Inhaled by Isabelle Duval


This fictionalized memoir is read as a dark tale of desperation. A tale of what happens when we ignore our own voices and allow others to lead us blindly ignoring the warning signs right in front of us. The lead character, Isabelle,  was not the strongest heroine, but this worked in the authors favor to show the reader how flawed and raw life can be in similar circumstances. She, as many of us do, waffled between action and inaction constantly.  The desperation for intimacy led her down an unsafe path with a truly dangerous man. The author uses very descriptive, often times extremely wordy, passages to pull the reader into the moment. For me,  this was the reason I could not connect with any of the characters or specifically the plight of our heroine. I was distracted by unnecessary details and confusing transitions.  The action got lost in a flourish of adjectives.  In between the flow of beautiful words a vital piece of information would be offered to us as if we were already aware i.e. Catherine's mental illness, the heroines medical issues and multiple moves and I often felt I missed something.  I wished there could have been more action, more focus on the motivations of the characters, the action in the scene and less introspection offered by Isabelle. All in all, I think the story with its honest and raw delivery will serve as a cautionary tale and would recommend it.


Reviewed by KayBee

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