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A review by booksafety
Rogue by Onley James
5.0
Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below. Bear with me, there’s was too many highlights.
Levi flopped onto Shiloh, making himself a dead weight on top of him, resting his head on Shiloh’s chest for a change. Shiloh hugged his head like it was a plushie.
Alright, first off, I think highlighted every single scene Ever was in. I still love that character so much that it’s almost embarassing. His and Shiloh’s friendship was adorable and funny in equal measure.
Ever studied his face like he wanted to make sure Levi wasn’t placating him, but then he turned his attention to Shiloh. The two blinked wide, owlish eyes at each other. It was like watching two baby deer meet for the first time. Ever beamed at Shiloh. “I’m Ever.” “Shiloh,” Shiloh whispered.
This book is really heavy on the complicated family abuse and drama. It definitely does not pull any punches when it comes to showing the ugly sides of having manipulative, narcissistic and abusive family members, so definitely keep that in mind. It was handled really well though. I definitely trust Onley to handle topics like it with respect.
I was fully expecting to fall in love with Shiloh going in (and I did), but I also ended up loving Levi so much. In true Onley James fashion, the characters fall fast and hard, but even when it’s toxic and codependent, you end up rooting for them to make it through. It helps that they know that it’s not healthy. Seeing these guys happy and in love and just living their ‘normal’ lives was nice.
This book was also very spicy (to me anyway), but I liked how it was done. It wasn’t just the same type of scene repeated. It brought both emotion, intimacy and humor to the book, which was neat.
He wasn’t even a person; he was just three mental health issues in a trench coat.
I really enjoyed feeling a bit in the dark about Shiloh’s mental state. It added a different element to the entire book where I didn’t know what would happen. The book didn’t feel nearly as long as it actually is. Another banger from Onley James.
⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Found family
Past trauma
Mental health rep
Piercings and tattoos
Mild exhibitionism
Sex toy
Hurt/comfort
Nice murdery boys
High heat
Instalove
⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Suicidal ideation
Almost suicide attempt (takes a handful of pills, not expecting to die but okay with it either way)
Parental suicide (detailed, past)
Graphic violence
Physical assault (on page)
Injured MC
Explicit sexual content
Mention of sexual assault (past)
Mentions of child sexual abuse
Alcohol abuse (parent)
Torture (on page, not MCs)
Verbally abusive parent
Physical abuse (past and present, family member)
Incarcerated family member
Manipulation and gaslighting (family)
Mentions of child neglect
Panic attacks
Psychological torture and abuse (family member, on page)
Mild exhibitionism
Unsafe sex
Mentions of past statutory rape
On-page murder
PTSD/dissociation
Very mild use of degrading name (slut)
⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: No
Breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, dual POV
Genre: Contemporary romance, M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Strict roles
Main characters’ age: 22 and 25
Pages: 364
“Don’t say it. Don’t tell me I don’t have to go back, because I do. Don’t tell me you can save me, because you can’t. I can see in your eyes that you’re the hero type. But save it for someone who still has a shot at being a whole person.”
Maybe nothing would happen, maybe he’d wake up in the hospital, maybe he’d sleep for ten days, maybe he’d finally just fade away forever. It would happen. One day. One day, he’d give himself the break he deserved. One day, he would drift off to sleep and never wake up. If there was something on the other side, Shiloh was opting out of coming back for another round. This whole living thing wasn’t for him. The world was a cesspool and humanity was garbage and Shiloh just wanted off this fucking ride. For good.
This whole talk was toxic. The worst kind of co-dependence. Shiloh needed therapy. He needed time to heal. Levi needed therapy, too, if he was being honest. A therapist would probably tell them they shouldn’t be in a relationship, and they’d be right.
“Have you ever heard an eyeball pop?”
You can find most of my reviews on Instagram as well: https://www.instagram.com/booksafety?igsh=MWZ3azhkdDc2Y2ludg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
Levi flopped onto Shiloh, making himself a dead weight on top of him, resting his head on Shiloh’s chest for a change. Shiloh hugged his head like it was a plushie.
Alright, first off, I think highlighted every single scene Ever was in. I still love that character so much that it’s almost embarassing. His and Shiloh’s friendship was adorable and funny in equal measure.
Ever studied his face like he wanted to make sure Levi wasn’t placating him, but then he turned his attention to Shiloh. The two blinked wide, owlish eyes at each other. It was like watching two baby deer meet for the first time. Ever beamed at Shiloh. “I’m Ever.” “Shiloh,” Shiloh whispered.
This book is really heavy on the complicated family abuse and drama. It definitely does not pull any punches when it comes to showing the ugly sides of having manipulative, narcissistic and abusive family members, so definitely keep that in mind. It was handled really well though. I definitely trust Onley to handle topics like it with respect.
I was fully expecting to fall in love with Shiloh going in (and I did), but I also ended up loving Levi so much. In true Onley James fashion, the characters fall fast and hard, but even when it’s toxic and codependent, you end up rooting for them to make it through. It helps that they know that it’s not healthy. Seeing these guys happy and in love and just living their ‘normal’ lives was nice.
This book was also very spicy (to me anyway), but I liked how it was done. It wasn’t just the same type of scene repeated. It brought both emotion, intimacy and humor to the book, which was neat.
He wasn’t even a person; he was just three mental health issues in a trench coat.
I really enjoyed feeling a bit in the dark about Shiloh’s mental state. It added a different element to the entire book where I didn’t know what would happen. The book didn’t feel nearly as long as it actually is. Another banger from Onley James.
⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Found family
Past trauma
Mental health rep
Piercings and tattoos
Mild exhibitionism
Sex toy
Hurt/comfort
Nice murdery boys
High heat
Instalove
⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Suicidal ideation
Almost suicide attempt (takes a handful of pills, not expecting to die but okay with it either way)
Parental suicide (detailed, past)
Graphic violence
Physical assault (on page)
Injured MC
Explicit sexual content
Mention of sexual assault (past)
Mentions of child sexual abuse
Alcohol abuse (parent)
Torture (on page, not MCs)
Verbally abusive parent
Physical abuse (past and present, family member)
Incarcerated family member
Manipulation and gaslighting (family)
Mentions of child neglect
Panic attacks
Psychological torture and abuse (family member, on page)
Mild exhibitionism
Unsafe sex
Mentions of past statutory rape
On-page murder
PTSD/dissociation
Very mild use of degrading name (slut)
⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: No
Breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, dual POV
Genre: Contemporary romance, M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Strict roles
Main characters’ age: 22 and 25
Pages: 364
“Don’t say it. Don’t tell me I don’t have to go back, because I do. Don’t tell me you can save me, because you can’t. I can see in your eyes that you’re the hero type. But save it for someone who still has a shot at being a whole person.”
Maybe nothing would happen, maybe he’d wake up in the hospital, maybe he’d sleep for ten days, maybe he’d finally just fade away forever. It would happen. One day. One day, he’d give himself the break he deserved. One day, he would drift off to sleep and never wake up. If there was something on the other side, Shiloh was opting out of coming back for another round. This whole living thing wasn’t for him. The world was a cesspool and humanity was garbage and Shiloh just wanted off this fucking ride. For good.
This whole talk was toxic. The worst kind of co-dependence. Shiloh needed therapy. He needed time to heal. Levi needed therapy, too, if he was being honest. A therapist would probably tell them they shouldn’t be in a relationship, and they’d be right.
“Have you ever heard an eyeball pop?”
You can find most of my reviews on Instagram as well: https://www.instagram.com/booksafety?igsh=MWZ3azhkdDc2Y2ludg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr