Too short. It started out nice and it has the potential for a novel. I thought I had bought a novel, quite frankly. And then it's over with a quick recap looking back on what should have been the book... ( )

My kind of hurt/comfort - lovely and dense, especially for a 10,000-ish story (I tend to go for the hundreds of thousands of words). Lovely characterisation and really fascinating worldbuilding. I would love to read more re: the main character's recovery! But this alone was very satisfying, and look forward to sinking my teeth into more of this author's writing. :D ( )

Tiny but heavy

Like the thawing of frozen fingers. First is the absence of feeling. Then come the mild sensations. ‘Are they real, or just figments of my mind?’. Next is the pain. So sharp it makes you wonder if keeping the tissue alive is even worth it. Keep going and at long last there is relief.

50 pages and I cried. Excellent read. ( )

Is it bad of me that I wanted to read the story leading up to the Epilogue? More please! ( )

While the blurb didn’t exactly encourage me into thinking this would be a book I'd truly enjoy reading (what do you mean – no happy ending?), I like Angel's work enough to figure she'd find a way to make it good. And she did. This is a harsh, gritty story about the realities and consequences of torture and psychological conditioning, a true roller coaster ride of cruelty with just a glimpse of hope, and the futuristic setting only made things worse. After all, look what we do to our fellow humans today, just imagine how much worse it will get with more technological and medical advances? Truly, a well-written short story that held me spellbound and didn’t let me go easily once it ended.

While there are other things I'd like to say, I'm afraid you're going to have to read it for yourself (if you dare). But I can’t go into details without giving away too much of the plot and its twists. Let me just say it is well done, scarily believable, and utterly terrifying. Until the final "excerpt" from the history book, I thought I'd have nightmares for weeks. I still might – but thanks to that speck of information at the end, at least I'll be able to fight them better.

So, if you like dark stories set in the distant future, if you prefer your men slightly mysterious, wounded, and fighting for their lives, and if you're looking for a read that will have you reeling with emotion, then you will probably like this free short story.
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