret which is about to be unleashed.
Joey's words are scattered on the page—reflecting his broken state.
She looks like a
doll
like one of them
porcelain
dolls something so
fragile and
precious
you should put
high
on
a
shelf to keep
safe and never
never
touch.
Dorothy is the voice of reason—until something so shattering happens that she, too, may lose her grip.
he's
got
a
gun
oh
god he's gonna kill us
Can their love endure, or will it melt away?
Can their love endure, or will it melt away?
Publisher : Last Syllable Books
Language : English
Paperback : 292 pages
ISBN-10 : 0938961063
ISBN-13 : 978-0938961062
The cover of Melt by Selene Castrovilla is gorgeous and perfectly portrays the vibes of this story.
This book has been a lovely read for in-between. The author's writing style is catching and I think Selene Castrovilla has done an excellent job showcasing that just because something might seem unrealistic or backwards to us, it could still be someone's reality in this very moment. Trauma and abuse can come in so many ways and everyone reacts differently.
Another aspect that I really loved was that the ending is not your typical lovey-dovey perfect happy ending. Nope... This ending is more of a reasonable lead towards the next chapter of the story.
The characters are very relatable and authentic teenagers who showcase a big portion of teen years related fear. Since my little raccoons are in the middle of their teenage years, I'm probably looking at it a bit different to a teenager reading this book. But it has been so easy to relate to Dorothy and Joey and I absolutely love them.
All up, Melt - Rough Romance 1 - has been a wonderful read. However, the only point why I would take half a star away and leave it as a 4.5 star review, is the fact that the reference to The Wizard Of Oz confused me quite a bit. I know the synopsis says it is not a retelling but I still expected more of a relation to this book. Otherwise, I absolutely loved this book and can definitely recommend it.