Questions About Beautifully Broken (Jaded Hollow, #1)

by Alex Grayson (Goodreads Author)

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Hi, I just now finished reading this book, It's very heart breaking, but one thing which kept bothering me is that why did the Heroine not leave her husband sooner? I mean what kept her taking the abuse for so long that she lost 5 babies because of the abuse? Got raped for years by so many people? I just simply don't get it!

Shannon Fay you don't realize how insidious abuse like this is until you're in the situation. most times, people in these situations don't even REALIZE that it's …moreyou don't realize how insidious abuse like this is until you're in the situation. most times, people in these situations don't even REALIZE that it's abusive until it's too late to simply walk away. everyone always asks why people don't just leave, but when you've been beaten down for years, and your abuser has carefully cut you off from your family and friends over the course of those years, you have no one to turn to for help. if you've been subject to that abuse for a while, chances are that you have also been verbally abused the whole time, and if someone tells you that you're worthless, that no one loves you, that no one will EVER love you again, or help you, that the only person who cares about you IS your abuser, you start to believe it. (you might think that if someone says horrible things, you would know that's not true, but if they say them enough, you WILL eventually believe them). so couple the isolation of being cut off from your family and friends with the idea that they don't care and won't help you, because you've been brainwashed to believe that, and it makes it hard to get away. plus, there's the added issue of abusers making the victim THINK they deserve it. And also, the abuse itself. fear is very powerful, and if your abuser says that if you ever leave, that they will hunt you down and kill you, you believe them. They've already proven how much they can HURT you, so why wouldn't they hunt you down and kill you. Also, abusers like this are VERY controlling. they'll slowly take over all of your life, until they control all the money, until all the bills, the house and things are in their name, so you have nothing.

so think about all of that, and then ask yourself, how do you get away when you have no money and you own nothing, and where do you go when no one cares, and no one will help you, especially when you know that the only person who "cares" will hunt you down and hurt you if you try to leave?

and a lot of people think they'd just get out before it got that bad, but abusers are very good at doing things so slowly that you don't notice how bad it is until it's THAT bad. it's like that story of a frog in a pot of cold water, where the water warms so slowly that the frogs boils to death without realizing it.

Abusers will start by being really sweet and caring. usually the first step is controlling behaviour, like checking up on you, and where you are, calling a little more than normal. And at first that's sweet that they check up so often, like wow, this person must really care to want to talk to me so often. they're a little possessive and don't want you talking to other guys, which is reasonable of a boyfriend. so he's a little jealous, it just means he cares. you fall in love with this guy, and then if a friend doesn't like him, you're in love with this guy, so you slowly stop talking to that friend. he takes up more and more of your time, and it's sweet that he's so into you. when he asks you to stop hanging out with a guy friend cuz it bothers him that you're close to another guy, you do, because you want to make your man happy, and it WOULD make you jealous if he were best friends with another girl. then you start living together, and you move into HIS place, and give up yours. it's all very sweet, romantic, loving. it's a commitment, and a big step when you open a joint bank account and he convinces you to close your own account (and says he closes his).

Shit likes this really happens, really slowly. so that by the point the abuse starts looking like abuse, it's too late, and it's already HIS house, and he's already got a way to control the money ,and you've already cut off lots of friends, and become more distant from the people in your life.

and he doesn't hit you right away. he gets mad, and yells and calls you stupid sometimes, but always apologizes right after and says he loves you so much that he just gets a little worked up, that he'll be careful and won't yell like that again. and you love him so much, you believe it, plus, you WERE being stupid talking to that guy friend, cuz you KNOW he doesn't like it when you talk to other guys.

and slowly, yelling becomes harsher and harsher, and the things he says that make you feel bad get worse and worse. and slowly, things get more violent, and one day, instead of just yelling, he grabs you roughly by the arm. he didn't hit you though, just grabbed you hard, and didn't mean to.then it escalates to more grabbing and shoving, pushing, shaking, things like that. and by the time the guy is actually hitting you regularly, and doing really awful things, it's too late.

it happens so slowly, so insidiously, that even strong, smart, capable women, can fall victim to this sort of trap. The only reason i know all of this and could recognize all these red flags is because i LIVED it. I watched my mom fall in love with a sweet man, who was kind and caring, who didn't care that she was a single mother with 2 girls, hell, he loved her girls, and was wonderful with them, and the girls adored him. I watched for 5 years as she went from happy and smitten to terrified and hurt. I was there as i went from a lucky girl with a great step-dad, to a terrified girl who didn't trust people. i watched as this sweet, attentive, caringm, wonderful man, morphed into this horrible nightmare, watched as he went from brushing our hair and teaching us to ride bicycles, to threatening to kill us if our mom ever left. I saw him go from being the kind of guy who brought her breakfast in bed, to being the kind of guy who put her in the hospital. And where could she go with no money, no family, and 2 little girls to feed and protect? i remember that a few times she tried to leave. on time we even managed to get like 4 or 5 states away, and he DID come after us. it's hard to understand how someone can stay, but i promise, when you're IN that situation, leaving seems like the most impossible thing in the world(less)

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Hi ,I would like to know ,if this novel ending HEA ? thank you

Alex Grayson Yes, it does :)

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