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coffaeandpages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Animal cruelty, Suicide, and Toxic friendship
peeshy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
aubrieanne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Toxic friendship
culzean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
emmadb766's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Graphic: Cursing, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
rizzykaye's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
luna_lovelace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The author of the book did an excellent job in portraying the character of Killian as a psychopath, which was evident from the start of the book. The author's writing skills deserve appreciation for selling it so well.
However, there was a plot twist involving Devlin that left me furious.
The book had many characters, which made it a bit confusing to keep track of them all. Thankfully, the book came with a family chart, which helped me follow the plot.
Overall, the book had enough plot and character development, making it a bearable read. However, the book could have been shorter than its 400 pages.
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
lbj1996's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
spicycronereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
When I finished the book I realized that Amazon has it labeled as a grumpy-sunshine which seems really far off the mark. Glyndon is not a sunshine character and Killian is psychotic, barely repressing serial unaliver urges. I did like the way the author wrote about his experience of emotions. In the middle of the book I also enjoyed the tension and banter between the two MCs but other parts of it were rough for me.
The plot of the book is set against the mystery of someone tormenting Glyndon about her friend who died by suicide a few months prior. The mystery has a pretty inconsistent place in the plot and only seems to surface when it is needed to move things in a certain direction. And it takes a turn that just seems too predictable.
There were other things about this book that negatively impacted my read. It is mostly dual POV from Glyndon and Killian but then there would be random chapters from their parents’ POV. It was a bit jarring. It turns out the author has written books about the parents so perhaps these are fun Easter eggs for those who have read her entire catalog. But as a new reader I found it distracting.
I also found that the author did a lot of telling instead of showing in the transformation of the MCs relationship dynamics. It felt rushed and again, jarring.
I don’t even know how to talk about the spice given all the other issues I had with the book. There is out and out SA at the beginning, by the MMC. Definitely some dark dynamics and you should heed the content warnings. I found some later parts enjoyable but others fell flat.
Secondary characters are interesting and have dimension- I suspect subsequent books are about them. I don’t recall much in the way of diverse representation- one tertiary character is bi.
I feel bad because I know this author and series are beloved among many dark romance readers. I like an occasional dark romance but this one had too many things that kept pulling me out of the narrative. I don’t typically dismiss an author after one book. If I get bored I might read more of the series to see if they improve but given that this is far from the author’s first book, I’m not too optimistic in that regard.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Vomit, Stalking, and Toxic friendship
ephemeral_remi's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol