Overwhelmed By You

By Nashoda Rose

Overwhelmed By You is book 2 in the Tear Asunder series. I had previously read With You (prequel to book 1) and Torn From You (book 1) in January last year. I could remember bits and pieces from the first two books, like how tragic and shocking the events seemed to be, but that book 1 ultimately ends with a HEA so I thought I’d give book 2 a go.

At the end of book 1, we were given a quick glimpse of Kat and Ream and the hatred they felt for one another. It was enough to leave me curious as to how their story started and how it was going to end.

Overwhelmed By You left me felling a little, well, overwhelmed. I get that not every book can be about roses and rainbows, but not every book in a series has to be so dark and twisted either. I mean, how much trauma can one group of people go through? It seems that everyone has a devastating and tragic story, whether it be a past or current event.

Logan (from the previous books) is really not very likeable. There’s dominant and then there’s just plain rude and brutish. And it seems Ream is cut from the same cloth. He bulldozes all over Kat, and while she tries to fight back, she doesn’t really want to so of course he gets his way with everything. He demands everything from her but never really gives all of himself to her in return, until it’s too late and her trust is shattered.

Overall, I found some events in this book a bit unrealistic. I know it’s fiction, but I think when you’re writing something that has dark and disturbing elements, it really needs to be believable. Ream’s reaction to Kat’s secret was weird, but then if he didn’t have such a poor reaction to it there would never have been any conflict for the pair to resolve. They fought and said hateful things to each other for 2 years and then suddenly he decides she’s the one and starts to repair their broken relationship. When Kat’s in danger, instead of calling the cops or taking any backup, Ream proves his love to Kat by offering himself up as the sacrificial lamb in exchange for her safety. The danger to Kat comes in the form of someone from Ream’s deeply traumatic past who’s re-entered his life, yet he doesn’t recognise them. And their saviour??? While it was a shocking twist I so didn’t see coming, it was the straw that broke my camel’s back.

I respect Nashoda for having the guts to tackle very sensitive issues. And while I didn’t like it, her series has hundreds of 4 and 5 star ratings on Goodreads and Amazon. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be proceeding with any further books regarding these characters. There’s only so much drama I can take, and I think I’ve hit my limit.

My rating: