This book was....intense. Watching Grace fall down the rabbit hole that was Gavin was frustrating, hard, cringe-worthy, and at times overwhelming. I actually started reading it because the premise reminded me of Dreamland by Sarah Dessen, which I read a very long time ago. When I first picked up this book I thought that it was going to be about physical abuse in a relationship and I'm glad I was wrong. Not because the physical abuse would have been more uncomfortable, but because when people talk about domestic violence and abuse in a relationship, you rarely hear them discuss emotional and verbal abuse/manipulation which can be just as damaging, if not more so.

This book is essentially Grace's letter or ode to Gavin and the way she tells the story is nerve wrecking and enthralling all at the same time. I will say that I found myself getting so frustrated with Gavin's parents. Towards the end, when it was clear that they blamed Grace for what he tried to do to himself, all I could think was "This is the second time your son has done this to himself over a girl! Maybe the girls are not the problem?!" The amount of pressure his mother seemed to put on her was extremely irritating, especially after she read Grace's letter, which clearly detailed an abusive and unhealthy situation. In fact both her mother and his mother making her feel bad about the letter was just unbelievable to me, because of all the things her mother decides to wake up and notice THAT'S what she's upset about? Okay...sure.

Anyway all in all I really enjoyed Bad Romance. Definitely a great read.