Review of Lara's Journal

[MysticSpade]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Lara's Journal" by A. Gavazzoni.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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Lara’s Journal by A. Gavazzoni is the second installment in her Hidden Motives series. So yes, you will be lost if you don’t read them in order. After being kidnapped by a serial killer, sex psychiatrist Simone Bennet takes a well-needed vacation to Miami. While there, one of her patients makes a request for her to read through the journals of his girlfriend who died while playing a sex game. The novel consistently goes back and forth between Simone and Lara’s stories.

The majority of Simone’s story was her jumping between patients, sitting down to read the journals and all the monotonous tasks in between. I feel like this book could be half as long as it is and still hit all of the major plot points. Unfortunately, I believe this story had full potential when it was just an idea, but the execution was all wrong. If I had the option to not give a star, I would. But since we can't, I have to give Lara’s Journal 1 out of 4 stars.

I honestly don’t know how the book made it to a publisher. The summary, reviews, and opening prologue never indicated that half of this six hundred-page novel was the explicit sexual abuse of A MINOR. There are numerous instances of rape, pedophilia, and sexual exploitation. It felt like I was reading child pornography. Some of the scenes might not have been so bad but knowing Lara was underage made me immediately sick to my stomach.

As if fifty percent of the erotic scenes involving an innocent child wasn’t bad enough, the author showed a severe lack of creativity when it came to describing the female genitalia. The only word she could think of to use was extremely vulgar, tasteless, and starts with a “P”. Which again, made reading the exploitation of a minor that much more difficult. You would think as a female author she could come up with a few different ways to describe the most intimate parts of a woman.

I know we’re supposed to recommend who would like this book, but the only recommendation I can give is to stay far, far away. Especially if someone has experienced any sort of abuse, physical, sexual, or emotional, this could be quite triggering. The story’s genre is erotic fiction and mystery, but again, I cannot justify telling another person to read this. Please don’t read this book. Save yourself from the harrowing details. If after all that you still want to crack open this depraved monstrosity, I seriously have to question your morals.

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Lara's Journal
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[Ruchi Raina]

Oh no! I can tell that you didn't like this book at all. Pedophilia is a big no-no for me. And from your recommendation, I think this book is not for me. Still, thanks for the great review.

[MysticSpade]

Oh no! I can tell that you didn't like this book at all. Pedophilia is a big no-no for me. And from your recommendation, I think this book is not for me. Still, thanks for the great review.

I'm still shaking my head at this one. I felt so sick reading it. Stay far, far away my friend. There are better ones out there that won't waste your time.