I started this one but couldn’t finish it. The title was what caught my interest but the book couldn’t keep my interest.

I received this book from NetGalley years ago and figured better late than never in reading it. Well I wish I had a time machine to erase this very book from my brain and existence. I made it 22% and I am throwing it out and grabbing some tequila. It was just bad and so hard to read. I am a sucker for a damsel in distress and I thought the book opened well and sucked me in. But there's a point where a character is just so profoundly stupid and makes all the wrong choices that you just can't in good conscious continue. That's this book. It's beyond bad and disgusting and I would certainly not recommend it. As the victim of abuse the heroine knows and sees all the bad things going on around her. Hell she senses them and just completely ignores every sign and lets herself be used and abused. One does not escape hell to run into the arms of the devil. This heroine is one of the worst I've ever had the displeasure of reading. It's hard to believe she's the valedictorian and is this gods damned dumb. After being convinced to go on birth control and have sex with her bf (at his fathers bequest mind you) that was enough for me. And trust me there were so many cringy and disgusting moments that happened before this but this was the last straw for me. RIP book and anyone who manages it farther than I did.

Sadly this book was archived before I could download to read it. It has been added to my TBR and I’ll keep an eye out for it again in the future or at my local library.

DNF'd this book and at this time I do not plan to ever continue or finish the book as I requested and began the book in four years ago.

This book tugs at your heart. A book that sticks with you. Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgally for allowing me to read and review. 3.5 out of 5 stars

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

This book is fantastic. It is so emotional and terrifying to know that some people actually grow up like this. I spent the first half up the book angry, sad, pissed, and feeling so many other emotions. Then the book took a turn and I could have been happier. This book is emotionally draining and you will want to have some tissues around if you are a crier and maybe even if you aren’t a crier. I felt for the main character Lily. So goes through so much during the book. I couldn’t imagine how Margaret must have felt while writing this book. I was emotionally spent at the end of the book even though it ended on a good note. The main characters Lily has been told basically her whole life that she is ugly, stupid, good for nothing, and other similar things. It has been like this for as long as she can remember and only got worse once her mother died. Lily learned how to blend in and not be noticed by anyone. She went to school every day and got good grades. Then one day she meets a boy named Trent. He seems nice at first and is giving her the attention that she can’t ever remember getting before. But Trent isn’t the nice guy he seems to be. Lily learns to late and because of how she has always been treated begins to think her father was right all along. Well Lily finally realize she is smart, beautiful, and deserves the world or will she continue to believe these horrible people in her life? I could go on and on about this book but I would probably give too much away. I was so mad at Margaret for the first half of this book. How could she write such a beautiful character like Lily but put her through so much HELL? I wanted to jump into the book and beat up Trent so many times for so many different reasons. Lily’s best friend Shayne is crazy and great. Really all the characters where great and had so much personality even if it was one I didn’t like. I was happy that in the end Lily did what she did and found her self-worth. Again I can’t even put into words how much this book moved me and how much it made me feel. Fantastic job Margaret. I have read some of the books Margaret has written and look forward to reading more in the future.
***Reviewing for Steamy book momma book blog***

Goodreads Synopsis:
New York Times Bestselling YA Book

If I were dead, I wouldn't be able to see.
If I were dead, I wouldn't be able to feel.
If I were dead, he'd never raise his hand to me again.
If I were dead, his words wouldn't cut as deep as they do.
If I were dead, I'd be beautiful and I wouldn't be so...ugly.
I'm not dead...but I wish I was.

*This is a dark YA/NA standalone, full-length novel. Contains violence and some explicit language.

My Review:
I received a copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

This was a hard book to read, but in a good way. It was so good and so unlike anything I've read lately, but it was all about abuse and that's hard to read. Lilly starts the book as a seventeen year old girl who lives with her dad. She makes up, goes to school, doesn't get to eat hardly ever, and hen she comes home her dad more often than not is already drunk and beats her. She's been convinced it's all her fault. This is her life.

Finally she thinks she's caught a break. After eleven horrible years with her dad, she meets a boy named Trent who seems like he really cares about her and wants what's best for her. One night after being beaten black and blue by her dad, she calls him and escapes to his house away from the danger. Little does she know Trent and his family are not what they seem. She's just dragged from one abuse to another and never seems to get a moment to breathe.

This book deals with a lot of hard issues and I really feel bad for Lilly, for the stuff she's put through. She's grown up with this for all her life and it continues to happen. By the end of the book she's twenty seven. I wish I could help her. She really grows and develops as a character as she's pulled away from all the bad things and replaces them with good things. She shines. I absolutely loved this book and although I see it getting a lot of low rates and reviews for the trigger warnings, I think they make the book better. I did cry reading this a couple times. It's a real issue and these things actually happen to people. It's definitely one of my new favourites, despite the low points in the book. Definitely check it out if you get the chance! Push through the parts that scare you because the end is worth it.

I've included a link to buy the book from amazon, and a link to the authors twitter in case you have any questions.

https://www.amazon.ca/Ugly-Margaret-McHeyzer-ebook/dp/B016Y7ZU1G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503944573&sr=8-1&keywords=ugly+margaret+mcheyzer

https://twitter.com/MargaretMAuthor

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com

WOW! Ugly is a very intense read. It is not for the faint of heart. There is a lot of mental and psychical abuse and the author does not hold anything back. This book represents so many young peoples lives and it is a great thing for authors to write about so we, who had a good upbringing, can better understand what others go through and how we can make a difference in their lives by one tiny gesture. Kudos to Ms. McHeyzer for writing about such a tough subject. I am a fan for life!

Heartbreaking and raw. Turning the pages made me cry and I loved it

I received a copy of this ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lily Anderson has been hurt since she was young. She lives with her Dad, having lost her Mum a few years previous. Her Dad gets abusive, made worse by his constant drinking. When she meets Trent, she realises that there is someone out there who cares about her, and who wants to make her happy. Is Trent really too good to be true?

I am reluctant to say I liked this book due to the nature and content, but I did think it was a good book. I really felt for Lily, and I understand from her past why she did not tell anybody what was happening. I am really glad that Shayne was in her life, and that after everything that happened, Shayne was always there for her.

There were a few grammatical errors and missed words occasionally, and I sometimes had to re-read the same sentence to make sure I understood exactly what it said, but the story itself was good.

I rate this book 4/5 stars!

If there was ever a book I was uncomfortable reading this would be it. Multiple times I thought I should stop reading but it kept pulling me in. It's different, difficult, painful, heartbreaking and then there's finally love and compassion. Domestic violence is everywhere hidden among family and friends. To write this must have been incredibly trying on her spirit. I'm proud to say I've read the whole thing and I'm better for it. I received an advanced copy a long time ago and just now had the guts to read it.