Emotional, Shocking, Emotional & the HEA is Satisfying! Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan [Audiobook Review]

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I don’t exactly know how to start this review because Long Shot is a hard book to review. I actually read book 2 Block Shot first and was very hesitant to read Long Shot because of the subject. Yes, this book has trigger warnings for anyone who has experienced abuse because this book deals with it point blank.

I think that is what makes this book a riveting read and ultimately what made the HEA very, very satisfying.

I won a signed copy of this book from Malia (@romanceschmomance) and it took me a while to get into. Heck, the book is super huge, so I decided to borrow the audiobook instead. That was the best decision ever!

Long Shot does remind me of the movie Sliding Doors, which is actually mentioned in this book. What if you chose differently, what would your life be like? This happened to Iris and August. They met and really bonded one night at a bar only to find out that they were not meant to be. Iris was in a relationship with August’s basketball rival and Iris also ended up pregnant. In Iris’ case, it’s a series of unfortunate events that had her end up at the mercy and manipulation of her sick boyfriend.

I’m not going to lie this book was a hard book to read. Long Shot focusses on the abuses done to Iris, which is over half of the book. It goes into descriptions of the abuse in detail and while there are only a few scenes like this, they are really graphic enough and in Iris’ POV that it is disturbing. But I would like to point out that there is no glorifying of the abuse in this book. It’s in Iris’ POV and her feelings when the evil deeds are happening to her. To be in control of a manipulative and sick bastard would have broken anybody and I’m glad that Iris was able to survive the things that happened to her.

I liked that in between Iris’ suffering, she was able to find happiness, like that time where she meets August at a volunteer event, which really breaks up the scary parts of the book.

Long Shot is a slow burn romance in that the actual romantic relationship between August and Iris happens in the last quarter of the book, but that doesn’t mean that the build-up of their romance is lacking! It’s quite apparent from the moment Iris and August met that their chemistry and attraction was real.

I’m normally not a fan of sow burn romances but I could not help but love Iris and August’s story. Actually, Iris’ transformation from being a naïve young lady to a freaking strong woman was hella amazing! Her transformation made the ending and HEA well won and I could not be happier!

Long Shot made me cry, but not at the parts where you expect me to. Reading the horrible parts made me rage out at Caleb, especially the unhanded ways he manipulated and forced Iris. I ugly cried when Iris finally escaped him. I don’t think there is any other book where I was noisily making my thoughts known out loud while reading than this book!

Ultimately, Long Shot is a story about determination and triumph over abuse, finding love and rising up for yourself that I could not recommend it enough. Again, I would like to emphasize that there are TRIGGER warnings here.

I stated that I listened to the audiobook and I think that was better for me. I love both narrators and they used tones and accents that I really like – especially Iris’ accent. Both narrators complemented each other and I highly recommend the audiobook version since the trade paperback copy is huge!

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Do you read books with trigger warnings? How do you feel about them?

Do you require books to have trigger warning signs in the blurb?

 

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