Scan barcode
A review by nitzanschwarz
God of Pain by Rina Kent
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
66 | D | 2.5 ★ | passable
Honestly, I didn't really like this book. I essentially DNF-ed it at 49% because I just could not stand this couple, especially Creighton. However, I decided to pick it up and finish it because while reading the next book, I realized some plot-important things for NIKOLAI (and likely Bran) happened in the latter half that I wanted to be aware of before moving on to their book. So, I literally finished this book for other couples. Luckily, the second half of the book has many " lore-heavy" portions, which allowed me to fly through the next 35% and then sigh and slog through the remaining 15%, which was once again very couple-heavy. All in all, this book was an unfortunate turn of events for me because I actually really liked Creighton and Anikka in book one. They seemed like they were going to be a fun couple--boy, was I wrong.
So, let's begin with Anikka, with whom I had less of an issue aside from the forced quirkiness. I do think this character is a lot of "tell, not show," which is not a storytelling mechanism I like. We always heard how light and bubbly and bright she is, but I didn't really feel so reading in her POV or about her. Like, the narrative wasn't convincing me. Telling me she's yapping is not exactly it.
But she's the least of my worries because her "better half" is way worse. Judging by his cameos in the first book and the beginning of this one, I thought I was really going to like Creighton. But noooo, dude had to prove me wrong, relatively fast. By the 45% I wrote in my notes "this man is a one star for me". He is such a controlling asshat. It'd be one thing if he was like that during sex - that's pretty much par for the course for this series, and I'm fine with that. But the way he basically shuts her up, essentially conditioning her not to disagree with him; not to go out with her friends without him; not to let anyone touch her--friends and family included, makes him into an abusive asshole.
This is why I got so annoyed with the narrative telling me that he was freeing Annika, teaching her not to be a people pleaser (are you kidding me? All she tries to do with him around is please him), to stand out for herself. Bitch, where? And the gaslighting. God. Why is Anikka apologizing for going out with friends when Creighton never informed her they had plans? Didn't know she was a mind reader. Why is she being punished for an innocent, non-probing questions you decided to branch into a trauma dump? Also, all the nice things he apperatenly does for her? Yeah, they mostly happen off-page. So all WE get to see is the abusive shit. Not the best story design, IMO.
Oh, and don't go looking for a good BDSM representation because I'm pretty sure this is not it, lol.
As for the more plot-heavy portions - I definitely liked them better than the rest of the story, even though I thought it was all so unnecessary. Like, genuinely, why?He's "avenging the child he was." Okay?... can we maybe do that with all the info and also direct our anger at the people who assaulted women and were ruined for it instead of the people who did the ruining? Just a thought. I also think maybe this is what made this book so unbalanced. A significant portion of the book, from around 50%, is dedicated to the big reveal and the fallout. Compared to the previous and following book, which had their big "mic drop" moments closer to the 75% mark, we get a lot less time for the couple to just develop and mesh. Even though this is a long book, it did feel like we speed-ran their falling in love, and maybe that's why I ended up disliking them as a couple so much. I did skim through their big confession scene or whatever on the island, though. I felt like I was gonna barf, lol.
Plot - 13/20
Characters - 14/20
Relationships - 12/20
Writing - 15/20
Reading Experience - 12/20
Final score: 66
Honestly, I didn't really like this book. I essentially DNF-ed it at 49% because I just could not stand this couple, especially Creighton. However, I decided to pick it up and finish it because while reading the next book, I realized some plot-important things for NIKOLAI (and likely Bran) happened in the latter half that I wanted to be aware of before moving on to their book. So, I literally finished this book for other couples. Luckily, the second half of the book has many " lore-heavy" portions, which allowed me to fly through the next 35% and then sigh and slog through the remaining 15%, which was once again very couple-heavy. All in all, this book was an unfortunate turn of events for me because I actually really liked Creighton and Anikka in book one. They seemed like they were going to be a fun couple--boy, was I wrong.
So, let's begin with Anikka, with whom I had less of an issue aside from the forced quirkiness. I do think this character is a lot of "tell, not show," which is not a storytelling mechanism I like. We always heard how light and bubbly and bright she is, but I didn't really feel so reading in her POV or about her. Like, the narrative wasn't convincing me. Telling me she's yapping is not exactly it.
But she's the least of my worries because her "better half" is way worse. Judging by his cameos in the first book and the beginning of this one, I thought I was really going to like Creighton. But noooo, dude had to prove me wrong, relatively fast. By the 45% I wrote in my notes "this man is a one star for me". He is such a controlling asshat. It'd be one thing if he was like that during sex - that's pretty much par for the course for this series, and I'm fine with that. But the way he basically shuts her up, essentially conditioning her not to disagree with him; not to go out with her friends without him; not to let anyone touch her--friends and family included, makes him into an abusive asshole.
This is why I got so annoyed with the narrative telling me that he was freeing Annika, teaching her not to be a people pleaser (are you kidding me? All she tries to do with him around is please him), to stand out for herself. Bitch, where? And the gaslighting. God. Why is Anikka apologizing for going out with friends when Creighton never informed her they had plans? Didn't know she was a mind reader. Why is she being punished for an innocent, non-probing questions you decided to branch into a trauma dump? Also, all the nice things he apperatenly does for her? Yeah, they mostly happen off-page. So all WE get to see is the abusive shit. Not the best story design, IMO.
Oh, and don't go looking for a good BDSM representation because I'm pretty sure this is not it, lol.
As for the more plot-heavy portions - I definitely liked them better than the rest of the story, even though I thought it was all so unnecessary. Like, genuinely, why?
Plot - 13/20
Characters - 14/20
Relationships - 12/20
Writing - 15/20
Reading Experience - 12/20
Final score: 66
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt