A review by luna_98
Does It Hurt? by H.D. Carlton

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

i’m so torn with the rating for this one. 
did i finish it and was entertained while reading? yes. 
would i recommend or read again? most likely no. 

for the spice, i felt like for a dark romance there was a good balance of smut and plot. the spice had potential to be hot, and sometimes it was! other times, it came across assault-y/rape-y which i can’t get behind. 

the main characters were both layered and complicated. there was some trauma-bonding for sure.
i feel like there was potential for them to both grow but lowkey they didn’t? sawyer didn’t really learn her lesson and was never given justice?? yes she was a victim (and that shit was horrible like incest and assault? damn she needs therapy) but that doesn’t justify also being a criminal and she got away with it. enzo didn’t grow either, he was still a domineering asshole who assaulted her as well! okay he ends up loving her but i don’t feel like he understood the gravity of what he’d done.
 

the horror aspects were wild but felt rushed and glossed over in a lot of ways. i wish we had learned more about the crazy family. 
idk if the HEA was earned and/or was wrapped up so quickly that it surprised me. 

there was a few editing errors in my copy but overall the writing was good and super readable. 
i don’t regret reading it but i'm feeling like this type of dark romance isn’t my thing. 
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