Review: He Counts Their Tears

Author: Mary Ann D'Alto

Started reading: April 4th

Finished the book: April 9th

Pages: 196

Genres: Psychological thriller

Published: September 17th 2015

Source: Got a digital copy from the author

Goodreads score: 4.12

My score:

Synopsis

A handsome, successful, charming man. Healer. Miracle maker. Aaron Stein is all those things. Behind the benevolent façade, however, hides a monster: a destroyer of souls who lusts after power and control. Aaron plays his ruse again and again with unsuspecting women who genuinely believe that they have met their new "best friend", their "soul mate". Covert hypnosis, edgy trysts, psychological warfare - they're all part of the sick game he plays "to have all the power".

My thoughts

This is a unique book in it's kind. I've never read a book from the view of a very evil person like Aaron. I actually read this book very quick. I really thought I was going to give the book 3 apples, but the feelings the book gave me, in combination with its uniqueness made me give it 4 apples!

Pros

• Unique: Like I just sad, I've never read a book like this. I read detective thrillers very often and this was something totally different. This book doesn't really have a huge climax, or a mystery to figure out. It's just the events that happened in Aaron's life and the choices he made to feel powerful that are the strong part.
• Feelings: I like a book that gives me feelings, that touches my emotions. There were no good emotions in this book, but I don't think that always has to be the case.. It made me feel angry, aggressive, disgusted, desperate, confused and so much more! I truly believe that the emotions add to the book, it's what makes it strong. I wanted to rip these women out of Aaron's clutches and take them on a nice sunny vacation.
• Aaron: Aaron is the number 1 strong point in this book. He is a man that I have never met and hope to never meet. I feel that his childhood, Constance and his parents partly made him who he is. I actually hate Aaron. I was so much cheering for the women in this book to figure him out and to hurt him back. I really hope Aaron is going to get a hard time in the next book, that would make me so happy!

Cons

• Naive women: It's hard for me to understand the women and the way they act in this book. It's something that is totally not in my own personality, so I cannot imagine a woman being the way the women act in this book. I had a hard time replacing myself in their position and sometimes I felt like the choices they made were too easy, too soon.. The fact that Aaron has "used" so many women who all respond "similarly" to him and react in the same broken way, was also something that confused me.
• Repetitions: Some things that are already pointed out in the book are told again some pages later. I'm a person that remembers small things and it was something that annoyed me, the fact that some phrases are literally used a couple of pages later. At some point I even wanted to score the book lower because of it, but the repetitions were less the case in the second part of the book.

Overall

This book is so unique, I really feel like I've met a very evil person, now that I've finished the book. I've never read something like this before and I think writers should be appreciated for the fact that they write something unique.

I really look forward to the second book, actually. Get ready to feel like this:

Memorable quotes from this book

"But no one said a word, because people hardly ever mention the very things that occur right in front of them."

What is your favorite evil person from a book?