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aries_sun1419's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Torture, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, and Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Kidnapping
tonianne2788's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury
yeahok's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The characters are in their late teens, but they really don’t act like it. Untouchable, violent, vigilante murders?
Plot was not very believable and the two main characters went from hating each other, to being in love and unable to function without the other, overnight. Still not sure how I feel about their first sexual encounter - did she consent? She didn’t not like it…
I did have a hard time with the descriptive violence throughout the book, but I’m sensitive like that. Curious to see if the series gets better for me, so I’ll keep going!
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Trafficking
madlereads's review against another edition
4.5
🖤 dark college romance
😱 revenge, suspense, murder mystery
🔪 bad boy x bad girl
🥺 found family
🏃♀️ primal
What a fabulous start to this series! I'm hooked.
Alistair and his 3 best friends, aka The Hollow Boys, were supposed to leave their affluent town. But tragedy struck when Silas's girlfriend turned up dead and the investigation was really suspicious. So they take matters into their own hands to get revenge on who's responsible and get down to the bottom of things.
In comes Briar, a former thief, aiming to make a fresh start in a new town. Being the new girl (who's also not rich) gets her all the attention and worst of all, Alistair's. It only gets even worse when she and her best friend Lyra witness the Hollow Boys committing a crime one night.
So Alistair has to make sure Briar keeps her mouth shut 😈
Such a thrilling ride! The first half is actually more plot heavy with it building up the world and the mystery/suspense behind the murder. The romance in the second half really picks up. But I ate up the banter all the way through. Alistair may have stalked and bullied Briar to keep her quiet, but she wasn't going to lay low in this fight 🤣
Their banners and quips were so heated, I was cackling and feeling a little hot under the collar 🥵 Really the banter between all the characters was GOLD. They were unhinged. I seriously love how deep the friendship bonds are too. Even between Lyra and Briar who just met. 🥺
I lovveedd the sexy suspense of Alistair messing with her (and so did Briar.) The obsession and deranged behavior just grew with time. (You bet the spice was spicing.) And I'm glad Briar was just as feral. They were an amazing couple. Alistair not only challenged her and brought her into the darkness where she truly thrives, but she challenged him to want the best of things for himself cause he does deserve them. To be her man, not a *better* man, no. But a man she could love 🥺
The character backgrounds were so well written. I got emotional so many times. With Alistair's and the snippets Slias's stories especially. How Alistair had no choice but to become cruel to survive his awful family. How Silas lost someone so dear to him. 🥺 Briar growing up poor yet being rich in familial love but still being a loner til she found fellow loner friends in Lyra and eventually the Hollow Boys.
The plot had me on the edge of my seat! The suspense of the murder plot had me guessing whodunit. I can't wait to read the rest of the books to see how it all plays out cause they've certainly opened a can of worms with their revenge. The death of their friend is connected to something much bigger.
One thing I will note though, is the glaring amounts of typos and grammatical errors. I understand books having a few but this was quite a bit throughout the book. Perhaps it needed another round of edits? 🙈 I don't think it really affected my enjoyment of the book much, but I did backtrack a few times cause something was waayy off.
I am excited for Thatcher and Lyra though and I think they'll be my favorites just going off their little interactions in this book. 🤭
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
melissaslibraryy'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
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis
briochebun's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Trafficking
Minor: Drug abuse, Rape, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
amiinaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
All that’s coming to mind right now is how Silas is gonna have his own book with a different love story after me reading about him here. He loved her so much how do I act like I didn’t read any of that ☹️
LYRA AND THATCHERRRR can’t wait to see how their story is gonna go I thought the next book was gonna be about them but with that teaser of rook and sage I know they gonna deliver tooo
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Gun violence and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
rio4ever's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexism, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
readbyjaimes's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I love starting a series like this and feeling like I've made some new friends
God, I LOVED these characters. They're so fucked up but I see so much potential for growth in them and their bond is just so amazing. The boys all sticking by Silas and hearing all they've been through together was so painful, but also heartwarming.
But moving on from the boys, MY LONER GIRLS!!!! I love them so so so much. Briar and Lyra were amazing from the beginning and I'm so glad they developed a close bond so early. I feel like in a lot of books the girls are isolated from making friendships and I always love when that isn't the case. I had so much fun reading this book and I absolutely ate it up.
Something I didn't love was the pacing. I feel like the end was super rushed and I didn't get to see their feelings develop how I would've liked. That isn't to say their relationship wasn't believable to me! I know for a fact that Alistair and Briar love each other, just wish we would've gotten more moments like that besides the last 70-ish pages.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Trafficking