This book is all about shared experiences, and it hit me right in the feels. The characters are so real, flawed yet resilient, and their journey will make you believe in the power of connection

From the very beginning, Love in Hurt by Pelumi Ukinamemen makes readers feel a lot of different things. The story deals with some very sad and upsetting topics, but it does a great job of telling the story of two people who find comfort in each other's pain. The author shows how hard things are for the characters in a way that is honest and raw, which pulls readers into the depths of their experiences. Even though the subject is tough, Ukinamemen's writing is captivating, making it a must-read for those who can get past the triggers.

This was not the story I was expecting. In the best way. I am not disappointed in the slightest. This story is set in what almost feels like a dystopian world that has become extremally dark and twisted. I will warn you, CHECK THE TRIGGERS. There is content that WILL be difficult for some to read. Due to a traumatic experience that the FMC has at the beginning of the book, they become very emotionally shut down. Reading in their voice feels very clipped and stoic, but it fits. As the story progresses and the MMC pulls the FMC out of her shell the writing changes. In my opinion, a writer who can change the writing style to evolve with the character is very talented.

This book was... something else. I almost DNF it. Not because it was bad. I thought I could take the trigger warnings but I had to fight with them. It's so well written that I could imagine everything going through this girl's mind. Please, keep writing like this, Pelumi.

Book Review 📚
Love in Hurt by Pelumi Ukinamemen 4.5/5 ⭐

Get ready for this book to absolutely destroy your insides! Bare in mind there are trigger warnings but if you can handle it, then it's definitely a book to add to your TBR.

It starts off strong with the trigger starting aost instantly and then following the story of how she can or will overcome the whole ordeal. There are shared experiences throughout the story which ends up bringing the characters together. 2 people come together through their pain to try and find happiness.

Ukinamemen has done a fantastic job in writing about such troubling events that can happen in a person's life. I'm not put off by the triggers so I am able to read it and thoroughly enjoy the plot and the places it leads. It is a must read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Buzz Net for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

1,5 ★

I first of all want to thank NetGalley and the author for sending me this! I think I got it before it got published? So idk if what I read was the arc or the final work, but here is my honest review !

“𝙃𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚, 𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮”

I feel so bad writing this bc this is the first book that has been send to me and the last thing I wanted was for it to be such a low rating, but like many of you already said, they want honestly so that’s what I’m going to give

TW: R*pe and other forms of violence

𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺

“𝙄 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛”

Our main character gets r*ped in the first chapter and the chapters after are 3 months later where (I think) she has lost a piece of herself and basically doesn’t feel anything anymore. No happiness, nothing. So what does she want? She just wants to feel something, even if it’s pain (or she just wants to feel pain, I’m not sure). That’s when she meets this guy, Olami, who comes up with this idea to help her feel again and eventually something blooms out of it

“𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨... 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙧”

As you can see, it’s a very emotional and interesting concept and when I read the first chapter my eyes were wide with shock, pain and anger. I was curious how the story would go on and what message it was trying to send out- after all, it’s not easy to write about such a topic and it’s effects.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨

▸ <u>The story was too short</u>
This is only 80 pages and a lot was shoved into these 80 pages and <i>that</i> was the problem. A girl trying to heal herself and meeting a crazy handsome guy who ends up helping her in the most insane-jail-time way? Of course I want to read that. But in 80 pages? If you want me to really <i>feel</i> what’s going on and fall in love with the characters, I need at least 300 pages for a story like this. I created no connection with the main character, love interest and side characters. Nothing. The only thing they did was annoy me, because I couldn’t understand why they were doing this and why they were saying that and why they were reacting like this etc. I needed more time with the main character, more time to get to know her and more slow burn to get to know Olami.

▸ <u>The main character</u>
I wish I could say I had a connection with her but I really didn’t and it made me annoyed. I was just like “why are you smirking all of a sudden, I thought you bla bla” “why are you acting like that, explain to me how bla bla” etc. I had no connection with her and I was mostly laughing bc I just didn’t understand why why why- I know there is a logical reason for it, there must be one, but bc it was only 80 pages, I had no time to <i>understand</i>. Also some things the main character said didn’t sit well with me- or maybe I’m just sensitive <s>or maybe it’s bc the main character was supposed to be like that idk, again, I had no time to find out</s>

▸ <u>! Marks</u>
This is a very personal thing, but I don’t like too many ! marks and there were too many for me- well, tbh, I think they were put at the wrong time. I couldn’t take anything serieus when I saw that 😭😭 “now that is scary!”, “it’s alarming as hell!”, “he is so beautiful!”- Just not for me. It didn’t fit with the story bc you know the story gave me dark vibes so when you are reading what the main character is thinking and I see ! I just don’t take anything they take seriously but as a joke- again this is very personal but definitely also a small reason for my rating

If the book was 200 pages longer and I had more time to get to know and understand my situation, characters and surrounding, this would have been a very interesting read.
I just didn’t understand how the main character was acting like this one second and like that the other- it just didn’t make sense. “You are not the same girl I met months ago” dude didn’t we meet like 2 weeks ago or something? 5 days maybe? How much time has even passed in these 60 pages?? And then she said “like the robot Pius had morphed me to be from the months of training” DID I MISS SOMETHING?? YOU LITERALLY SAID <i>“Our little routine of bliss continued for a couple more days before Pius sauntered into Lami's room one day.”</i> AND BEFORE THAT YOU ONLY MET HIM ONCE- I. Am. So. Confused- did I miss something? Am I just stupid? I have reread these scenes 2 times now and I still come to the same conclusion: only days have passed- and let’s say months did indeed pass, why did no one tell me? Don’t leave me in the dark 😔

Anyways I think this is the first book the author has written and I can definitely see they have talent- you should definitely not stop writing! I hope my review was helpful in a way and I wish you a lot of luck in your career 💗🫂

This book is all about shared experiences, and it hit me right in the feels. The characters are so real, flawed yet resilient, and their journey will make you believe in the power of connection. If you're looking for a story that'll leave you feeling both heavy and light at the same time, you've got to dive into this ocean of emotions!

In this captivating women's fiction novel, the author skillfully weaves a tale of two souls seeking solace and finding unexpected healing in each other's pain.

Because I didn't gossip like other girls, cry when I should, or smile at some dumbass' funny jokes, I was considered a sociopath.
Like they were some sort of psychiatrist.
Who cared? Their opinions weren't my cup of tea. So when I asked what had just happened, appearing cool as ice, I expected some kind of freaked-out reaction from Olami.
this is the first book i’ve read by Pelumi Ukinamemen and it’s just wow it’s hard to describe how this book hit me. screaming crying and throwing up is a proper reaction to this book it had me bawling my eyes out. there was parts that felt somewhat rush but it could be due to being a lot of time skips. i stayed up till 3 am reading i couldn’t put it down. i would love to see what else Ukinamemen writes in the future.

With apologies to the writer but I just couldn’t keep reading this book. I wasn’t prepared for such visceral prose. Even after reading the disclaimer. Some
Of it just felt gratuitous. Maybe I’m hyper sensitive. It may appeal to some but not me.