Reviews with content warning for Violence - You Shouldn't Have Come Here

This book has cemented Jeneva Rose as one of my favorite authors. You Shouldn’t Have Come Here is the second book of hers I’ve read and it was an exhilarating read that kept me hooked from page one! 🫣

There was something I particularly loved about this book. At first it read as one of those small town romances where our main female character goes on a getaway and meets the handsome country boy. Everything feels right until it doesn’t. You quickly get enveloped in a sinister and dangerous environment that shifts the entire tone of the book. As both a romance and a thriller reader, I found this to be a perfect combination of my favorite genres. 🩷🔪

The “cute” obsession quickly turned into “creepy” obsession. At times, I found myself wanting to root for Calvin and thinking, “Oh maybe he’s not so bad after all”. I was gaslighted too, but boy was I wrong about him. About a lot of things… 😬🫣

You should have seen my reaction when reading the last pages of this book. My jaw was on the floor. I was grossed out, shocked, and thinking, “What in the f*ck!?” 😨 I had my theories, but honestly didn’t see that level of batshit craziness coming.

I’ve read other reviews where people think the writing is awful and cringe, like how Calvin continuously describes Grace’s eyes as “Blue, blue eyes”.

Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I feel like that should tell you how weird and creepy his character is. Nobody talks like that. I feel that the author was trying to point out his obsession with Grace by how much he repeated it in his head. (These are just my thoughts and it’s okay to have different opinions about books though 👍🏽).

There’s some things I would have liked to know the answer to, like what happened to Charlotte and how much did she know?, or why didn’t the police guy found the horrible things inside Calvin’s house after being there like four times?! Still, I really enjoyed this book and would consider it a new favorite thriller book of mine. A sequel would be great!

I would recommend this book if you like:

romance but make it thriller and creepy
the show You on Netflix
short books
cliché tropes in thrillers: no wifi, car breaks down, isolated location… but oh, so many twists!

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.5/5)
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️ (2/5)

Content Warnings

rooreerosales's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

lexsassy's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

A satisfying ending, but easily foreshadowed. I’m disappointed that there is minimal spice. But I’m more disappointed that most of the book, two thirds. Is set up for the grand final twist. Not much happens until the last 40 pages. Just little clues. A very interesting read but a predictable genre with all the warnings of a super great twist posted on the novel. I enjoyed the read and the story building made me feel like I was there but I needed more likable characters to keep me going and everyone was very unlikeable.

Content Warnings

amandamz's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

1.25

Truly one of the dumbest books I've read in a while. The writing was so bad, and the story was somehow even worse.

Almost immediately, I kept saying, "you've only known him/her for x amount of days!!" Things were so ridiculous in how quickly they moved with the characters, and yet still, nothing was happening! And seriously, that ending? THAT was the twist? It just had me rolling my eyes.

The only reason I even finished the book was because I rented it from the library on audiobook during a long drive and needed something to listen to.

Oh, and if I had to hear "her blue blue eyes" ONE MORE TIME!!!!! (Stay tuned for the total number count after I get the digital copy from libby and can search for the amount of times it was said)

Content Warnings

gygyreadsgygysips's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

All I’ve gotta say is: I really didn’t see that coming, what a plot twist!!!!!

Content Warnings

achay91's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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