tendaii8's reviews
297 reviews

I genuinely liked this book more than I thought I would. I like their relationship dynamic and the girl's relationships with the guys in the house and it was really fun watching Stas having Nathan run around in circles. 

With that being said, I felt there was a lot lacking in terms of the relationship with Aaron by A LOT. Maybe it’s just because I can be really petty but I needed them to hit all the talking points when they would argue. I agree with Nathan that the meal plan should have been brought up in their therapy sessions and I was craving her to blow up at Aaron in a bigger way than she did after he kissed her. I genuinely just want to know everything we didn’t get to know it’s it’ll frustrate me forever even though I know it wasn’t necessary for the story. She is definitely a better person than me cause I would have been talking all the shit. 

It was dark. I knew it was going to be dark. But man it was dark. And I loved every deprived second of it. Now please excuse me as I book a therapy appointment.

There were aspects of the characters and plot that felt so cliche and gimmicky to me that I actually rolled my eyes. Especially at the end when Claire is trying to convince him to join her and she's telling him her new plan (I'm rolling my eyes just thinking about it). Even just how often they mentioned how they were combatting trafficking. This particular issue I don't even know how to articulate but to me, I was like "Yes I know that is what you are doing, you don't need to keep reminding me." 

When Sibby's character was introduced again I was honestly really annoyed at first and it's not because I don't like her character, it's because I don't like how her character was written. More specifically, I don't like the way her dialogue was written. There are writing characters with childlike attributes and then there is this, and this is not good. 

I enjoyed this book more than the novella but I hated the novella so that’s not saying much. The book has many flaws and it was hard to get through, it was just more tolerable. 

While the writing is better here than in the novella I still wouldn’t call it a well-written book, so while that bothered me, I don’t always rate my books solely by their quality but more by my enjoyment. I didn't enjoy it.

Honestly, my major concern is the fact that as far as I could tell, the ONLY people of colour ever mentioned are portrayed in antagonistic roles. That really doesn’t sit right with me. Also really not a fan of the glossing right over the fact that he literally raped her. 

I love dark romance as much as the next girlie but this was honestly a great example of why people think it’s a bad genre.

I only read this because, in the synopsis for Haunting Adeline, it’s suggested to read it first but I’m honestly regretting my decision. 

I was uninterested enough that it took me longer to read this than it did an 800-page book I read a couple of days ago. I found the writing lacking which also added to my disinterest. There were multiple things throughout the book that just bothered me, especially the write-off of all the men being a part of her delusions (even though it makes sense).

Everyone and their mother is raving about Haunting Adeline on booktok so I’m really hoping I enjoy that more than this one.

I actually liked this book more than the first but the issue of things not being explored or explained properly became even more pronounced in this book which irritated me a little bit. I am left with so many questions. How did Cooper unseat his father? How did Brook and River really take full control over their uncle's kingdom (with more detail than just the sea wanting it)? And a whole bunch of little things throughout the story I can't even remember right now. Overall I really like it and I hope there comes another book but it gets confusing trying to figure everything out yourself.

It took me a while to really get into it and there are definitely things I think needed to be expanded on or talked about more but overall I really loved it.

I really wish this book was longer. I loved it so much but the ending felt a bit rushed to me (definitely a me thing). I know in the author's note she mentioned that she's working on a next book focused on her friend so we will see more of the four there. I will probably read that just so I can see what happens but I really would have liked more expansion here (especially in terms of Nathan's sister not liking Ivy) considering the book wasn't very long at all.

Edit: I’ve now tried reading the next book Touch and Go and I found myself kind of irritated that it wasn’t about the main four. There were just too many things unresolved in the first book to me so for the next book to not be about them irritated me enough to stop reading it.