This book is so deep and pays great attention to human psychology. C.L. Stewart has taken a really tough topic and fictionalised it in a moving and thought-provoking way while also remaining deeply respectful of abuse victims.
Nikki is a South African IT program developer, but she’s stuck in a toxic, abusive relationship with Mike. The Intimidation Game opens with her taking her life back into her hands and doing the bravest thing she’s ever done, leaving Mike. She travels to the United Kingdom where she’s found a new job and she hopes the distance will be enough to truly get away, but breaking away from Mike’s mental shackles is going to be the true test of Nikki’s strength.
There’s self-doubt and those feelings of not being worthy, the terror of getting into a similar situation, the fear of being hurt or used again, the need for personal space and the constant rationalising that pushes a possible better future away out of fear, and Stewart brings it all together seemlessly. Another really important point illustrated in this book is how we have a tendency to gravitate towards the devil we know rather than facing the great unknown because for some reason, our psychological processes allow us to feel that, although a situation might be bad (say like an abusive relationship), we are more comfortable on this side of the fence and we hesitate to cross over, even if it means we’ll actually be safer. This is why I find the ending of this book so poignant, because it explores the true nature of our inherent psychological weaknesses and every cell in my body screamed at Nikki not to go through with it even as my rational brain chimed in that ”this is how people are”, and I know that if I had been in Nikki’s shoes, I could quite easily have made the same choice she did.
Thankfully, The Intimidation Game has a happy ending which makes up for all the heart-wrenching twists and turns and allows you to breathe easy again. It was undoubtedly a really satisfying ending.
All of this comes wrapped in the trimmings of a lovely romance with Dan, Nikki’s unconventional boss at her new workplace. It is a wonderful story, great for any lover of romance. However, I truly hope it can reach women who find themselves in similar situations to Nikki in the hope it might inspire them to put themselves first and escape from those who intimidate and belittle them instead of loving and respecting them as they deserve. And, of course, it gives those of us who have never experienced such things, an insight in what such relationships do to our sisters and what we could do to help those who have survived such horrors.
I would like to thank the author for bringing such an important topic, which is often overlooked, into popular literature and, especially, into the romance genre. By doing so, she offers something unique and meaningful to the genre.
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