I'm going to preface this and say that if you want to read this book, actually take note of all the trigger warnings because the amount of reviews that are shocked at how dark this book is is interesting. Dark romance has a spectrum and this is on the more extreme side so take caution. 

Haunting Adeline follows Adeline (Addie) who has moved into her deceased grandmother's house and finds out that her family has a secret that needs to be uncovered. She is also being stalked by an obsessed man who is a vigilante and is tryinf to take down human sex traffickers. 

So this book is extremely dark. I would say most people probably shouldn't read this book, especially if you're sensitive to certain themes such as sexual assault and torture. Mind you all of this is mentioned in the warnings at the beginning of the book. 

The writing isn't great. To me it felt very juvenile and very “teenage angsty” which just didn't really fit the general theme of the book. It was just very inconsistent and flipping between childish levels of vulgar language, to extremely dark themes. 

Also, the cheesiness of the writing was just unbearable at times. Let me just list out “little mouse”, “kitty cat” (yes I know it's meant to play on cat and mouse but come on), “the manipulator” and “the shadow”. When the last two were explained, I could help but facepalm at how silly and corny it was. 

There were also many aspects of the story that just got lost. Remember when there were ghosts in the scary old house? Me neither cause that got mentioned like 3 times. Or remember how Addie was a writer? Me neither cause that got pretty much forgotten halfway through the book. So many things were just forgotten and incomplete. It made the story just feel very messy. 

The characters were alright but I wouldn't say I found myself absolutely loving any of them. Addie was quite frankly really stupid a lot of the time but it was masked as “I can't stay away” or “OMG I just can't keep my mouth shut”. I rolled my eyes quite a lot at that.

Zane was… interesting. Sure he might be hot, I can at least accept that. But the whole being against human trafficking and raping and then literally stalking a woman and basically doing what he says he hates is just a bit silly. Author definitely did not think that one through. His character paired with the “teenage angsty” writing often made him sound like he was trying too hard to be cool. 

I did find the conflict in Addie intriguing and I think that's some of the better written aspects. Maybe not the falling in love part, but her conflict between her body and mind reflect what many victims may go through (thought maybe not to that extent). This is also another reason why I think certain people may not find this book a suitable read as it can be triggering. 

Watching the two characters interact was quite interesting. The shift is steady and goes back and forth which I find fitting for the book. There are a lot of corny interactions that did have me cringing at times but nothing that turned me off the book immediately. 

The plot was a little lack-luster. Following Zane was a little dull at times since we all knew how it would most likely end. The ending did interest me though. I want to know who “You” is and I haven't managed to figure it out myself yet frustratingly. 

Addie’s journey to figuring out her great grandmother's secret was a good attempt, however I figured out the result within a few chapters of it being brought up. The ending was also very predictable and did not really suprise me at all. 

This book focuses very heavily on sex scenes which I think was a bit overdone. I understand having spicy scenes, however, when it happens at EVERY interaction, it's just too much. You could use those words to build the plot more or build their “relationship” more but instead it's just sex, sex, sex. I'm not a massive fan of just straight up pornography being the main focus of the book. I need a book with a bit more depth rather than books that just target horny readers. 

I will probably read the second book as it ends on a cliffhanger and I do want to finish the duology. This book is severely overhyped and definitely being depicted incorrectly on social media as evidenced by many reviews. It is also being shown to the wrong audience on social media which is extremely worrying as this contains very mature and dark themes that should not be taken lightly. 

The book itself was interesting at some parts but overall just very underwhelming. The ending did get me a little bit and the interactions between the characters, though corny, were intriguing enough to keep me wondering how this would progress. The spicy scenes were well written, just overdone. Other then that, I wouldn't expect a book hangover or anything amazing from this book.