A review by bookbruin
Deviant by Natasha Knight
2.0
Audiobook Review
Overall 2.5 stars
Performance 3 stars
Story 1.5- 2 stars
I'm normally not a big dark romance reader, but have become a fan of Natasha Knight's books. She has a way of getting me invested in these broken anti-heroes that surprises me every time. I wanted to enjoy this one too, but unfortunately, Deviant was a miss for me. I knew going in that it was going to be a dark listen, but many situations in the book felt like they were there just for the shock value rather than actually adding anything to the story. Philip Alces did a good job narrating, but I didn't particularly enjoy his female voices and I thought his voice wasn't gruff enough to fully pull off our amoral hero.
The heroine, Mia, came across as too stupid to live, and all the hero, Julien, ever did in the book was have sex (with our h and OW in the beginning) or dole out punishments, which led to more sex. There are BDSM situations, forced seduction, and dubious consent in this one. It felt much more like Stockholm Syndrome rather than love and it was very hard to believe that Mia was always "dripping and ready" for Julien, after the things that he did to her. The main drama involving why Mia was on the run from her step family wrapped up really fast and was anticlimactic given how much build up there had been. Julien's 180 at the end made the epilogue feel disingenuous and though fans of dark romance/erotica may enjoy this one, Deviant just wasn't for me.
Overall 2.5 stars
Performance 3 stars
Story 1.5- 2 stars
I'm normally not a big dark romance reader, but have become a fan of Natasha Knight's books. She has a way of getting me invested in these broken anti-heroes that surprises me every time. I wanted to enjoy this one too, but unfortunately, Deviant was a miss for me. I knew going in that it was going to be a dark listen, but many situations in the book felt like they were there just for the shock value rather than actually adding anything to the story. Philip Alces did a good job narrating, but I didn't particularly enjoy his female voices and I thought his voice wasn't gruff enough to fully pull off our amoral hero.
The heroine, Mia, came across as too stupid to live, and all the hero, Julien, ever did in the book was have sex (with our h and OW in the beginning) or dole out punishments, which led to more sex. There are BDSM situations, forced seduction, and dubious consent in this one. It felt much more like Stockholm Syndrome rather than love and it was very hard to believe that Mia was always "dripping and ready" for Julien, after the things that he did to her. The main drama involving why Mia was on the run from her step family wrapped up really fast and was anticlimactic given how much build up there had been. Julien's 180 at the end made the epilogue feel disingenuous and though fans of dark romance/erotica may enjoy this one, Deviant just wasn't for me.