** spoiler alert ** 2.5 stars

I'm ashamed. I rant against Jodi Picoult and I keep crawling back to her like a bad habit. Of course, my mom recommended this one to me and I will give it to her- I probably liked this one the best. I never, ever can get over Picoult's writing style. Her sweeping, dramatic descriptions don't do it for me. However, I liked the way she set up this story. Letting you see the damage first so you knew that Alex was abusive before sweeping you up into their love story. I think Picoult actually did a good job getting into the mind of an abused person. Maybe she's suffered some kind of abuse herself, I don't know, but I did like how she made Alex such a stark contradiction. So loving and charming- the absolute opposite of what most people would think an abusive husband would be like. And how she made Cassie intelligent and self-sufficient (not relying on Alex for a living). I think stereotypes of abusive relationships being only for drunks, lower class, uneducated people is part of the reason why some people shy away from getting the help they truly need. But I'll hop off my soap box now.