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tonianne2788's review against another edition
3.75
Content Warnings
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
samflowerv6's review against another edition
I saw that some people get mad if you don’t like a book because of a trigger warning that’s clear but you never know how it’ll be used or how it’ll affect you. It’s so weird. I can enjoy the devils night series and other dark romances but the animal cruelty and just HOW dark some of the side characters are ruined everything for me. The story was interesting, like the whole plot and the FMC and her friend were great. But I felt the disconnect also from how much she thought of him vs him thinking of her. It was way off. Thatcher freaks me out more than Damon Torrance or anyone ever has and what he and Alistair did to her pet rat is fucking weird and I cannot move on from it
I just don’t like any of the guys like AT ALL.
I just don’t like any of the guys like AT ALL.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
madlereads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
4.5
😈 bully romance
🖤 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. 🤭
🖤 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. 🤭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
melissaslibraryy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
This book felt very insta-lusty between the mc’s since they only saw each other once or twice before they thought of the other sexually. This is a dark bully romance involving murder and gore, so check the tw’s!!
Content Warnings
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
shannonspage's review against another edition
Too slow for me and too much internal dialogue. I tried, but idk I just don’t want to waste any more time forcing myself to finish this
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Animal death and Gore
briochebun's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
୨୧ The Lies We Steal ୨୧
╰┈➤ [4 out of 5 ☆’s.]
❝𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐭.❞
ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝
I am so glad I took the time to go back and finish this book! :)
I loved Briar + Alistair’s relationship! The tension between the pair was incredible & I cannot wait to see them appear in the other books in this series!
The side characters were also so intriguing — I can’t wait to read their stories! ♡
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Trafficking
Minor: Drug abuse, Rape, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
rio4ever's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
the plot beats are messy and kind of bad but i liked it 😂 💀
Content Warnings
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
kbugz724's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
I am...I can't put into words how much I loved this book! It is extremely dark so please look up trigger warnings (some parts are pretty graphic).
But through all that is an incredibly beautiful story about two people who have had very different upbringings but have so much of the same trauma. It's about a beautifully dark found family that would literally do absolutely anything for each other.
No only did MJ tell the perfect story of a broken boy and a broken girl coming together and learning to be a little less broken together, but it also told the story of how much your friends can be the family you always wanted and needed.
"Family wasn't who you were born with. It's who you'd bleed for."
But through all that is an incredibly beautiful story about two people who have had very different upbringings but have so much of the same trauma. It's about a beautifully dark found family that would literally do absolutely anything for each other.
No only did MJ tell the perfect story of a broken boy and a broken girl coming together and learning to be a little less broken together, but it also told the story of how much your friends can be the family you always wanted and needed.
"Family wasn't who you were born with. It's who you'd bleed for."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Murder
maddamekat's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
2.75
So the blurb had nothing to do with the plot. There are zero wedding dresses or empty graves so not sure what that was about.
Pacing was hard to track especially in terms of who was speaking. KU edition has inconsistent text formatting and a plethora of spelling mistakes.
The story itself wasn't bad it just needed smoothing out. As always I'll finish the series.
Pacing was hard to track especially in terms of who was speaking. KU edition has inconsistent text formatting and a plethora of spelling mistakes.
The story itself wasn't bad it just needed smoothing out. As always I'll finish the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Kidnapping and Stalking
abir_'s review against another edition
slow-paced
2.0
The title is fitting. I felt nothing reading this and nothing after finishing it. I liked the friendship between briar and lyra and I loved their weird pets.
I'm interested in Lyra's and Thatcher's story but I just can't go through the dryness that is this book again
Also deviance was used instead of defiance at some point and it completely ruined the experience for me, I was doubting that I saw typos up until that point
I'm interested in Lyra's and Thatcher's story but I just can't go through the dryness that is this book again
Also deviance was used instead of defiance at some point and it completely ruined the experience for me, I was doubting that I saw typos up until that point
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Trafficking
Minor: Drug abuse, Rape, and Murder
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