Reviews with content warning for Rape - Carving for Cara

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Where to start...
First off, I love dark romance. I have read a lot of dark romance and I love the physiological aspect of it, this just felt very flat. I received this as an arc and I was super excited to read it since it had been hyped up so much on social media, sadly it didn't live up to the hype.

"Most people in my small town of Hallow Grove, Iowa, are superstitious and fearful of the devil, but after reading one too many dark romance novels, I'm reasonably certain he'd fuck like a god."

What I liked:
The cover is very eye catching and the very beginning started out interesting (hence the quote). The description of her house set a good scene, but then it started to fall quickly after that. This book felt like it had a lot of potential for a dark, spooky, halloween book, but that potential was lost.

Novellas can be really good or they can be really bad; there isn't a lot of in-between with them, and the story development and character building is so important, especially if it isn't a novella off of an already established series, and I feel like that's where this book really fell short. With that said...

What I didn't like:
This book was short and very repetitive. I love a book with multiple POV's but when you write the same scene with nothing knew other than the POV, then you're just reading the same thing again and you lose the feel of the story. It also felt a little too 'Haunting Adeline' like, several similarities that were only just different enough such as his gift to her, and the nickname "Run, little mouse" and "Run, little nightmare" and instead of chasing her through the woods, its a corn field. Rhett is also a tech genius... so was Zade.
There was also a lot of unnecessary detail that felt like the authors where adding filler instead of building the plot or developing the characters. Speaking of plot, it got lost. Also, the characters.... Some spoilers beyond this point.

Our MMC, Rhett, first sees out FMC, Cara, at a coffee shop and immediately his brain says mine. We find out the bare minimum about him ... works for CIA, tech guy, and his work is based in this small town looking for some cartel guy (in IOWA).... None of that really comes up again and felt like an odd info dump. These two characters have no chemistry. He finds out she is going to a couple of Devils Night parties, and he decides to go. Yeah, its stalkerish, but not in a good dark romance book red flag way. Cara has no idea about him and from when he first sees her, to chasing her down in a corn field after she goes in there to pee, to using a 🌽 as a dildo, and then forcing himself on her and taking her home ... it's maybe 2 days and not much build up to the story. Oh yeah, the main portion where the characters actually meet and talk... its only a few chapters at the end.
And the end.... just ends... not even really a cliffhanger, it just felt unfinished.

Certainly, don't let this stop you from trying this book, this is just my honest review and my thoughts. If you just want a stalker, dark, gruesome, basic quick read... go for it. If you might have triggers, definitely check the trigger warnings. I generally have no triggers and I am basing this review off the writing and character development. I really had high hopes for this book but it just fell flat.

Content Warnings

dovahkiin_shea's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

A man and woman lock eyes in a cafe. This immediately has him obsessing over her, stalking her, and

killing for her.

This novella is short and spicy, and has so many TWs. Not sure what I was expecting, other than what the dedication mentioned. Very short, not deep, and definitely stalker-creepy-instalust. You might enjoy it, or it might make you roll your eyes at how corny (💀) it is.

Content Warnings

aytac's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

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