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Quick Info
Shadows You Left

• Series: Standalone
• Genre: Contemporary, Romance
• Trigger Warnings: addiction, drug use, eating disorder (possible), overdose, violence
• Rating: 5/5 Stars

Blurb
Shadows You Left

ERIK

The white picket fence.
The happily-ever-after.
That life was never meant for him.
For years he’s been bouncing from city to city—from one cage fight to another.
That’s his outlet. That’s pain Erik can control.
But in Seattle, everything changed.
River’s an artist.
He’s a pretty boy.
He does yoga.
Someone so soft shouldn’t be intrigued by Erik’s rough edges.

RIVER

His life was quiet. He had a simple routine.
Designing tattoos, avoiding drama. Well, mostly.
Then Erik comes along—scarred and dangerous, shrouded in mystery.
A mystery River can’t resist trying to solve.
Maybe a secret as dark as his own.
Neither of them expected a relationship so complicated, so intense.
Neither of them expected…each other.
Erik and River are both trying to escape a shadowed past.
But the thing about shadows is: the faster you run, the faster they chase you.

The Queer’s Review

It’s so rough but so poetic at the same time.

I suspected I’m in for a treat when I received this book. A tough-to-swallow-but-so-worth-it-treat. I was right – only I didn’t know how tough as well as how worth it would be.

Mind the content warnings, dear readers (also yay for content warnings though I’m not surprised those two authors gave warnings for their book).

I was not able to read Shadows You left in one go – but I didn’t want to do that anyway. Instead I enjoyed it while taking reading breaks to just let everything sink in. To let my mind work through the words and emotions. To experience everything.

Shadows You Left is no book you read for a nice distraction; it is a book that makes you suffer and feel your own demons rise to the surface, but while it does make you feel your darker parts it takes you by the hand and leads you through everything back to safety.

Bookish Thoughts

This is one of the heaviest books I have read in my life but it is heavy in the best of ways and I can’t wait to go on this journey again.

Disclaimer

I received a free copy through the NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.