the_restricted_section's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Incest
phrogonalilypad's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
I liked it in the beginning. Low-key wish about 3/4 of the way through that it turned into Wendy's villain arc. Towards the end it just got messy. None of the "misunderstandings" were ever addressed by the characters. They just make assumptions and then don't talk or at least you're never shown them resolving that so they can continue their fuckery. Which is something that is indeed done in dark romances, four horsemen for example, addresses when they do fucked shit to her and it's outside of the messed up confines of what the fmc expects. The issue gets addressed. In this book... She just magically doesn't think about the messed up thing he does, that is outside of the confined of the messed up stuff she consented to and made excuses for.
I don't mind me a dark romance I also just didn't think the erotic scenes were that well written the writing was repetitive and towards the end the plotwists just felt messy.
There was a good sense of foreboding for a while but eventually it just left tme thinking "If you're really this ode to control and big boss of this crime world surely,,, surely you'd go about this in a more organized fashion. That's the whole point of organized crime." I know it's just meant to be a dark trashy fun sexy book but it just felt a bit lack on a lot of fronts.
And too she says in the beginning she hopes her readers go in blind but ma'am I really wouldn't recommend surprising people with certain trigger warnings;
Minor Spoiler:
Main mans uncle was a pedo who raped and mutilated him and there are descriptions of the trauma being enacted and the traumas effect on the mmc. I do not think people should be surprised by that kind of situation and a trigger warning for at least that is owed to the reader. It's brought up several times throughout the book. Trigger warnings for that should be on the front page!
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Confinement, Pedophilia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Blood
selestre's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Murder, and Sexual content
Minor: Car accident, Torture, Drug use, Vomit, Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Violence, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
letty_y's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Torture
Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, and Physical abuse
soph22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
So, yeah, I didn’t hate it, but it won’t be taking a permanent place on my bookshelf.
Graphic: Torture, Murder, Confinement, Cursing, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Kidnapping, and Sexual content
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Drug use, and Child abuse
atravellingpenguin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Kidnapping, Torture, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Rape, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Drug use, and Bullying
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Blood, Abandonment, Alcohol, Car accident, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Addiction, Confinement, Misogyny, Bullying, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Vomit, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
ashleereadsbooks692'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
3.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Murder, and Stalking
crownoftamriel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gun violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Vomit and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Gore, Pregnancy, Cursing, and Drug use
angelofthetardis'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
So let's just get this out of the way up front. If you can't handle spice, this book is not for you. There is a LOT of it, and it's quite hot. I wouldn't say all of it is strictly necessary to move the plot forward, but it does give insights into the development of the relationship and the power plays of the characters. Even though it's not the best writing I've ever read (it does border a bit on the 'bad fanfic' end of the spectrum in a couple of places), for the most part it does its job very well and maintains believability while also pulling the reader into fantasy land...
While we're talking content/trigger warnings, there are allusions to assault of a minor, overt (but not excessively graphic) descriptions of violence and murder, kidnapping, drug abuse and so on. So not a book for the faint of heart of the innocent of mind!
Outside of the smut, the story is actually quite strong, if a little predictable. I enjoyed the mapping of the traditional Pan characters onto a modern criminal underworld setting and the twists and turns of the narrative. I did peg pretty early who you needed to be worried about, but even then there's a couple of nice little 'hooks' to surprise you. As a whole, the relationship does follow a very familiar pattern and so in that sense there's nothing that surprising, but the journey is still great to follow. If I had to be picky, I'd argue the 'misunderstanding' is a little thin and could do with a bit more depth of thought and feeling.
The author's depicting of James, aka Hook, provides everything you need to understand his motivation, why he is the way he is and the development of his character through the course of the story. His bad boy swagger and charm ooze off the page and I found him utterly captivating, especially in his moments of deepest darkness and complete vulnerability. While Wendy too has 'character', I found her far less developed. She's not completely two dimensional, but it does appear that most of the author's efforts went into shaping her male lead. I just couldn't get inside her head as much, despite half the chapters being written from her point of view. I just struggled to understand how someone previously so innocent and 'good' could look past what Hook does. It's not expressed that he suddenly changes his ways and stays on the right side of the law, so it puzzles me that his dark side and shady dealings don't seem to bother her at all.
As I read this on my Kindle, at the end of the boom I was invited to join the author's mailing list, upon which I could receive a free extended epilogue. Well that was a no-brainer! It is mostly an excuse for one more round of sexy-times, but it does give a nice little round off of the story. A little sappy, sure, but ultimately it is nice to see the villain get his happily ever after.
There are four more in this series to date, and I cannot wait to read them!
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Murder, Violence, Sexual content, and Gore
Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Torture
Minor: Death of parent