Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - 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

katereads02's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-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

2.5

Content Warnings

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

LMAO I screamed when I finished this book because ultimately, I support women's wrongs.

I read this in one sitting, and I suspected the ending because I am perpetually suspicious of everyone, and even though I wasn't exactly shocked, I was still delighted to see I was right.

This would be a fun one for a longer plane ride, or simply a beach read. It was a lot of fun to speed through in one sitting!

Content Warnings

julienicole1106's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

dizpig's review

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challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

princess_marie's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

rose_ndrd's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

2.0

I loved the perfect marriage and I was so excited to read this one, I wanted to DNF it but stuck around. The ending was predictable, well some of it. Because of the ending and the plot twist I give it a 3 stars. The first 95 percent was slow for me but the last 5 percent was okay. I hope there is a part two, I would definitely read it, it was a fun read.

Content Warnings

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.75

I feel bad because I like the IG of the author, but this just wasn't for me at all. I'm hate the "not like other girls" trope, I really hate when I'm asked to believe things like a fully grown man would call mascara "that black stuff she puts on her eyelashes," and it all just felt really...scripted. I'll probably try Ms. Rose again to see if this book was just not my thing.

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