Review: Dirty Red

Title: Dirty Red (Love Me With Lies #2)
Author: Tarryn Fisher
Publication Date: December 21, 2012
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Dear Opportunist,

You thought you could take him from me, but you lost. Now, that he's mine I'll do anything to keep him. Do you doubt me? I have everything that was supposed to be yours. In case you were wondering; he doesn't ever think about you anymore. I won't let him go....ever.

Dirty Red

Leah Smith finally has everything she has ever wanted. Except she doesn't. Her marriage feels more like a loan than a lifelong commitment, and the image she has worked so hard to build is fraying before her eyes. With a new role and a past full of secrets, Leah must decide how far she is willing to go to keep what she has stolen.

My Thoughts

I was excited to read the second book, but when I learned that it was about Leah, I didn’t know what to expect. I sure don’t want to read some book that revolves around a character I hate so much. I think that Dirty Red is unique, in the way that the main character is the antagonist. I don’t know if there are other books wherein the main character is the antagonist, but this is sure-heck my first time reading one.

I am astounded at how Tarryn Fisher has made me delve deeper into Leah’s story, no matter how much I hated her. I couldn’t stop turning the pages; I was intrigued with Leah’s story. As her past gets slowly revealed, it made me understand her more, on why she has become that kind of a person she is at present. It’s not an excuse for the person she has become, but somehow, this has made me feel a bit more sympathetic towards her (but I still hate her anyway.)

No matter what, I HATE LEAH. I want to kill heeeer! She’s such a bitch. She might be the bitchiest, most controlling and most manipulative person I’ve ever known. She’s a social climber, and everything. In short, she’s epitome of everything I’d hate in a person. She remained evil, which was great, not great because she was evil, but because it was realistic that way. I think I would have hated it more if she became a good person. People like her don’t change that easily.

Reading what Olivia is like from Leah’s perspective made me appreciate Olivia’s character even more (is that possible?) It made me see a lot of characteristics and personality that I wasn’t able to see in The Opportunist. I also loved Sam; I think he’s the only character that I liked in the book, but that’s alright though. I love all Sam-Leah conversations (hihi)

In the end, there were two thoughts that left a great impact to me:

You reap what you sow.
Karma is a bitch.

But I don’t think Leah realised that, which sucks. Realization is one thing, and becoming a person is one thing. I may not hope that Leah will change, but at the very least, I think at some point, I hoped that Leah would have realised her wrong ways.

I’m so excited for Thief, the third book, already because it’s in Caleb’s point of view! AAAHHH. I could already feel myself falling in love with it. This might just be the series wherein I’ll rate all books 5 perfect stars! It’s just that awesome. Please go grab a copy of The Opportunist already if you haven’t read it yet! ;)