I honestly didn't want to leave them when I turned the last page. Luckily, this book delivered on characters, alright. If the connection between myself and the characters (whether it be side characters or the main character) is not there then I know I'll hate the book. As you probably know by now, I'm a very character focused reader.

As Dylan and Ava get closer, the more Ava starts wanting to discover a world away from her 'home.' The only question is, will she take the chance to fiercely live or remain in the shadows forever? Little does she know that in fact, the Alex she is communicating with isn't the real Alec, it's his brother Dylan who has set up a whole 'Make a Friend' website, posing as his brother, to earn money for his struggling family.

Via her 'Mirror' she begins communicating with Alec Albright, a star soccer player at school. Craving friendship, she discovers a website dedicated to making friends and decides to take a wild chance. It follows Ava Pierce, an heiress to a giant technology company that finds herself in an asylum after being abandoned by her parents. The Beast of Bellevue was a suckerpunch of a novel that is sure to make people experience all the feels. All I wanted to do was reach out across the pages and hug each and every one of them, especially Alec. You honestly cannot make me feel so many emotions all at once in the spam of just 200 or so pages yet somehow, this book managed to do it! And so well too! I felt everything from happiness, sadness, anger to even empathy towards the characters. ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Beast of Bellevue by Grace Chen