The subject of abusive relationships and the toll it takes on a victim emotionally, physically, and psychologically is told in a way that is heartbreaking yet beautiful in But I Love Him by Amanda Grace. But I Love Him by Amanda Grace Flux May 2011 In the story—which is told backwards with brief interruptions from the “present”—the reader sees how broken Ann (our main character and narrator) is in her relationship with Connor and how she got that way. Grace tells the tale in an informal and familiar way, as if we are reading Ann’s personal diary. Ann frequently convinces herself that she needs to be with Connor because he needs her. She sees herself as the glue holding him together and as his way to a better life than what his father gave him. I liked But I Love Him because the author wrote it in a way that is real and not something so far out of reality that you cannot put yourself in the narrator's shoes or makes you hate the author for writing said narrator (meaning Ann isn't a Mary Sue or a Bella Swan). I also liked the Q&A she did at the end of the book to explain why Ann didn't leave Connor at the first mean word or the first sign of his possessiveness (that should be read first because it helps the reader to keep an open mind). I can't exactly think of things I didn't like without saying the whole book because of the depressing and heart breaking subject matter and how reading it brings on emotions that no one likes to feel on a regular basis. It was like a soap opera; we don't know why we watch them, but once we start, we can't stop. Stars: 5/5 Age rating: +14 Tissues needed: 1