ARC Review: Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann

He puts his hand against my chest. "It's still beating," he whispers, his words a soft kiss against my lips. "As long as it's beating, you're okay."

When Cora Lawson attends her sister's birthday party, she expects at most a hangover or a walk of shame by the end of it. She doesn't anticipate a stolen wallet, leaving her stranded and dependent on her sister's fiancé, Dean Asher—her archnemesis and perpetual thorn in her side.

And she really doesn't anticipate getting knocked out and waking up chained in a madman's basement, Dean in his own shackles beside her.

After fifteen years of teasing, insults, and never-ending pranks, the ultimate joke seems to be on them. The two people who always thought they'd end up killing each other must now work together if they want to survive long enough to escape.

But Cora and Dean don't know that their abductor has a plan for them. A plan that will alter the course of their relationship, blur the line between hate and love, and shackle them to each other long after they are freed from their chains. They're in this together—no matter what their unexpected bond might cost them.

Trigger Warnings: Violence, Sexual Assault, Drug Use, Suicide, Murder, Gun Violence

First off, if you are sensitive to dark, abusive situations with sexual violence... this is not the book for you.  Still Beating is a harrowing tale of two people taken by a serial killer, and their against the odds survival. Cora and Dean's traumatic story may end in escape, but going home has never been harder.  For two people who have survived the worst thing imaginable, the battle to find normalcy is only beginning.  

While dark, the story will suck you in, and won't let go. Trust me, I read this entire book at work... whoops.  I just couldn't put it down. It's a bare, tragic look at what happens after you survive. How traumatic events reshape you as a person, and how sometimes what you think is right in front of you isn't what you think.