Book Review: A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing

I’ve known an unfortunately non-zero number of couples in toxic relationships, but reading Samantha Downing’s scintillating new novel is probably the closest I’ll ever get to figuring out why a couple who are clearly bad for each other decide to stay together. The worst (or perhaps best?) part of this book is how I was actually rooting for these crazy kids by the end of it all. I’m only glad that this is fiction so that I don’t feel worse about sympathizing with an unhealthily twisted love story.

Ivy and Wes met at a party in college. It wasn’t exactly a meet-cute, and they kept breaking up and getting back together over the course of the decade that followed. They’ve actually been apart for a significant amount of time when Ivy decides that she’s had enough and goes to the cops, complaining that Wes is stalking her.

Detective Karen Colglazier catches the case. While there isn’t much that she can do besides give Wes a stern talking to, she’s found that’s often enough to nip bad behavior in the bud. Unfortunately, she’s never gotten in the middle of a couple quite like Ivy and Wes before. 

After Karen stops by his office to warn him off of stalking Ivy, Wes immediately gets in touch with his ex. Ivy has been expecting this, and the two quickly rekindle their torrid love affair. Even from the restart, they do little to be agreeable to one another. Ivy is, in fact, secretly pleased Wes hasn’t changed from the contrarian, combative man she knows and loves:

Ever since she mentioned the beard thing, he has shaved every single day.

 

Good.

 

She would never tell him, but it would’ve been so disappointing if he had started growing a beard. Someone who does everything you say is too boring. Tedious. No backbone, no opinion–just following orders like a robot programmed to obey.

 

Not Wes. He never budged. Not once, not even when he was trying to make up for something else he had done.

 

She liked that. Until it annoyed her.

So far, so typically volatile. But Ivy has made a terrible mistake in drawing police attention to her relationship with Wes, as Karen refuses to stay out of their business, uncovering secrets the twosome would much prefer remain buried.

Karen is the kind of detective who stays in Sex Crimes because she genuinely cares about people who are or who have been the target of abuse. Even though she doesn’t need to, she stays in touch with the victims who come her way, providing them with what support she can. At the very least, she provides a sympathetic ear when they call her for help in dealing with their own terrible choices:

“I did it again,” he says. A tiny voice, like a child admitting he broke something. Darren is a thirty-six-year-old man who has obviously returned to Alaina, his girlfriend. For the third time. Staying out of an abusive relationship can be harder than getting out. […]

 

Alaina doesn’t hit Darren. She is possessive, manipulative, degrading, and controlling–which is a problem, because most emotional abuse isn’t illegal. Even when it crosses the line, it’s hard to prove in criminal court. The DA won’t even try those cases, because making a jury understand the difference between something said in anger and a real threat isn’t easy. Alaina knows that.

Convinced that Ivy is Wes’ victim just as much as Darren is Alaina’s, Karen becomes borderline obsessed with them. Unaware of Ivy’s active role in the toxic relationship, Karen decides the only way she can help is by digging into Wes’ life and background. In her mind, if she can find something incriminating on him, she can use that to strong arm him away from Ivy. When a hideous death rocks his workplace, it gives her further opportunities to investigate. What she discovers soon persuades her that Wes has committed a terrible crime. If she can convict him of it, maybe Ivy will finally be free.

Of course, Ivy has no intention of ever being free of her lover again. Our dreadful duo find themselves going to great lengths in order to ensure that they stay together, despite the odds against them. But will their own difficult and demanding natures be their undoing?

Compelling, funny and disturbingly realistic, A Twisted Love Story not only provides readers with an entertaining thriller but also delves deep into the seductive underbelly of a distressingly unhealthy relationship. The frustration of being unable to help people escape from such situations is palpable, making Karen just as integral to this story as the central couple is. Speaking of whom, while I wasn’t at all sympathetic to Wes and Ivy’s self-sabotage, Ms Downing’s prose certainly helped me understand why they made their terrible decisions – and by extension gave me better insight into the baffling choices of some of the people I know in real life.