Bent Heavens by Daniel Kraus _ Book Review

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Liv Fleming’s father went missing more than two years ago, not long after he claimed to have been abducted by aliens. Liv has long accepted that he’s dead, though that doesn’t mean she has given up their traditions. Every Sunday, she and her lifelong friend Doug Monk trudge through the woods to check the traps Lee left behind, traps he set to catch the aliens he so desperately believed were after him.

But Liv is done with childhood fantasies. Done pretending she believes her father’s absurd theories. Done going through the motions for Doug’s sake. However, on the very day she chooses to destroy the traps, she discovers in one of them a creature so inhuman it can only be one thing. In that moment, she’s faced with a painful realization: her dad was telling the truth. And no one believed him.

Now, she and Doug have a choice to make. They can turn the alien over to the authorities…or they can take matters into their own hands

[I received a physical copy for an honest review]

Bent Heavens is the story of a girl named Liv Flemings whose father disappeared believing he had been abducted by aliens. Even though she was ashamed of her father she continued to go out with her childhood friend Doug to check the traps he had set to catch said aliens. When she is finally ready to move on with her life and escape her past she actually finds an alien in the one of the traps. She and Doug capture it and their goal is to find out whether her dad may actually be alive.

“You only know how hard things are when they actually happen to you. Everything’s complicated. No matter what you do, it’s always going to hurt someone.”

Liv was such a complex character. She was strong , at times she was weak, and she had a nurturing side she couldn’t suppress. She was being pulled in all these different directions, trying to keep everyone happy and losing herself in the process. Her struggles were realistic I mean when you take into consideration she’s dealing with a missing father, an alien locked in her shed and a childhood friend whose is becoming increasingly mentally unstable.

“Maybe, once you crossed certain thresholds, there were no options left.”

At around 75% I was thinking this was a solid 4 star read but Holy sh*t that ending was fantastic so 5 stars for the win. Bent Heavens had twists and turns and the conclusion was frantic and crushing (even managed to make me tear up a bit).Daniel Kraus is an amazing story telling ability, I simply loved his writing and I want to read more by him. I am so glad I was sent this book because I am not sure I would have read it otherwise and the thought is disheartening.

“When wounds of sadness, loneliness, and anger healed poorly, any atrocity was possible.”