Review: Pained - Vera Hollins


Pained (Bullied, #2)

Review: Pained - Book #2 Bullied Series - Vera Holins - March 2020


At the end of Book #1, we saw Sarah making a hard choice to leave Hayden Black and started dating Matteo.  Book #2 starts with a past scene of Sarah and her mother Patricia being beaten up by her mother's boyfriend Brad at the time. The book then jumps to three years later which is the present time. Sarah is trying to move on with her life and wishing that her feelings will develop for Matteo but she can't help loving Hayden despite his bullying and treating her terribly. We remember from Book #1 that Hayden has BPD aka Borderline Personality Disorder and Pained focuses more on the emotional level of both Sarah and Hayden. Just as Sarah is getting used to Hayden ignoring her, the bullying starts back up and couldn't have come at the worst time as Brad who turns out to be Coach Benner's brother has turned up in Enfield and wants Sarah's mother back and will do anything to finish what he started before they got him to put away. Pained had an intense bullying scene near the end with Christine. It also focuses on the bullying of two other characters - Blake who is Hayden's friend is bullying a girl named Jessica. I am hoping that Vera will write a book between these two characters as I would like to know more of their backstory as you can tell there is more than meets the eye. Near the end we read as Hayden and Sarah reconnect together as Hayden is going through a "happy personality side" but unfortunately this doesn't end well and the cliffhanger leaves readers hoping this isn't a repeat of the start of Book #1.  I am now looking forward to reading Book #3 as this cliffhanger was one that you sucked in your breath as you read. Pained does focus on lots of different triggers e.g abuse- sexual, physical and emotional. It is quite an intense and angsty read, so be prepared before you read.





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