My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content warning: Abuse, sexual violence, references to suicide
From the cover:
"When Enchanted Jones wakes with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night, no one - the police and Korey's fans included - has more questions than she does. All she really knows is that this isn't how things are supposed to be. Korey was Enchanted's ticket to stardom.
Before there was a dead body, Enchanted was an aspiring singer, struggling with her tight-knit family's recent move to the suburbs while trying to find her place as one of the few black girls in high school. But then legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots her at an audition, and suddenly her dream of being a professional singer takes flight.
Enchanted is dazzled by Korey's luxurious life, but soon her dream turns into a nightmare. Behind Korey's charm and star power lurks a dark side, one that wants to control her every move with rage and consequences. Except now he's dead and the police are at the door. Who killed Korey Fields? All signs point to Enchanted."
Enchanted Jones' story starts off in the eye of the storm, a hotel room splashed with beet juice - or is that blood? - and the unresponsive body of superstar Korey Fields lying in their bed. Then it backs up, taking you to where everything started and, if you're anything like me, filling you with dread knowing what's in store. Enchanted is single-minded, focused so intently on her goal of making it as a singer that she can't hear the warnings from her friends and family or see the red flags that are waving in front of her. All she knows is that recording an album could be life-changing for her family and that working with Korey provides her with an obvious path to success. Then, of course, there's the added bonus that he - a multi-platinum artist - seems to be falling in love with her. When the opportunity to tour with him (and date him in secret) comes up, how could her parents possibly expect her to pass that up?
But of course, we know from the first page that all that glitters is not gold, and it isn't long into their tour before Enchanted is confronted head-on with the darkness within Korey that until then she had only caught glimpses of. Trapped in his world, all she can do is cower and try her best to follow his rules while he cuts her off from her family, restricts her freedom, and brings her fully under his control. Before she can even fully grasp what is happening, the tour she had so looked forward to goes from a dream to a nightmare, and Enchanted is swept along, at the mercy of Korey's whims and rages. At first she blames herself for making mistakes, not being able to make him happy. Eventually she realizes that this isn't the life she wants...but would she really have murdered him to get away?
This book is gripping and intense, and it's difficult to read because I'm pretty sure we can all name more than a few people who have had experiences similar to Enchanted's. As hard as it is, though, it confronts so many important issues. Key among those issues, of course, is the importance of believing victims and not giving predators a pass. I want to stop reading stories like this and seeing real people in the struggles of the main character, but that's impossible while, like in Korey's case, there are no consequences for powerful people who prey on others. Thank you, Tiffany Jackson, for reminding us to stop giving abusers and predators a platform. I don't care how much we like their art, their music, their whatever...our enjoyment of the things they produce doesn't matter more than the well-being of their victims.
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