Obscura by Jaden Wilkes

**I voluntarily reviewed and Advance Reader Copy of this book from Hidden Gems in exchange for my honest review. **

Well unfortunately I was not familiar with this author before reading Obscura. Let me tell you how disappointed in myself I am!!. There are a few reasons I chose read this book besides the cover being absolutely beautiful! I am a sucker for psychological thrillers that grab you and don't let go, the header promised a twisted mind f*uck so that was my first draw. I then read the description and it went through a story of how a young woman was attacked and fought her way to reclaim her life by punishing those who had hurt them. Then something happens...but what?!?! I had to know and I'm so glad I did!!!

Right away we face the reality of Gloria's attack and go through it with her step by step, thought by thought. (Warning this may be difficult to read through if you are a survivor yourself recently). Gloria then moves home with her mom where she receives mental help with her therapist and a great group of girls called the "Surviving Butterflies". This group is good for Gloria but I fear Zoe may be harmful for her. Of course the one girl I don't want her to become friends with she looks up to and follows and is willing to do anything for... or is she. Zoe and Gloria develop this second group after hearing about a group of women who deliver punishments on men who have abused women... The Kingmakers.

Ready to reclaim the power from the men who had destroyed them, Zoe and Gloria lead these girls delivering unheard of punishments upon men. Now, I'm not one that believes in feminism so I struggled with their intentions. Then Gloria says exactly what I was thinking through all of this, "Removing men from our culture wouldn't fix it. You couldn't heal by smashing it apart over and over again." This is something I truly stand behind. There is a huge feminist movement going on but it doesn't have anything to do with raising women, it has to do with lowering men. This is something I cannot support so I was happy to see that things were brought back to where I stand.

With all the lies Gloria was trying to keep together to her mom, her therapist, Zoe, the Surviving Butterflies and Adam. I wasn't sure how she was really "healing" after her attack. Then the big moment comes. Gloria's attacker has been found and his punishment has been assigned. Is Gloria ready? Will she finally follow Zoe beyond no return? One the edge of my seat I walked alongside Gloria through this test and what it would lead to. I was horrified and when the twist came about I was slapped across the face!!! So many emotions flooded through me and I was tingling as I discovered who Zoe really was.

There were a couple things that I found that contradicted themselves. I'm hoping that at some point Wilkes can clear up for me or if I'm just confused and not following along with the twist.
1 The name of the trainer girls went from "Lorelei and Trinity" to "Lorelei and Tiffany"
2. In the beginning she made a comment about having failed all the classes but then she discussed that everything came as incomplete

I liked Gloria, it may have a lot to do with the situation she had found herself in, maybe I felt more sorry for her than anything. I was really confused at where Zoe was leading her. I thought this was going to become either a love fantasy with Zoe since she was thinking of her while having sex with Adam, or was going to put her in a position to have her take the fall. (I was way off).  Adam annoyed the crap out of me. I  can't stand a lot of talking during the act so I just wanted him to shut up. Gloria's mom concerned me. She was a little too focused on work I felt. Having just had my family in a similar situation, my step-daughter didn't want to be alone a lot so someone is always home for her. I get she has to pay the bills but working really late I don't think was expectable as a parent.

I highly recommend this book and I am looking forward to reading more by Jaden Wilkes.
5 out of 5