Scan barcode
readingfrankly's review
challenging
dark
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This is like if Borderlands and Fallout had a baby. And as someone who loves the ish out of Borderlands (sorry, not Fallout though), books like this appeal to me.
Was I scared to read it? Yeah. I looked up trigger warnings to mentally prepare myself and just went for it, and I was fine. For most of humanity this book would be a hard no and I don't see myself ever recommending this unless it was to a seasoned horror reader with 0 triggers, because just about everything is in here. It gets rough, it gets gory, and it crosses lines.
I'm rating it a 4.5 but this is one I can already tell will stick in my mind the way 5 star books do. Despite the fact the pace is slow and it felt as long as it was, it was still oddly compulsively readable and I would just get so enveloped in it when I was reading I could easily sit there for hours. I finished this rather quickly because of that. These characters, like the world they live in, are incredibly flawed and at times frustrating to read about but I cared anyway. They mattered anyway. The writing isn't flowery or what I'd describe as pretty but I still annotated this a good bit. There were some quotes and moments that I really did love. Instead of feeling like one long plot the way most books do this felt like a series of subplots, but they ultimately all connect and I can see why this is such a long series. I will be continuing.
Was I scared to read it? Yeah. I looked up trigger warnings to mentally prepare myself and just went for it, and I was fine. For most of humanity this book would be a hard no and I don't see myself ever recommending this unless it was to a seasoned horror reader with 0 triggers, because just about everything is in here. It gets rough, it gets gory, and it crosses lines.
I'm rating it a 4.5 but this is one I can already tell will stick in my mind the way 5 star books do. Despite the fact the pace is slow and it felt as long as it was, it was still oddly compulsively readable and I would just get so enveloped in it when I was reading I could easily sit there for hours. I finished this rather quickly because of that. These characters, like the world they live in, are incredibly flawed and at times frustrating to read about but I cared anyway. They mattered anyway. The writing isn't flowery or what I'd describe as pretty but I still annotated this a good bit. There were some quotes and moments that I really did love. Instead of feeling like one long plot the way most books do this felt like a series of subplots, but they ultimately all connect and I can see why this is such a long series. I will be continuing.
natalie1990's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
poppo's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Read trigger warnings ⚠️ and then read them again...
stabbyreaderxb's review
5.0
《 Reaver • Killian 》
× Dark MM — READ THAT A G A I N.
× Post Apocalyptic
× Cannibalism
× Sociopathic MC
× TOXIC Love
× Heavy drug use
Yall this book right here?!?! Wild from beginning to end ! I was INVESTED in this book ! There were times that I felt like I was personally experiencing it with right beside the characters it was so vivid !
Reaver.. jeeze Reaver . You'll fall for him so quick but damn can he drive you up the wall the next second being hard-headed with no filter . I love his insane, sociopathic self tho
× Dark MM — READ THAT A G A I N.
× Post Apocalyptic
× Cannibalism
× Sociopathic MC
× TOXIC Love
× Heavy drug use
Yall this book right here?!?! Wild from beginning to end ! I was INVESTED in this book ! There were times that I felt like I was personally experiencing it with right beside the characters it was so vivid !
Reaver.. jeeze Reaver . You'll fall for him so quick but damn can he drive you up the wall the next second being hard-headed with no filter . I love his insane, sociopathic self tho
unrougechanel's review against another edition
5.0
So.. yeah, Idk what to say i’m speechless.
my eyes burn from reading continuously. I have rarely felt so many emotions, apprehensions while reading. It felt like watching a suspens series. WOW.
« Greyson? »
« Yes, son? »
« What happened to me? »
« You fell in love, Reaver. »
« I knew you would come for me, even when it got dark, it was all I held onto. »
« I will always find you. »
« I had to protect my baby. Even if he was a murderous, sociopathic baby. »
« Everyone was moving but him. Reaver was still, stoic with a half-smile on his rose-coloured lips. The only thing on his body that moved were the flames flickering in his eyes. I was dating the devil himself. »
« Don’t go to those dark places. Don’t let the darkness take you somewhere where Killian can’t find you. »
my eyes burn from reading continuously. I have rarely felt so many emotions, apprehensions while reading. It felt like watching a suspens series. WOW.
« Greyson? »
« Yes, son? »
« What happened to me? »
« You fell in love, Reaver. »
« I knew you would come for me, even when it got dark, it was all I held onto. »
« I will always find you. »
« I had to protect my baby. Even if he was a murderous, sociopathic baby. »
« Everyone was moving but him. Reaver was still, stoic with a half-smile on his rose-coloured lips. The only thing on his body that moved were the flames flickering in his eyes. I was dating the devil himself. »
« Don’t go to those dark places. Don’t let the darkness take you somewhere where Killian can’t find you. »
n0s4a2's review
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
duchessrin's review against another edition
4.0
★★★★☆ - 3.5 stars
“But I’m crazy.”
“I’m crazy too,” I smiled. “Our crazies will cancel each other out.”
“Or make us twice as crazy.”
I had a hard time reading this novel because it's the most gory and brutal story I had read yet. It's not that I'm not used to reading those kind of stories but usually people only get killed, not eaten, not turned into barbeque, or pie.
Surprisingly, I was riveted by the world Quil Carter created even if I had to take breaks or I couldn't read this while eating. It reminded me of a very gory video game and when Ran told me that the author was actually a video gamer, I wasn't surprised. The influence was evident on how graphic this book was.
I fell hard on Reaver's character. Call me crazy or whatever but I don't know how the author manage to make me fall in love with a character as insane as Reaver.
Yes, I know I’m sick in the head, but I had seen countless people and animals being torn apart and it didn’t bother me like it did some people. I don’t remember a time where it did bother me. I’m sure Greyson and Leo probably have memories of me being a blood soaked two year old laughing at the rats’ throats being ripped out.
At least, he was honest.
I loved how you could easily distinguish Killian and Reaver's povs easily. Reaver had a lot to say. He was slow paced which reflected that he could be patient considering he was a sniper. His thoughts were also really detailed. And when you get into Killian's head, it got fluffy or whatever.
Then Killian. One could say that you shouldn't fall in love with your stalker. But I totally got where Killian was coming from. If I knew somebody like Reaver was stalking me, I would feel secured too. Even if he was crazy but at least I couldn't get killed. At some point, Killian got too annoying but he was also adorable and he could make Reaver laugh.
“I made him fat, I wanted him to stay so I made food for him and fed him. Now he’s going to die because he’s too fat to hunt and I can’t see him from the den.”
Also, he was fiercely loyal to Reaver.
At first, the story had a really slow pace but I liked the build up. When things started to get hot, I couldn't even put the book down.
I'm really looking forward to reading the second book, but for now, I have to read Breaking Jade with Ran first.
“But I’m crazy.”
“I’m crazy too,” I smiled. “Our crazies will cancel each other out.”
“Or make us twice as crazy.”
I had a hard time reading this novel because it's the most gory and brutal story I had read yet. It's not that I'm not used to reading those kind of stories but usually people only get killed, not eaten, not turned into barbeque, or pie.
Surprisingly, I was riveted by the world Quil Carter created even if I had to take breaks or I couldn't read this while eating. It reminded me of a very gory video game and when Ran told me that the author was actually a video gamer, I wasn't surprised. The influence was evident on how graphic this book was.
I fell hard on Reaver's character. Call me crazy or whatever but I don't know how the author manage to make me fall in love with a character as insane as Reaver.
Yes, I know I’m sick in the head, but I had seen countless people and animals being torn apart and it didn’t bother me like it did some people. I don’t remember a time where it did bother me. I’m sure Greyson and Leo probably have memories of me being a blood soaked two year old laughing at the rats’ throats being ripped out.
At least, he was honest.
I loved how you could easily distinguish Killian and Reaver's povs easily. Reaver had a lot to say. He was slow paced which reflected that he could be patient considering he was a sniper. His thoughts were also really detailed. And when you get into Killian's head, it got fluffy or whatever.
Then Killian. One could say that you shouldn't fall in love with your stalker. But I totally got where Killian was coming from. If I knew somebody like Reaver was stalking me, I would feel secured too. Even if he was crazy but at least I couldn't get killed. At some point, Killian got too annoying but he was also adorable and he could make Reaver laugh.
“I made him fat, I wanted him to stay so I made food for him and fed him. Now he’s going to die because he’s too fat to hunt and I can’t see him from the den.”
Also, he was fiercely loyal to Reaver.
At first, the story had a really slow pace but I liked the build up. When things started to get hot, I couldn't even put the book down.
I'm really looking forward to reading the second book, but for now, I have to read Breaking Jade with Ran first.
syka's review
2.0
As far as positives go - a seriously interesting world. I'm mad almost everything else lacked, cause damn, that would have been helluva good series.
But.
First off - the complete lack of editing.
As a non-native speaker I have high tolerance for grammatical and spelling errors, but damn...
Another aspect that really suffers from the lack of editing is the repetitious narration. Things are repeated and revisited with no good reason.
There's also inconsistency in first person narration and third person narration from one paragraph to the next (most jarring in the Jade chapter). Really throws you for a loop who is talking about whom.
The violence, while it fits the world in the book, is just gratuitous at some point. It stops being shocking, instead it just made me wonder if the author actually got off on it. I'm not saying it should be overall tamer, tbh that would take away from the horror this world is expected to evoke. But the repetitious nature of it makes it lose its punch and it starts feeling like grime for the sake of grime.
Last I want to mention that for the life of me I don't know why the vocabulary needed to allude to the holocaust so much. The name of the book, the "arians", the "subhumans"... I found it odd, I really couldn't decide if the author wanted to draw those comparisons and if they did - was I drawing the right conclusions about what they had to say about it? All in all just baffling.
But.
First off - the complete lack of editing.
As a non-native speaker I have high tolerance for grammatical and spelling errors, but damn...
Another aspect that really suffers from the lack of editing is the repetitious narration. Things are repeated and revisited with no good reason.
There's also inconsistency in first person narration and third person narration from one paragraph to the next (most jarring in the Jade chapter). Really throws you for a loop who is talking about whom.
The violence, while it fits the world in the book, is just gratuitous at some point. It stops being shocking, instead it just made me wonder if the author actually got off on it. I'm not saying it should be overall tamer, tbh that would take away from the horror this world is expected to evoke. But the repetitious nature of it makes it lose its punch and it starts feeling like grime for the sake of grime.
Last I want to mention that for the life of me I don't know why the vocabulary needed to allude to the holocaust so much. The name of the book, the "arians", the "subhumans"... I found it odd, I really couldn't decide if the author wanted to draw those comparisons and if they did - was I drawing the right conclusions about what they had to say about it? All in all just baffling.