I can only be humbled by the following words:

“Reading a book such as this is generally a once in a life time experience. But what if you then go and read it three times in a course of a few weeks? To me, it was implausible to find such a book that would stay so strongly with me after the first reading and then not lose its intensity with the second one. Yet, rereading this one proved to be an enjoyable pastime.

Our story begins with a male protagonist Tomor, unique specimen of manhood and a seasoned, devil-may-care crime lord of Hellhole, unredeemable inner-city area on the north side of the town, who after an unplanned brush with the law in south inadvertently sets himself on the path of Luz, a young naive woman with lots of pluck.

Grievously maltreated and rejected as a child by the very people who were supposed to give him their understanding love and support, Tomor grows into an emotionally stunted man of twisted morals. Having to fight for all he’s got in his youth and learning to enjoy no other options, he became belligerent and fierce, and feeling himself scorned by his surroundings later takes a purposefully aloof demeanor and makes an conscious effort to be authoritative and condescending to those around him,  shunning all emotional contact. After many years, Tomor’s world then starts to open after the encounter with Luz, a young woman in whom he seems to recognize a kindred spirit.

During the course of the book you can see this man with a troubled mind growing as a individual after being secluded all his life in a narrow worldview of malice, bitterness and grit. Tomor at first becomes intrigued with Luz and as crude and obnoxious as he was she returns a favor and sets on finding him out, drawn in by his vigour and passion for life. Their mutual and at that point in time still somewhat inexplicable attraction grow only stronger and fervorous after each subsequent meeting.

To say that at the end of it all I was utterly bewitched by Tomor would be an understatement. His is one of the best characterizations in the book and saying that he’s pairing with Luz is unfair is somewhat justified. More often than not I’ve felt that Luz, as a female protagonist and Tomor’s counterpart does not possess the same depth of character as him and that her sole purpose in the book is to act like a foil to Tomor, facilitating a motive for his character development. It would be far for me to say that she is a flat character, but the one who benefits the most from their union is Tomor, while Luz for great part remains the same individual well into the second half of the story and matures as a character at the very end.

Sadly, this being not your typical love story, Tomor and Luz are never left at peace to fully cultivate their relationship and are time and time again alienated by the very differences of their prospective environments and upbringing. As a contrast to their budding romance and assorted cast of meaningful side characters, this story offers you their broken souls and shattered dreams, disturbing images of bloodshed and carnage, brutal torture and abuse, and sets in motion events bound to tear Tomor and Luz apart for good.

Those of fainter heart may undoubtedly cringe at some parts in this book, but my advice is to not drop it just yet and continue reading till the end. The open ending leaving our protagonists with only bleak, unknown fates may disappoint some, but that in itself leaves space for a sequel and I at least am happy with that possibility. With all this said so far, I only have to add that it was truly a roller-coaster ride!”