Nightmares, Book Ten of The Fragile Line by Sarah Dawson Powell

 Nightmares’, Book Ten of The Fragile Line Series by Sarah Dawson Powell- author . 💀⚘

👶 Jenny has big news for an unpredictable Ryan. How will he react, and will Jenny be content with her decision?

🍷💊 Having left the substance abuse behind for a number of months due to her need to get pregnant, Sadie and Dave are attempting to conceive around their busy schedules, but there is a deeper, more sinister problem about to manifest itself and bring their plans, plus those of their friends, crashing down around them when the past comes back to haunt Sadie in a most unexpected way.

Cory, concerned about Jenny’s behaviour is unaware that his wife is harbouring a very ill-timed indiscretion that is about to backfire, leaving both their futures hanging in the balance and relationships hanging by a thread.

💉Eric’s world is turned upside down when he unwittingly finds himself as the only one that Sadie trusts and is compelled into succumbing to her persuasive charms and adding to Sadie’s tumultuous existence.

♥️Trevor has finally found a way to distance himself from all the chaos and falls for someone he had previously dismissed. Is he completely committed to his new found situation?

Given where book nine left off, I was looking forward to book ten to witness the fallout of Jenny’s not so much change of heart, but divisive change of tactics as it turns out. However, the potentially explosive scene between Ryan and Jenny, that I had so eagerly been anticipating, was a little disappointingly not played out quite as I had expected. I was hoping for a written scene with dialogue, which would also have given the possibly confrontational conversation, the impact I was expecting. I was somewhat taken aback to discover that neither of these two elements occurred. As readers of this excellent series of books will testify, Ryan doesn’t tend to be reasonable when he doesn’t get his own way. However, the author more than made up for that lacklustre segment, in the rest of the novel. 📖 

All the events and revelations between characters, and what seemed to me, much more graphically described traumatic scenes between those involved, came across as powerful and therefore extremely unsettling at times, I think mainly because in the last few books, I personally got used to the lack of violence and aggression that had been shown in the first dozen or so books, specifically since Ryan and Sadie had split up. I also felt odd with the change in dynamics between Sadie and Eric, especially as she is (correctly surmised by Eric himself), nice to him when they are alone, but the complete opposite when they are around the others. I would say that this book, compared to other books in the series, was, in part, a more challenging read, as was certainly the case for me. Readers who have read the entire series up to book ten, will be completely invested in these individuals at this point and, although they may not always like them all the time, it is hard to see declines in their lives, or them blatantly still making wrong choices that you know will backfire at a later date, as is always inevitable. 🤦‍♀️

Jenny is clearly hedging her bets constantly when it comes to who she should be with, in so much as who will benefit her and the children and allow her to realise her future dreams. I thought she had a much more sensible head on her shoulders and was really confused with the first big revelation which she mistakenly thinks she can trust Sadie with, only for Sadie to tell the one person that Jenny really needed to keep it from, and then everybody else! I was for quite some minutes thinking through all the scenarios that could have lead to this massive error in judgement as it was totally the last thing that I was expecting, not that I really think there was any judgement involved. Jenny has surprised me in literally (and I thought this before anyone said it) turning into Sadie. She has proved herself as immature, as is demonstrated when she is jealous of Ryan calling Sadie ‘babe’ and certainly not responsible enough to be in charge of the amount of offspring that she keeps producing. Putting herself before her children was abhorrent, it isn’t something I ever thought I’d see Jenny do again, and not to the extent she went to this time. Whilst Corey is the lesser of two evils between him and Ryan, I do think that she would be better off on her own.  I was glad to see a change by the end of the book, I hope it stays that way. 🤰

Sadie’s mental state has clearly been vastly affected by all the things that have happened to her and the fact that no one seems capable of controlling the inept way in which she deals with them, further exacerbates an already chaotic situation. She is surrounded by people who are so messed up with their own problems, and don’t truly want the best for her, that they only serve to screw her up even more. Putting Eric in charge of her was most definitely an error of judgement on Dave’s part, although given what anyone who has read ‘Nightmares’ now knows about Dave, I’m not sure she’s safe with either of them. 💄👠🚿

I am pleased to see that Trevor is now getting the life he wants, ignoring other people’s opinions about his choices and building a more healthier future.♥️?

The actions of Ryan towards the end of the book, initially lead me to think that it wasn’t anything Sadie hadn’t previously experienced, and that it would be a repeat of what happened in earlier editions of The Fragile Line. Yet it seems that, the author has made the brave choice to steer this narrative in a direction that it has never been before, which is a refreshing and dramatic turn of events on which to base the end of this series. With only two or possibly three books to read, I think it needed a plot line to shake up the dynamics of the rest of the group, make them think about how they are laying the foundations for their futures and decipher their mixed feelings for each other. I hope that that has been achieved, but at the same time, that there is much more drama to come, something of which I have no doubt. 🗣

On a lighter note, there are a number of amazing one liners given to characters that made me chuckle, such as Ryan and Evy having a conversation where he seeks her advice about how many Tylenol to give Mason, and the quick witted Spanish beauty replies with ‘wrong baby mama’. Sadie telling John that she needs to have sex with Dave when they are trying to schedule her career, and Corey asking Jenny, ‘Did they bleach your brain when they bleached your hair’? Sarah balances comedic moments with tragedy and trauma so well. 🎭

I can’t wait to find out what unfolds in book eleven.