What happens when your innocence is taken away?
Amelia is a happy six years old. Then a chance encounter with a bad man in the park changes everything. Can she ever recover from the trauma in her childhood?
This is Amelia's story. Follow her as she discovers that life, love and loss can be a killer. And sometimes revenge can be beautiful . . .
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She wheeled her shiny blue dolls pram across the grass; he watched. 1, JULY 1952
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(@Bloodhoundbook, 31 August 2015, ebook, 362 pages, bought from @AmazonKindle)
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I've enjoyed other books by the author but was disappointed with Beautiful. The book has a lot of good reviews but it left me cold. Amelia is raped as a six year old. This didn't bother me. I read a lot of thrillers so I didn't have an issue with the theme. I struggled with two things which spoiled the book for me. First, I had an issue with the setting. The book starts in 1952. The author makes no real attempt to bring this era or the years following it to life. I got no sense of place. The book felt like it was set much later. Aside from the sub-heading telling me the year I got no sense of place. 1952 is very different than now but there is no attempt to convey this. I also didn't like Amelia as a character. I felt sympathy for her because of what happened to her as a child. However, she is a horrible person as an adult and does some questionable things. Instead of accepting she needs professional help, the people around her seem to use what happened as an excuse for her behaviour. If I can't get behind the main character I won't fully enjoy a book.