Reviews

Sleeping with Monsters by Amelia Hutchins

charlottenw1's review against another edition

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5.0

It's been a hot minute since I read book 1 in this series since I've been diving in and out of other series in the world.

What the heck Amelia?!?!?! My heart!!!

I honestly thought it was all over and maybe Lucian just had a brutal, miserable life for the next books in the series. I didn't expect a turnaround like that in literally a page!!!!

Amelia has done it again and managed to create such a twisted and intricate story which she's then unraveled before our eyes. I don't even know how to explain the story without maybe giving something major away. It's said, it's twisted and it's everything Amelia does well. Lucian starts to come out and show his funny, charming side which I fell in love with. I mean I love the man anyway because obviously he's broody and has issues but he definitely started to show a different side to himself. The same goes for Lena. Her character started to change and it makes sense as her story progresses because she has to and for good reason.

It's all just a massive brain boom and I will obviously pick up the next book.

bookgramsaga_'s review against another edition

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5.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3rd reread)

''There's nothing I wouldn't do to protect someone I love''

Safety warnings:
- No cheating
- OM drama
- Partial sharing
- Violence/d*ath
- R*pe/s*xual assault
- Dub con
- Torture
- S*icide
- Voyeurism
- Cliffhanger

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

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SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

Book 2 starts off little while after book 1's cliffhanger. Lena's memories have been erased and she is living as her twin sister Kendra who was taken by Lucifer in the last book. Lucian has kept his distance, but Lena knows something is up as she can sense her memories have been altered and manipulated but cannot pinpoint WHO or WHY

She senses her life is not as it seems, there are plot holes in her mind. Nothing is adding up and she is urgently trying to find the reasons, but nothing is coming to her but slowly she is able to remember bits and pieces but relates it to dreams/nightmares.

OM Drama:She does have a scene where she is with Lucian, and she sees him at his club and they have sex but at the moment she truly believes its him but it turns out it's Lucifer who entered her dreams and slept with her as he posed as Lucian and since she does not remember her being ''Lena'' she could not tell the difference. This however does not go well with Lucian, and he is forced to bond her to himself/Spyder and some of his men.
She also gives Spyder a peck in front of Lucian since she is pissed at him and again Lucian is OTT about it.

Partial sharing:While the ritual to get her bonded to himself and the rest, they have to touch her, bite and kiss her. This is as far as it goes, and it's all done via magic. Lucian is the only one who she sleeps with, and he is NOT happy about having to do this, but he needs to in order to protect her against Lucifer. As claiming her like this will stop him (hopefully).

While she believes she is Kendra her grandma tells her to go get a witch who has sent a distress signal and she is tasked to do so with Spyder but we end up (the reader knows) that the apartment they go to is her old apartment while she was away from her coven and they end up at a club where it seems fishy - Lucifer is there but she is able to save the witch and get out, not realizing they were in HELL and they left it. Again, causing Lucian to have a brain aneurysm lol

We also find out that the witch she saved was glamoured to look like someone else but in reality, it is her sister Kendra. Thankfully Lena is finally able to remember everything and knows what has happened, but she also has other bits missing.

She is hearing voices of all the witches Lucian had to hunt through the centuries and this is causing her to put more pieces together behind the scenes.

Once she has her memories and is able to tell Lucian she remembers he explains that his intentions were to protect her and keep her safe and despite her initial anger she knows he meant well, and it wasn't meant to hurt her, but it feels like he undermined her which results in her pain. She also confesses she loves him after a night of love making (different from what they had done previously) and he reacts badly and leaves, leaving her alone and hurt beyond measure.

This causes a ripple effect for her decisions and what life has in store for her.

I knew at this point what would happen as this was my third reread but I am never prepared for the pain that the last part of this book brings you.

A few things occur so here is the list:
1) Lucifer has come to the mortal realm via an opening and hell gates are open, allowing demons to roam and kill people which is causing havoc.
2) Kendra is not herself at all in this book and she is pregnant with Lucifer's baby after her time with him in Hell.
3) We find out Kendra is actually possessed by the original Katarina
4) Lena is pregnant with Lucian's baby (we find out it was possible but Katarina needed to be the right time amongst other things)
5) The baby now holds the seal and is already filled with darkness, Katarina is now happy as she knows that Lucian must kill his own son to save the world
6) Lena is a clone of Kendra just like Joshua and Benjamin (they were the first set of twins Katarina experimented with to make sure it worked).

Katarina reveals she outplayed Lucian and did something behind his back the last time she was reincarnated. She made a deal with Lucifer and was able to create two separate eggs while Lena's mother was pregnant and had them both have each half of her soul, one half loves Lucian and is the dark seed while the other is the one who has no care and is pure. These two halves can be made whole once the other twin kills the other which is what she is planning on doing.

There is a lot more to this but it's a bit complicated to explain so I advise everyone to read it carefully to understand the loopholes Katarina allows which she did not seem to think things over lol

During this entire moment Lucifer and Katarina basically beat up Lena to a pulp and she can barely stand let alone move but she is able to kill herself and eliminate Lucian having to kill their son, her soul would be destroyed ruining the curse and never having Katarina be able to reincarnate again ending the game.

We also find out from her grandmother that she knew she would die as it foretold beforehand, also told her grandmother to pass the message to Lucian that ''some love was worth dying for.''

The sad part is that Lena died believing Lucian never loved her, loved Katarina still and never cared for her. She died believing his actions were for selfish personal reasons and never because he was trying to protect her.

NOW this whole scene of her suicide is heartbreaking, but Lucian's response is the worst part:
1) He cries over her body
2) He never leaves her side
3) He carries her casket
4) He has a moment later where he sees Kendra and falters because he thought it was Lena for a minute.

Lucian also might have NOT let Lena know he loved her, but we know it's because loving her or her loving him causes the curse to ignite and would have caused her death, but he never could have known it was coming to end the way it did. He is celibate during their separation, and he wants nobody else.

Here are some quotes about the aftermath of Lena's death and Lucian:
''Tears formed in my vision and I buried my face against her blood-covered chest''
''He's refused to leave her side even now''
''Lucian had remained true to his word, never leaving her. It was as if he expected her to wake from a deep slumber. or maybe turn into something else''

BUT not everything ends as this is book 2 of 4.

Lena died with no soul which means she is not accepted by Heaven or can be kept in Hell. We find out at the end she is alive but something else, cold, and we also see her with her brother who seems to be the same thing as her.

''You cannot kill something that never existed in the first place. I was never born, I was cloned''

''I couldn't die, I had no soul to take. I'd gone in with that knowledge, that power to face Lucifer''

erinremen's review against another edition

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5.0

What?? Oh my god Amelia, you destroyed me!

I knew this one would be dark and horrible and heartbreaking, but I'd maybe clung a little to the hope that the ending would be a little easier to take. But no, I was wrong. I have no idea now to move in and live with this whole you created. I have lost people so I know the pain well, so I k ow it will fade a little every day, so that when you decide the next one is ready you will just rip it all up again! This one is by far the hardest to read , but by no means should anyone avoid reading it. This one cannot be put off, just be prepared. I have "enjoyed" every minute of this torture and am horrified that I find myself thanking you for it. We are truly masochistic, the lot of us!

sigourney_sugi's review against another edition

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5.0

Oh my word...I think Amelia broke me. It’s now a week later and I’m still so freaking shocked and all-out emotional over this bloody book. And that ending. But seriously though, I love books that just rip out my heart and tear it to shreds. Everone needs to read this

kaylaabibliophile's review against another edition

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5.0

Wow this was such a step up from the first book. I'm bawling my eyes out.

beckiebookworm1974's review

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5.0

Bloody hell what a ride and what a finale I'm absolutely gobsmacked and slightly shell-shocked this was an emotional one for sure and I can't wait to start the next book and continue this riveting journey. This begins where we left off with Lena thinking she's Kendra after that mind wipe from Lucian. The poor girl thinks she's losing it as she feels a stranger to herself but with no idea of why and she's determined to discover the truth.

This was action-packed and fast-paced a lot occurs during the course of this Lena rapidly evolves into who she was always meant to be and this girl has reserves of strength you couldn't imagine. There's a lot of push and pull between Lena and Lucian and the spice and darkness was also ramped up a level.

This series is amazing and I'm enjoying it so much but my heart is going to need a minute to recover before embarking on the next installment. Highly recommend reading this series it's so good.

authenticallykee's review against another edition

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2.0

So for a time I put this genre to the side because while I love paranormals and paranormal romance a lot of them became mostly sex and some scattered story. I put off reading the first book in this series because I was worried about that and was pleasantly surprised. This book however was just that, it got so annoying that I started skimming eventually. At this point I can care less about Lena (who by the way her family sucks) or Lucian. Probably won't continue with this series.

heather_reads_romance's review against another edition

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5.0

Sleeping with monsters

Um. What the heck with that ending?! I mean it was awesome but not joe expected it to go down. I thought it would happen but not the same way that it did. I was hooked during this entire book. Waiting for Lena to figure things out. Being annoyed that Lucian kept getting mad at her for not knowing the things he took away from her. I loved how much he cared about her though even if he tried to desperately hide it. I’m going to dive into book 3 now because I need to know what happens.

jontiemeehan's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

hipxige's review against another edition

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5.0

That was just brutal. Absolutely brutal.