gnlee26's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence
b3achb1tch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Classism, Cursing, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Violence, Torture, and Death
Moderate: Rape and Drug use
Minor: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse
madisonlr01's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Stalking, Drug use, and Medical content
Minor: Misogyny, Rape, and Pregnancy
naaytaashreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a 3 star for me. It could have been a 4 if not for the slow burn for like 50% of the read in the beginning.
I enjoyed the concept of the plotline of secret societies, Lords and Lady's. BDSM, thriller and all.
However, for most of the first half of the book, I was utterly confused.
Like so many things were happening, but nothing was really happening other than the nonstop sex fest.
I guess the first half of the read was focused on the sexual tension, chemistry and build-up of Ryat and Blakely.
We get to see the crazy side of Ryat. In a way, some sneak emotions of how he feels towards her and his loyalty to the Lords and his responsibility.
While Blakely in the first half was on a journey of trying to understand her love for all her kinks, this new world it introduced her.
The plot threw some plotline of secrets, betrayal, family arrangements etc.
Later on, in the second half of the book was where we see all the plotline strings together.
Of the secret all these people were hiding, which, let me tell you, is a lot. I can't bloody hell trust anybody.
The plotline picks up with more adrenaline and action.
However, sometimes the plot can be quite confusing and predictable.
Yes, Ryat is a huge possessive alpha, but I love we get to see his emotions and fluffy scenes of him and Blakely.
I see little character growth for Blakely in terms of individual, but I guess her character development focused was more towards her trust and loyalty to Ryat.
The author has a push and pull in, making me hook to her plotline.
I definitely would love to read her other works.
Hoping she writes a story for Ty.
"I wanted to fight for him. For us. In a world full of smoke and mirrors, he's something real. We got here by chance, but we're still together by choice."
Graphic: Drug use, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual content, Stalking, Alcohol, Body horror, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Violence
romancejunkie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Likes:
• Ryat is obsessed with her. An OTT, crazed hero who refused to share her with anyone.
• He was a bad man, but he had honor. Rape was off the table, and we saw that immediately.
• The exploration of Blake’s sexual fantasies. I loved how he reassured her and allowed her to explore without judgement.
• How he called her his good girl. UNF.
Dislikes:
• Ryat is an OTT, possessive hero. He took it too far, IMO, his actions turning abusive in some situations. Some authors walk the line of possessiveness and can’t live without them vibes without teetering into abuse. This author did not manage that.
• The drama. Sweet Christ, the drama. The twists and turns and BS coming out of left field. It was a fucking soap opera.
• Wtf was with all the flashbacks? Why TF couldn’t she actually put those IN the current timeline. Zero reason as far as I could tell except for lazy storytelling.
• She wrote an engaging story—I’ll say that—but her actual writing leaves something to be desired. She needed an editor. Badly. And someone needs to break her exclamation key.
• The amount of violence. It was grotesque, unnecessary, and overkill.
• The sex scenes got repetitive and boring. Yeah, I said it. But I can only read the same things so many times before I start skimming.
Graphic: Pregnancy, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/injury detail, Child death, Blood, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Medical content, Gore, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, and Abandonment
cupcakequeen_29's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Pregnancy