Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - There Are No Saints

Mara is a struggling artist who is working 3 jobs just to get by. One evening at a show, she catches the attention of 2 of San Francisco's most notable artists, Cole and Alister. Unfortunately for Mara, both men are sociopaths and serial killers.

Mara has had a troubled life. She has survived her alcoholic/abusive mother and abusive stepfather. She is on her own in San Francisco trying to get by day to day. She has been through hell. She is very feisty and independent.

Spoiler

As her career takes off, her reliance and dependence on Cole becomes stronger. He is responsible for all of her success and he is the one protecting her from Alister. As their relationship progresses, she begins to change to reflect what Cole wants her to be.

So the question is, is she being manipulated by Cole or is he opening her up to who she truly is? I think he is preying upon her trauma to manipulate her into becoming who he wants her to be.

Spoiler

Had she never meet him, I doubt she would have ever gone so far as to kill her mother. Before Cole, she was trying to move on with her life and did not want to get revenge on her mom and stepfather.

Cole is a sociopath and murderer who cares about nothing other than getting what he wants. He is devoid of empathy, ruthless, and powerful. He and Alister have being in competition with each other since art school. Alister was obsessed with getting Cole's attention and wants him to collaborate on a "project". Mara is the unsuspecting victim that Alister chooses.

Spoiler

He leaves her to die near Cole's dumping ground, knowing that he will find her and hoping that he will kill her. Cole does not want to play this game with Alister. So, being the psycho that he is, when he finds her, he leaves her to die. After learning that Mara managed to survive, he becomes obsessed with her and begins to stalk her. He engrains himself into her life and makes her reliant on him. She becomes the center of his universe and he will stop at nothing to protect her, especially from Alister.

Cole has convinced himself that he loves Mara, but can a sociopath truly feel love? I think for Cole, his attachment to Mara is completly self-serving. Mara is under his control and he is able manipulate her into becoming what and who he wants.

Tropes: taboo/dark romance

Content Warnings

morgansbookshelves's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Bumped up my rating from a 4.5 to a 5! I love how dark and twisted this book is. Lark has a very impressive talent for making you root for the bad guy, as much as I should have disliked Cole I couldn't help but hang on to every word in his chapters. Seeing how his mind worked was fascinating and I am so glad that I have access to book 2. I need to see how this is going to end.

Content Warnings

leslielikesliterature's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

planreadrepeat's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is dark. Very dark. While there is sexual content, the first half of the book is around power-play, murders, violence, and obviously mentally ill characters. Always check content warnings!

I did like the book. It was odd feeling any sympathy for a sociopathic character but the way they were written does make you wonder why they are the way they are. I'm not sure I like the premise of finding a woman to "save" you and love will fix everything. But it does make for a very engaging story. The sex scenes were not what I'd consider enthusiastic consent, but the characters definitely want to be there other than the one kidnapping scene.

Content Warnings

_missal3x's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

ginniereads's review

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

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? Yes

4.0

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boomwormbrittany's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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? It's complicated

4.75

There Are No Saints follows Cole who has a rivalry with a fellow artist and serial killer. Mara is an artist who happens into Cole's orbit and the eyes of Cole's rival, Alastor. When Cole becomes obsessed with Mara, his own obsession could lead to both their downfalls.
Sophie Lark doing it again. I absolutely adore her books and I definitely think she has cemented herself as one of my favorite authors now. I really loved this book. I wasn't sure if I was a dark, taboo romance type of person but turns out I am.
First off, I love how easily accessible Sophie Lark's writing style is. It sucks me in the second I start reading and I don't want to ever put the book down. I'm always in awe of her writing and how it flows so perfectly.
Second, I really liked Mara and Cole a lot. Mara definitely is a take no shit type of person. She has lived a pretty difficult life up to the point she meets Cole but she doesn't let that bring her down. She's always creating and her thought processes were so intersting to follow. I thought that Sophie Lark did a great job with Cole as a character as well. His psyche is so interesting to study but also frightening to think that someone would think like that. I really loved how she made those two work together.
The plot of this really had me on the edge of my seat. When I wasn't reading this book, I was thinking about what could possibly happen next. Even up to the end, I didn't know how things were going to go. The ending of this left me so excited to read the next book in the series.
The only reason this got a 4.75 was because I felt like I couldn't fully connect to Cole and I wanted more of his backstory. However, I also recognize that he is, by nature, a closed off character so I'm hoping we get more in the next book.
Overall, I really loved this book. I can see this being one I go back to time and again if I want a quick read that I can just fall into.

Content Warnings

ktkeps's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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