“Dark, erotic, and haunting, Red Water sticks with you like a dream you can’t shake.” – Meghan O’Flynn, bestselling author of the Ash Park seriesHow do you let love in when the only thing that feels right is pain? Compared to the beat-up trailer she’s had to call home since her mom died, Malory Shoemaker’s tiny dorm room is a significant upgrade. An escape.An escape from the terrible things her … escape.
An escape from the terrible things her father put her family through. An escape from the whispers—his whispers—that still skitter through her mind. An escape from darkness.
And though Malory has not yet managed to silence her father’s whispers, she is excelling at school, making new friends, and shining as the music school’s new star cellist. She has even attracted an enigmatic admirer.
But when this new love interest begins to reveal his more unsavory appetites, Malory finds herself a hapless participant in a sick game—a game that forces her to confront her own nasty inner demons. And as the game intensifies, so do the old, familiar whispers in Malory’s head.
Now she must decide: sink back into the darkness, or claw her way to the surface and discover a life worth fighting for.
At times erotic, at times disturbing, and at times both at once, Red Water slithers under your skin with its dark, unflinching examination of the psychology of self-loathing and the secret, unspeakable lust for depravity that lies dormant within us all. If you like Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects or Sylvia Day’s dark romance, you will love Red Water.
More praise for Red Water:
“With prose that will bring you to your knees, Red Water will hold you in its grip without apology, and you will love every torturous second of it.” – Beth Teliho, author of the award-winning Order of Seven.
“One of those books that chews you up and spits you out—you will never be the same.” – Andra Watkins, New York Times bestselling author of Not Without My Father
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Dark, erotic, and haunting, Red Water sticks with you like a dream you can’t shake. Kristen Mae hits it out of the park with a novel that explores some of the darkest pieces of humanity, sucking readers into the depths of depravity and leaving us hungry for more.
Definitely makes one think about how we were raised and the impact of words on a child’s development. Story was very well done.
Wow! This book will take you on a ride, whether you like it or not. It is dark and haunting, yet very relatable.
4.5 Cello Stars!!!
When this book was recommended to me, I had never heard of this author. Went in totally blind and WOW!!! What a train wreck of a story this one was.
It’s a dark read that has some serious triggers. So if you are one who has triggers, tread lightly considering this one!
Malory has finally found her way out of the trailer she was living in and is now at college. Her valedictorian status allowed her to get a scholarship to college playing the cello. Her head is on straight, she’s ready to start college, she’s ready to kill the performance that will award her. After all the years of being told she wasn’t good enough, wasn’t pretty enough, wasn’t smart enough, she has opened the doors to prove to her father she is all that and more.
Meeting new friends when you never really had any to begin with is hard.
So, when the ‘thug’ from 2 floors up introduces himself, she immediately turns the other way…because of his appearance. Rome is all that and more! Never judge a book by its cover, right???
When the sexy, dressed good, looks good guy stands to the side and listens to her perform downtown for money, she is overwhelmed. Garrett is a psychopath!
Nothing like overcoming your fears at home to be thrown into a whirlwind down-hill spiraling out of control person at college.
Can anyone help this poor Girl??? I could NOT stop reading this book!!! Could not put it down. Grab this one and give it a read. Will be checking out this authors other work, that’s for sure!!
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This was a great book. At times I almost had to stop reading it,it was so intense. But I’m so glad I was able to finish it. I can’t wait to read more from this author.
Pretty intense- I did think it dealt with pretty dark material~
Very Hard to read, dislike cruelty towards women, had to skip parts.
This is not exactly an erotic romance, or a dark romance. It’s an interesting and realistic story about a great (smart, talented) heroine with a troubled background and how she gets slowly and increasingly more manipulated by a psychopath because of the trauma from her past. It has sexy scenes, but it is not a ‘sexy’ book. It was a compelling read for me – I read it pretty fast over several days. I really felt her pain and wished she had gotten therapy to disable some of those awful connections to her past that the psycho was able to exploit. She deserved a lot better than this, but lots of folks live life and never are able to get help resolving old traumas and family abuse, so it was realistic for me. Not sure I would re-read this one, but I’m glad I did buy it and read it! The writing was good and there were very very few language use errors and typos (which drive me crazy with some of these Kindle books).
This book was so vivid and so raw it made want to cringe, scream, and at times cry. This book touches on so many issues that most people tend to shy away from, but they really need to be brought to life so people can see how easy the cycle of abuse, self loathing, and desperation can take you under and distort reality. It also discusses topics like racial profiling, sexuality, and suicide. All of these issues seem to be taboo, but people need to be aware that these issues are prevalent and their actions and reactions affect people. I think people like to bury their head in the sand when it comes to realizing how messed up our world can be and this book just threw it all in our face and was like “you are going to listen and like it.”
Overall, I think this book had a real darkness to it, but it was beautifully written. It didn’t sugarcoat anything and the realism made it that much more powerful.
This one was a sneaky bitch! It started out normally enough then slowly morphed into one fucked up read. I’m still processing. I waffled between 4 and 5 stars for a while but the more I thought about it, the more the writer’s genius revealed itself.
I highly recommend that you go into this one blind…….unless you have triggers, then please do some research. The subject matter is not easy but I am so blown away by the approach this author took. So often we fail to understand how people get caught up in such horrible situations, shifting blame to the victim, thinking she should have known better. The approach this author took highlights just how devious the process can be.
This is probably the most difficult review I’ve had to write in a long time. In all reality, probably the hardest review I’ll have to write for years to come.
I think the thing that I most want to communicate with people who decide to read this review is that it’s not that I don’t like this book. When I first picked it up, I really didn’t know what to expect. I’ve never read anything by this author before and I was really in the dark as to how this might play out. I was immediately a fan when I found out that the main character, Malory, played the cello. I’ve played the cello since I was 9 years old … holy crap … that’s almost 3 decades! So I completely understood what Malory was going through with the trials and tribulations of that. I think it’s difficult for people who don’t play an instrument or sport, for that matter, to understand the dedication and constant turmoil you put yourself through as you try to master something that seems so daunting at times.
Unfortunately, I connected with Malory on another level also. Dating a guy that is abusive, no matter in which way, can be difficult. My dark times also happened in college, just like with Malory. I’m not totally for sure if that was the reason I had to skip paragraphs and pages of this book or what. But I’m sure that’s not too far off base. Malory gets herself into this psychologically, emotionally and physically abusive relationship. Thinking that this was a romance novel with a twist was not anywhere near the truth. This is a novel about that abuse. It’s about a chick’s need to be in an abusive relationship because she thinks the kind of treatment she’s getting is love. She accepts it. Craves it, even.
This was a very dark, very disturbing read. If I was basing my rating just on how this book made me feel, I wouldn’t give it any damn stars. I would have used it for kindling in a trashcan fire. That was my first instinct. But then I finished the book and I stopped and really thought about it. How amazing is an author if they are able to evoke such strong emotions from the reader? If she can make you absolutely HATE a character, make your stomach turn, make you want to cry … that’s got to mean she’s pretty badass, right? I think so.
So maybe this wasn’t a book that I would read again. Ever. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t well written. It doesn’t mean that the story wasn’t this deep, dark, black hole that sucks you in and won’t let go. And it most certainly doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a good book. It was … if you really enjoy the perversion that plagues some of our most inhumane population. While I’m glad that I read it, I’m also glad that I’m done.
* I received this novel in exchange for an honest review *
Red Water
Kristen Mae
This is a beautifully written story of depression and mental/sexual abuse. It, in no way whatsoever glorifies the trauma a person goes through, but tells a story of one woman’s journey. It is erotic, violent, and opened a lot of feelings I have about my own past. After reading this book it is easier for me to see how hard it is to break out of the cycle of abuse and how easy it is to get into the cycle to begin with. Especially when you are already suffering from depression, anxiety, or other mental health illness. So if you want something that is darkly erotic and will mentally put you through the wringer, then get yourself a copy of Red Water today. Kristen Mae is an extremely talented author you don’t want to miss out on.
***WARNING*** I tried I really tried to like it I hate giving negative reviews.
Excuse me but hell no, this book should be slapped with a HUGE warning, It may cause triggers is a major understatement in my opinion,
If you have any mental health problems, or have done or know someone who has, might be advisable to avoid this book. Especially as mental health is prominent in the news these days,
It as an extremely disturbing read, as someone with mental health issues my self. This for me was disturbing and had me awake at night and completely out of touch with reality when I was reading it.
Its taken me some time, I am usually a very fast reader, but have had to put this one down and go and read something else. I started reading this October 10th its now the 18th, and I have read 7 other books in the same time its taken me to read this.
I suffer from major flashbacks as an adult about my childhood and teenage years so it was difficult, but I think even if you didn’t have problems, it would be a tough book.
I LOVE DARK THEMED, which is why this one is difficult to write a review about.
It’s supposed to be erotic but dark erotic, err nope and I am convinced it wasn’t for the main female lead either, we have Garrett who for me was creep from the get go, he was a sexual sadist and possibly more, think serial and add killer, not far from what I thought he really was, He meets poor Mallory who has had a terrible life, she is needy, I would say manic depressive, always trying to hard, over extending over achieving you might say. Trying to make her self into something she thinks she is.
The other downside to this book, is major and I do mean major holes in the script, Its like you are reading it, it stops and you have to finish the story. Its left dangling in the air. No explanation for a lot of things that goes on, you sort of get the general idea, but you are not certain if your train of thought is the correct one. The entire cast of characters have all got major issues, but we never get to find out what they are, The so called male lead I knew nothing about other than he is a sexual sadist . We knew nothing about him except he lives with his mother. Not how old he is, or about his father, it’s like the writer just glanced at him, yet he is an integral part of the book. The more I read of this the more depressed I became, which is why I had to put it down and go read something else, I couldn’t wait for the book to finish’
So why did I carry on and not mark it up to a “DNF”.? I wanted to see Mallory become more than she thought she was or had to be, The poor sweetheart was an emotional cripple, she wasn’t the masochist to Garrets sadists, she was lost, she was looking for someone to love her, to give her security, she so desperately wanted to fit in, become something more than what she was, she needed therapy, she needed a cuddle. Not one time in this entire story was this poor girl happy. Instead she was the perfect victim for Garrett’s sadistic nature she became a punch bag a submissive that she was neither didn’t seem to matter. At the start of this book she is described as major manic depressive with suicidal thoughts. When really all she was like I said was a lost young lady. I have given the book 3 stars because the book flowed even though the subject matter was difficult for me to read, he is physically hurting this girl and yet she is describing it as a beautiful, she is 18 has lead a very very sheltered life, come from an incredible horrific background, she wasn’t looking for a man to hurt her she was looking for someone to notice and care for her. There is nothing beautiful or happy about this book at all. I have given the book 2 stars because I don’t like to be all negative, but honestly the 4 and 5 star ratings has got me scratching my head, I picked this up because AMAZON recommended it as I am into the dark reads, but this isn’t dark, Its depressive, extremely sad and seriously needs to come with better warnings.