[Review] Beyond Shame by Kit Rocha

Beyond Shame
Beyond #1
Kit Rocha
September 16th,2012
Moira Rogers
351 pages

Amazon/Book Depository/B&N

All Noelle Cunningham has ever wanted is a life beyond–beyond the walls of Eden, where only the righteous are allowed to remain, and beyond her stiflingly restrictive existence as a councilman’s daughter. But only ruins lie outside the City, remnants of a society destroyed by solar storms decades earlier.

The sectors surrounding Eden house the corrupt, the criminal–men like Jasper McCray, bootlegger and cage fighter. Jas clawed his way up from nothing to stand at the right hand of Sector Four’s ruthless leader, and he’ll defend the O’Kane gang with his life. But no fight ever prepared him for the exiled City girl who falls at his feet.

Her innocence is undeniable, but so is their intense sexual attraction, and soon they’re crossing every boundary Noelle barely knew she had. But if she wants to belong to Jas, first she’ll have to open herself to the gang, to a dangerous world of sex, lust and violence. A world where passion is power, and freedom is found in submission.

  Middle of the road review for a middle of the road book.

The beginning started strong, moved through a standard buildup. I became as frustrated as the main character by the love interest's holding out. If a little teasing is hot, a lot is infuriating, and so this book continues in the same vein for most of it. In an attempt to distract the reader, there are usually multiple partners, doing multiple things. If you've ever read or participated in a text RP with more than one person, this book begins to read like that. Every action of every character is mapped out specifically whether they are doing something mundane, battling for their lives or getting down and dirty.

The book picked up near the end, but even the action was overrun with feelings from every direction. The set up for the next book seems like it will be more solid, less taxing to my mental resources.

The fact is, I didn't downright hate this book. There is a bit of lag in the middle where no one seems to be doing anything but having clinical, supposedly dirty (but overwhelmingly boring) sex. The world itself is engrossing, as is the premise. Everyone is inside their heads a bit too much, and overly analytical. If I revisit this series, I hope that it progresses into something more exciting. It has plenty of potential.