Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Heartless Heathens

I have so much to say about this book and I hope I remember to write everything I want to put in this review. If I forget something I will update my goodreads. Let's start with the basics. 5/5 on the spice scale and let me tell you this was a very hot book. Check triggers as always because this book is Dark! So the main female character Romina gives me eve in the garden vibes and the main males give me hot Lucifer temping her vibes. This book is so different and the future time that they are living in is much like the nightmare our current situation with in the U.S could land us. I like the fact that you almost get a fear like omg this is where we could be heading. So on top of a great story the plot and world building is on point. The twist and turns towards the end had me so wrapped up I couldn't put it down. I have to say the ending had me at peace but there was that little bit of room for a chance of another book maybe with same characters and continue story or same world different characters and story. I love when an author leaves room to a book that gives you a good ending just incase those characters have more story to tell. This was best book thus far of 2023.

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

My feelings for this book are complicated.

The themes of the book are dark, and the TW/CW should be taken seriously, Knox does not hold back. So please read them carefully before you decide whether this book is for you or not.

Initially, I struggled with the power dynamic between the guys and Romina since she was socially and emotionally stunted, abused, and neglected.

Even though they never did anything without her consent, it felt unsettling to me, since to me she was consenting to something that she didn’t really understand. I want to clarify that this was a me thing, I had to sit with those feelings and unpack why it felt that way to me. I took a step back from my judgement and kept reading.

After a while as Romina explored the world she started gaining a voice, and was quite vocal about things at times

like when Sonny used degrading words, and she used the safeword they had agreed upon and asked him to stop because she didn’t like that

The dystopian aspect of the book hit a little to close to home with the current state of affairs where the United States is heading in terms of the separation of the Church and State. Which made it difficult to fully immerse myself without getting enraged.

What I 🖤:
🖤 Romina - embracing her full female rage while remaining compassionate, understanding, and giving.
🖤 Sonny - Poor scarred man, all he wanted was to protect the people he loved the most, but in doing so he just pushed them away by attempting to make decisions for them.
🖤 Felix - 🥹 He was the sweetest most understanding of the bunch, the love he had for his twin was heart melting.
🖤 Corvin - 🥺 his condition made me sad, after their initial first encounter they both worked hard at their friendship to the point where Romina felt comfortable around him. He was the best IMHO
🖤 Ressa - She was the comedic relief in part, she became such a good friend to Tessa and she really came through during the period emergency.
🖤 The crossover - Feral is the only way I can describe finding this nugget after reading La Reina del Cártel series. The side characters that are getting their own series made a quick appearance, love, love, love!

There was a part of the sub-plot that I wanted more from, there was some tension, yet I would have preferred more before the resolution occurred.

There were only a few chapters that I can say I was ready for: Chapter 37 felt intense and the last chapter (before the epilogue) also felt intense.

Content Warnings