Beautiful Ink by Nicole Reed
2 stars for Holder.
Brace yourself, this is a lengthy review/rant.
Beautiful Ink is told in alternating chapters of past and present, for the most part. Truth be told, I think anti-biker/MC would be a proper term to describe this book. If you have an undeniable love for bikers, I suggest you stay far, far, away from this book.
Vin did not work for me. There is so much we don’t know about him, and I did not buy his feelings for Helen. There wasn't a connection there, it’s like one day he gets inked by her, and the next week he’s having daily dreams about her. I could care less for Vin's parts in the book, not that there was a lot. The Holder + Helen parts were more captivating and, frustrating of course. I think I have come to the conclusion that I am apathetic about Vin, I could care less about him.
Holder.
I think everyone who read this book can agree that Holder truly loved Helen. He tried so hard to love her, communicate with her, and talk to her whenever she was upset. Even though his feelings were not returned, he still loved her to the end.
I disliked Helen, a lot. She’s trying to escape the MC life, it’s understandable, reading about her tragic childhood. What was not understandable, was how she treated Holder, after the incident. Helen blames her initiation (against her will) into the MC on Hold. She flips like a switch after this night.
Helen almost gets raped, but Holder saves her. Holder kills the Prospect that almost rapes Helen. Helen flips. She gets the MC logo force tattoo’d on her abdomen.
After the incident, Helen eternally paints Holder as a horrible murderer, a villain (despite the fact that he did save her from getting raped). Let’s keep in mind that Hold was Helen’s best friend throughout her life. He was her only comfort when she lost her family, he was her only friend because she was a loner in school, he was her best friend since she was a kid. So taking in the depth of their friendship, does it make sense that Helen so quickly villainies Holder after what happened?
Helen didn't bother to put herself in her 'best friend's' shoes. Yes he did do some things that scared her/marked her but did he really have a choice? His father is the president of the MC, it's do or die. In fact if Holder didn't come when he did, her life would still be irrevocably changed. Here’s the thing though she would have been raped THEN all of the other things would still take its course.
This might sound bad but if my best friend (who I've known all my life) saved me from being raped, then had to kill the guy, shit, I'd help him hide the body.
OK- moving on from that scene. I was really upset so I had to rant.
Anyway, Holder even lets Helen go because he knows its the right thing to do, the only thing he can do to make her happy.
“If you get away, it will be the only time I will let you. I won’t survive it again. I love you, Hels. It’s only you for me in this lifetime.”
We get soooooooo much more on Hold, it's hard not to fall in love with his genuine, heartbreaking, unrequited love for Helen.
Around the 75% I had a hunch about who Vin actually was... and I was right. Did I care? No.
I think by the time Hold and Helen met again in the present, Hold had gone a little crazy, perhaps that love had half turned into an obsession. All those years he loved her and she was not there, you can really see the pain he goes through during the beating scene, it was wrong, but I still felt for him.
What kind of confused me was, somewhere towards the end, Helen says
"He has broken me. My body. My mind. "
two pages later:
"I know I can endure whatever they are going to throw at me. Surprisingly, even to me, they haven’t broken me yet."
Did she have a change of mind?
Helen literally, has this man at her feet. He loves her so much and so much time was spent on Hold conveying his love for Helen. I get it, I get it. Vin supporters are probably saying if Keller was really #1 in Holder's life than he would have been able to give up his life, everything he's ever known (the club, his family) up for her. I'm just saying so much of this book was built around Holder's love for Helen, from the beginning to the end that I couldn't help but feel bad that the love of his life did not return his feelings no matter how much he tried.
I was so frustrated that by the end that I hoped they all would die, Helen, to end her miserable life, Hold, to end his miserable love, and Vin… well Vin… nothing to say.
"I never asked you to be my whore. I only ever wanted your love,” Hold whispers, his anger dissolving before my eyes."
“Tell me then, Hels, how do I let you go for good? When I look at you, I see my future. I swore that if I got you back, I would never let you out of my hands,”
he says, moving to stand in front of me, placing his mouth inches from mine. “How do I say goodbye when I love you so damn much?”
*cries for Holder*
AND EVEN WHEN HELEN LEFT, RUNNING OFF TO HER HAPPILY EVER AFTER WITH VIN-
“Not for you. For Hold. He told me that if anything went south, it was my duty to protect you, no matter what."
Conclusion. Did I like this?
1
1
