Strip / Becoming by Dani Brown

Originally released by Death's Head Press in February 2020 (probably one of the worst times to ever release a book due to the panic buying of pasta and toilet roll) as Becoming. The text is unchanged from the Death's Head Press release. However, the cover has been changed to match it's sister story "56 Seconds" and the title reverted to the original title. 

This is the story of how Marcy died.

“We are trapped in a cycle of abuse and violence between Marcy and Kord, her lover, with the other people in her life drifting in and out of the developing narrative as narcotic ghosts.” – Greg James

She thought he wouldn’t return. She hoped he wouldn’t return. Kord. Shapeshifting, demonic robot from Mars.

But he came back, like a fly after her honey. No one else existed except Marcy and Kord. Somewhere in such a short amount of time, she was meant to believe his lust became love.

He looked nothing like the pictures he sent. The WiFi couldn’t convey the smell. One date. Popcorn. A film. Nothing more. She didn’t sign up for him to touch her. She didn’t sign up for him to stay.

No meant I came all this way to meet you and you won’t even give me a kiss. No meant he was going to stay.

“This is basically what anxious thinking looks like if you could print it off. That constant whirlwind of thoughts spinning around in your head is basically the way this book is written. … The interesting thing is that as you move through the book reading in this chaotic way, your brain seems to piece everything together into order and you end up with a clear picture of what’s happened to this girl…” -Rebbie Reviews

And in case you can't tell by that back of book synopsis, the content and narrative style are both very intense. Dani makes no apologies but don't come crying to her if you can't handle it. Marcy is abused on every level imaginable. It is more realistic than your rape revenge stories and a hell of a lot more ethical than your rape fantasy stories. And yes, Dani has written at least one rape revenge story. You don't need to point out what she already knows. She isn't judging you but she did want to put out a more realistic rape story even if one book isn't going to take away the societal distortions surrounding domestic violence and violence against women and girls.