AUTHOR ANONYMOUS by E.K. BLAIR :: REVIEW

✨✨✨

Reviewed by Jenny and Gitte

“The life you live in as an author is nothing but lies. The men you create, the men you read, it’s all bullshit. I never understood your need for it when you have me.”

We need a minute to absorb what we’ve just read! This actually happened?  Minds blown! We’ve either just finished a brilliant and scintillating work of fiction with equally brilliant marketing tactics or we’ve been privy to one messed up and brilliantly written scandalous and intoxicating ‘love’ story and raw expose on ‘bookworld’ that left us gasping.

“Don’t stop,” he says. “I want to be inside you whilst you’re crying.”
“Why?”
“Because I want your deepest everything’s all at once.”

Addictive doesn’t begin to describe it! E.K. Blair perfectly captured the potency of the story and the characters in a raw, revealing, gripping, shocking  and scandalous guilty pleasure which left our emotions in disarray. One thing is for certain and that is “Author Anonymous” made one first rate decision when she chose the incredibly talented E.K. Blair and to tell her story. Who better than E.k. Blair with her unique and poetic writing style? Who can better to turn a cutting word into a whispered caress than this author? Her words leave us in awe so it’s no wonder “Tori” personally chose her to tell this effed up tale! We hated it. We loved it. We were consumed by it, we’re intrigued about the background and admire Victoria’s decision to put her story out there because it’s one hell of a story which doesn’t paint her in a good light.

 ‘I, along with most of the women who read my books, have conditioned my mind to what love should be but isn’t. This isn’t real life, and it’s not perfectly passionate and spontaneous and without flaws. I’m first to admit that there have been times that I wished Landon acted and behaved in a certain way that reflects the men and I read and write about. But when that’s the world I spend my days in, it’s easy to lose sight.’

Whilst the story may be someone else’s, the words are all EK. They are provocative, infuriating, seductive, captivating, maddening, fascinating, sinfully erotic …and we hung off every single one of them, unable to look away, pause or move until we finished this mess that was Tori’s life. One self-inflicted, train wreck we couldn’t put down, experiencing anger, frustration and heartbreak and there is no doubt in our minds that if it wasn’t E.K. Blair writing this story, we would not have experienced it the same way and our 5 stars go to E.K. Blair for her phenomenal recounting of this story.

“Life is messy, and you can’t compare reality to fiction because you’ll always wind up disappointed.”

How could we not become swept up in the scandalous nature of this story? It caught our attention and lured us in. Let’s face it, we’re nosy and the voyeuristic element of this story appealed to us, the setting enticed us. However, unless the telling captured our interest and held it, the hoopla surrounding it would be for nothing. We wanted to experience that knot in the pit of our stomachs and be caught up in the angst of it all, we wanted to feel it.  Yes, the juicy gossip intrigued us, but what mattered most was how E.K. Blair would execute this story, how she would invade our senses, and we can tell you….she delivered…we exploded with emotions! The nervous anticipation made us hesitate once or twice, the voyeuristic desire willed us on as E.K Blair’s words held us captive.

‘This guy embodies all that I try to convey on the pages of my books.’

Where to start? Emotions. We had many but mostly anger. We can’t walk in Tori’s shoes, we can’t presume to know what she was feeling and on some level maybe we understood her  need for the thrill and the excitement she craved, it happens . After all, she had been writing the fantasy for so long, was it inevitable the two could collide?  Are we placed to judge her? We believe we are because when you put your story out there for all to see, you are inviting judgement in. Tori connived, deceived and discarded those close to her.  She was self-absorbed, so blinkered by her own quest for ‘happiness’ she lost sight of what was important, what mattered. She self-destructed alright! How Victoria acted, the pain she caused others, was unforgivable.

‘He’s uninhibited and raw, debasing me with his words that should offend me but don’t. Instead, they intoxicate me.’

We’re all human, we make mistakes and poor choices but Tori tested our every resolve and we felt she didn’t deserve the love and commitment Landon, her husband so readily gave her, constantly toying with his heart. Her treatment of him broke us.

‘In a single breath, my whole world changed.’

Witnessing the repercussions of Tori’s actions, the destruction she left in her wake and the aftermath of her attention seeking decisions on those around her was crushing. Tori didn’t deserve the loyalty and love of her friend Brooke and she didn’t deserve the loyalty of her fans showing them contempt by releasing sub-par books without a backward glance. That the success of a book can be achieved not through the writing of a great story but by the manipulation and manufactured loyalty of the readers…..don’t get us started! We always suspected, but to ‘see’ the truth is disheartening and confirms why readers are skeptical about the lists and the validity of street teams. This also highlighted the hypocrisy of women versus men. If this is indeed a true story it certainly shone a naked and at times, unfavorable light on book world.

“Turn the tables, how would you feel if I went to a work convention and there were half-naked women in bikinis flaunting around? They have nothing to do with my job as a chef, just like those guys have nothing to do with your job as a writer.”

Our emotions were in overdrive and if the truth ever comes out and the real players revealed, we know where our hearts and loyalty will lie.We were raging and having many WTF! moments throughout this book. Was it? Was he? Is it? Did he? Did She? Did they? Can they? Every flick of the page elicited a strong emotion. This story needs to be experienced as it unfolds from start to conclusion and whilst this book won’t be for everyone one thing’s for sure, it will have readers talking long after turning the last page! On a completely different note, hands up those who Googled FetLife? Hmmm we may or may not have.