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A review by mayastef
Speed Trap by Rhae Aeden
2.5
I recognize I am probably not the intended reader for this book, but I read it, and I will share my thoughts. As an F1 fan, I really appreciate and respect the attention to detail in terms of descriptions of races and just general things related to the sport.
Take my thoughts with a grain of salt because I don't consider myself a dark romance reader, BUT I do separately read romance and thrillers, so I'm not completely out of my depth.
Romance: I like the bones of this concept, F1 driver and Reporter? cute. Lil age gap with the man being the young one? cute. Grumpy sunshine vibes? sure. In practice, I think that the romance plotline is poorly executed. I understand as a romance reader, we suspend our beliefs for a bit, but the speed at which they go from hating to would literally die for each other does not make any sense to me. There was no real event that changed this outlook. It feels like the switch flipped off the screen. I love that they are ride or die and are perfect in every way for each other, but I think a compelling romance storyline needs tension/friction to feel like a worthwhile reading experience.
Dark/Thriller: The long-term revenge killing/serial killer plot point is cool conceptually. I think it ends up feeling quite rushed. Sasha has been plotting this for about a decade, but the actual murders happen quite quickly and, in my opinion, quite sloppily. This plot being jammed into a book that also has a romance plotline and a sports plotline (João WDC) does a disservice to all the separate plots. The suspense just doesn't build for me, I think a lot of what makes a thriller plot compelling is the suspense and anxiety.
Spice: Sure. Fine. Whatever. It's there; I will say that some personal icks are involved in the spice experience for me (the uses of the words 'slit' and 'velvety dick,' to be specific). Maybe I was reading too fast to try to get the whole experience over with but the logistics also make no sense of what positions they end up in.
Misc: Someone needed to proofread this book. I caught multiple spelling and grammatical issues, and some details were also incorrect, and it irked me so bad. "angle of death" is a crazy typo. We gotta catch that one, folks.
TLDR: It is not for me, I would not recommend it, but I am not upset that I spent time reading this book. I've got too many major issues with plots/characters/actual sentence structure to give this book a good review.
Take my thoughts with a grain of salt because I don't consider myself a dark romance reader, BUT I do separately read romance and thrillers, so I'm not completely out of my depth.
Romance: I like the bones of this concept, F1 driver and Reporter? cute. Lil age gap with the man being the young one? cute. Grumpy sunshine vibes? sure. In practice, I think that the romance plotline is poorly executed. I understand as a romance reader, we suspend our beliefs for a bit, but the speed at which they go from hating to would literally die for each other does not make any sense to me. There was no real event that changed this outlook. It feels like the switch flipped off the screen. I love that they are ride or die and are perfect in every way for each other, but I think a compelling romance storyline needs tension/friction to feel like a worthwhile reading experience.
Dark/Thriller: The long-term revenge killing/serial killer plot point is cool conceptually. I think it ends up feeling quite rushed. Sasha has been plotting this for about a decade, but the actual murders happen quite quickly and, in my opinion, quite sloppily. This plot being jammed into a book that also has a romance plotline and a sports plotline (João WDC) does a disservice to all the separate plots. The suspense just doesn't build for me, I think a lot of what makes a thriller plot compelling is the suspense and anxiety.
Spice: Sure. Fine. Whatever. It's there; I will say that some personal icks are involved in the spice experience for me (the uses of the words 'slit' and 'velvety dick,' to be specific). Maybe I was reading too fast to try to get the whole experience over with but the logistics also make no sense of what positions they end up in.
Misc: Someone needed to proofread this book. I caught multiple spelling and grammatical issues, and some details were also incorrect, and it irked me so bad. "angle of death" is a crazy typo. We gotta catch that one, folks.
TLDR: It is not for me, I would not recommend it, but I am not upset that I spent time reading this book. I've got too many major issues with plots/characters/actual sentence structure to give this book a good review.