But I so want to walk that razor's edge, Take feeling to a whole new level.

Grown up? Me? I suppose I have. Killing things, and almost killing myself, must have changed me some, after all.

BEAUTIFUL is stark, disquieting and, quite simply, riveting. Amy Reed is an author to keep on your radar.

My body Healed quickly. But the wound to my psyche was deep. Wide. First aid, too little, too late, left me hemorrhaging inside, the blood unstaunched by psychological bandage or love's healing magic. Eventually it scabbed over, a thick, ugly welt of memory. I work to conceal it, but no matter how hard I try, once in a while something makes me pick at it until the scarring bleeds. In my arms, Ashante cries, innocence ripped apart by circumstance. Bloodied by inhuman will. Time will prove a tourniquet. But she will always be at risk of infection. (124)

Sometimes I'm not so sure just who I am either.

You can turn your back but you can never really walk away.

Funny thing about the monster. The worse he treats you, the more you love him.