REVIEW: Pretty Black by JR Gray (Pretty Broken #5)

- May 26, 2023

PRETTY BLACK

Pretty Broken - Book Five

by JR Gray

Release Date: May 25, 2023

Review

"We were bound up in a death pact. He couldn't survive the pain of this world, and I wouldn't survive without him."

There are so many gem moments in this final book. Truths are finally shared, understanding and compassion are found, and paths are set on a different trajectory. This whole series has been a rollercoaster of emotion, and Pretty Black is no different, but it also stitches you back together and leaves you feeling a little bit better and more hopeful.

JR is part gorgeous storyteller and part therapist. So often I walk away from his books with the light bulb moments, and quotes that I want to plaster everywhere.

Iris and Cas are messy and real. Finally, these two who have loved and hurt each other for years start to find their footing. As they learn to share and actually listen they are able to be the partners they need to be.

“There is as much music in him as there is in you. He was made to write the soundtrack of your sorrow. Of your highs and lows. Of your love. Of your life. You belong together."

This whole series is lodged deeply in my heart, but especially Cas and Iris. Their story is one that will remain with me.

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Synopsis

Iris Black

There are moments in music when the crowd becomes part of the song and we all lose ourselves to the energy. I wanted to drown myself in the music. It became my escape and my savior.

I thought success was what I wanted, but it only intensified my misery. Fame is a monster, and it ate me alive. I tried it all to get out of my head: sex, drugs, and rock and roll. I’m living the dream, but it only numbs the pain.

Caspian came into my life like a storm, and I knew he’d leave the same way.

We were two vessels made to fit. Chemistry woven in creation.

There’s no escape, there’s no surrender.

His Pretty Black forever.

But he broke me and I don’t know how to forgive him.

Is it foolish to do it all again?

To find our way back to the place it all began.

I’ve mourned his leaving so many times, I don’t have it in me to do it again.

About JR Gray

When not staying up all night writing, J.R. Gray can be found at the gym where it's half assumed he is a permanent resident to fulfill his self-inflicted masochism. A dominant and a pilot, Gray finds it hard to be in the passenger seat of any car. He frequently interrupts real life, including normal sleep patterns and conversations, to jot down notes or plot bunnies. Commas are the bane of his existence even though it's been fully acknowledged they are necessary, they continue to baffle and bewilder. If Gray wasn't writing…well, that's not possible. The buildup of untold stories would haunt Gray into an early grave, insanity or both. The idea of haunting has always appealed to him. J.R. Gray is genderqueer and prefers he/him pronouns.

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