4 Gutter Rat Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

There is something about Jescie Hall’s writing that has the innate ability to draw you in and keep you. She is magical at creating dark sick and twisted characters that no matter how vile and despicable their actions you still can't help but fall for their charms...

Green Light is no different. Montana is trying to set her life right, with a stable boyfriend and having managed to snag the cello first chair at a prestigious orchestra. But that's only the life she shares with the world. Underneath she has a dark secret, previously being an underage camgirl on the dark web and now desperate for money she auditions for a porn agency. She needs to be close to the university for practice but after being told by her father that unfortunately, she cannot move into his house as it will upset the balance of his new marriage, he arranges for her to move in with her new step-brother, Shane, and his friends... the problem... the agent who she slept with at that audition is none other than her stepbrother - who is determined to ruin her life.

Both Montana and Shane are one of the most deviously deceptive and manipulative characters I have ever read about. The layers of their manipulation run super deep into the plot and I often did not see the unexpected consequential twists and turns of their actions, which meant I was constantly kept at the edge of my seat pondering what the fuck these two would do next.

Montana plays on both sides of the tipsy turvy split between being dominant and submissive. She knows when to show teeth, push back and be a bratty little bitch. She has needed to develop a thick skin in order to survive the years of abuse from her mother's drug dealer, the neglectful love of her mother whist needing to be the responsible one in their relationship. But she also very easily susceptible to Shane and his "orders". Often taking the road of not struggling or challenging him, as it's easier to just submit to what he wants over fighting.

Shane is unhinged, a true puppet master playing chess when everyone else is playing checkers. But he is filled with anger and hate and all of this is directed at Montana because she hurt him, hurt him to the point that he didn't know if he would survive. He is obsessed with Montana, he is possessed by everything Montana and his vindictive and vile nature just wants her to suffer. She will have no success at this life she has tried to crawl out of, constantly pushing her down to be that gutter rat that he thinks she is.

Their relationship is toxic. It's violent and explosive and problematic. The types of extremes you see in a couple found in Tarentino Movies. They bond in trauma and match each others darkness. A perfect fit for the others psycho. They start by hating each other but are both so sexually attracted and drawn to each other, both by their present and past history that they cannot stay apart. Shane wants to use and break her and this feeling is addictive that soon Montana craves this connection. They will burn the world down for each other (literally) and will smile while watching it crumble.

The spice in this was definitely exciting and edging, leaving you wanting more and more after each encounter! But It also delivers epic mineblowingly explosive scenes that were literal perfection in their kink and dark. They are not romantic, they are dirty, violent and rough... but let's face it if you're reading a dark romance, that's exactly what you want.

Small little things I loved were that this pulled on an element of the only fan" plot and played into it well but also gave it a unique spin you won't see coming. Then their was the band of brothers who all lived in the House. Shane, Sigh and Weeter were such a good dynamic that shows you can find your people in the dark. I loved how they all looked out for each other and were able to openly have conversation around "checking yourself before wreaking yourself".

My one problem with Green Light is that it is very "Dear Diary" in both the dialogue as well as in their internal thoughts so that all their dark and twisted thoughts are often regurgitated on the page. What I mean by this is, the writing is very poetic, in abundance; so what ends up happening is you have to sift through the dark and troubling metaphorical prose, that is basically continual poetry, to decern the plot. As a result of the overabundance of metaphors thrown at you, I sometimes battled to decern what was happening. The benefit of this is that you do then have a VERY CHARACTER focused story, but I personally would have preferred one or two metaphors and not pages and pages sprinkled into the story. I do understand that this is often needed to create the imagery of their trauma and the darkness of their experiences but for me it took away from everything because it felt "tooo much".

Tropes:
▶ Step Siblings (Forbidden Romance)
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Bully Romance
▶ DubCon/NonCon
▶ Revenge
▶ Hate Sex
▶ Obsessive Possessive Alphahole
▶ Gamer Boy X Band Geek
▶ Degradation and Praise
▶ Trauma Bonding and Secrets and Lies
▶ Cheating

Microtropes:
▷ Mine
▷ Chin Lift
▷ Cages her with his arms
▷ Drugging
▷ She Stabs Him
▷ Hand Necklaces

Kinks: BDSM elements, Biting, Voyeurism, Tied Up, Spitting, Hate Sex, Edging, She Burns Him, Collar and Lead play with Crawling

Overall I really enjoyed this! It is an excellent addition to Jescies Portfolio of sick and twisted and her writing and characters make you love it, keep your toes curled and your mind constantly asking how fucked up are you for liking it! If you love dark psychological twisted stories with dirty spicy smut this would be perfect for you!

Thank you so much Jescie Hall for my gifted copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own