ilovebooks937's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, and Incest
karalara'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? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Abandonment, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, and Child abuse
Minor: Pregnancy, Addiction, Vomit, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
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
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
bak15's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Incest, Sexual violence, Gore, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content
eagleshouse'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? Yes
1.25
I'm sorry but if this is their idea of good smut/relationships, then I am so sorry for straight women.
Graphic: Addiction, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual content, Misogyny, Gun violence, Gore, Blood, Sexism, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Drug use, Grief, Stalking, Drug abuse, and Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Incest, Car accident, Child abuse, and Toxic friendship
stitchof'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? No
2.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Sexual content, Alcohol, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Toxic friendship
myinvinciblesummer's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Murder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Incest, Alcohol, and Bullying
Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, Cancer, Confinement, Pregnancy, Torture, Alcohol, Bullying, Medical content, Infidelity, Gun violence, and Drug abuse
koistyfishy'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
3.5
I have never read a story with a premise like this, so I was instantly sold and from the polarising reviews and hype of these books, I needed to see what all the fuss was about. This is a fractured fairytale and while at first, I didn’t understand what that means... it makes so much sense now that I’ve read the book. Much to my initial chagrin there is no fantasy in this, but I put my big girl panties on and decided to just enjoy the contemporary romance for what it is.
This is not a Peter Pan retelling, so if that is what you’re looking for, you’re not gonna find it in these pages. It is mostly just taking the names and characters from the fairytale and mish-mashing them together into a plot. Yes, some quotes or nuances from the story are mixed in the batter to make this work, but that’s about where the similarities end between the original Peter Pan story and this.
The story is dark and while I normally prefix books like these to say, “make sure you read the trigger warning before you start”. There is actually a request at the start to go into this blind because it adds to the enjoyment of the story. Just note that it is not the smut that is awfully dark. If anything the smut is borderline vanilla but still on the slightly kinky side. You would only have a problem with it if you are horridly offended by "breath play" and being told what a good girl you are and believe me if any British man wanted to call me Darling and say I was a "good girl", I would be begging him to use me too!
No, this is dark in terms of...imagine a Mafia Boss who really likes to use knives and has no qualms about killing people, so if you’re okay with that and don’t mind mixing in some drugs, murder and kidnapping...this is just for you.
I did enjoy this, REALLY...but I have two main problems. First, I am petty and I cannot take a book seriously when a man, "reaching his peak" is described as "I coat her womb with my seed" or "rubbing his seed into my skin". It’s an instant turn-off and to me reads like it’s a woman writing about a man who doesn’t actually know what a man thinks about when he’s having sex… I’ve read a lot of smut in my life and the minute the word seed or milk (which is also used in the kicky scenes) appear...I instantly deduct a star.
The second is the book was about 100 pages too short. As a result, the love felt very Insta-lovie. It never really had a chance to develop. The pacing in the plot just felt a little off, and as a result, the ending felt super rushed compared to the almost slow buildup from the start. I believe that if an extra hundred pages were added we could’ve seen a more fleshed-out ending. We could also have delved a little bit deeper into Wendy’s character because at the moment she was a little bit a wishy-washy-one-dimensional-insufferable-baby at times... which you know can be frustrating. There was also not a lot of communication and conversation that happened between Wendy and James. Quite a lot of what they’re thinking and feeling happens in their internal monologue. The minute they start talking to each other he is basically already kissing her neck and seducing her, and things go naughty very quickly from there…
I don’t mind this book. I don’t mind that Hook doesn’t get his redemption arc because that’s not why I read this. I read it for some escapism and to see the hype. I can see why some people absolutely adore this and why some people are absolutely appalled.
From my perspective, I would recommend it because whilst James might not have hooked me and successfully landed my catch, Emily McIntire sure has and I cannot wait to jump into the rest of the books in the series and I wouldn’t be doing that if this book wasn’t enjoyable
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
literarycryptid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Torture, Blood, Gore, Death, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Confinement, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Stalking, and Kidnapping
Minor: Car accident, Pregnancy, and Vomit