A Monster Like Me — Pamela Sparkman

“I love the peculiar silence of shadows. They exist, but leave no mark.” Zeph had been a child, thrust into a war that wasn't his. When he was older, he discovered he had landed on the wrong side of everything. He'd been fighting for sweet revenge, because of lies he'd believed -- and those lies proved to be his ruin. Falling into despair, Zeph decides living is too painful. So, he writes his final act with poison and chooses to end his story. But Fate has other plans for Zeph and when he finds himself in the hands of his enemies, he has to decide: Does he want to live? Or does he want to die? Or maybe that choice is no longer his to make. Ruled by shadows and armed with secrets he never intended to share, Zeph will be put through his toughest battle yet: the war within himself. “He isn't a lost cause. He's just -- lost.” That's what Arwyn believes. She sees the monster he has become, but what she also sees is someone worth fighting for. Armed with secrets of her own, she's determined to help Zeph fight his demons, because there was more on the line than Zeph's soul. So much more. Revenge may be sweet. But redemption is sweeter. The question is, can Zeph find the boy he used to be, or will he always believe that no one could ever love -- a monster like him. “You are everything good. And I am everything children are afraid of.” This is book 2 in the Heart of Darkness Duology and is recommended the reader begin with book 1, The Moon Shines Red.