A review by kimberlianne
Carnage by Shantel Tessier
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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
4.25
Carnage by Shantel Tessier is the follow up to The L.O.R.D.S. Series, The Ritual, The Sinner, and The Sacrifice. This is a DARK DARK romance. If DARK is your favorite color, then buckle up and settle in because you’re going to love this book.
Saint is not just a Lord, but a Spade brother tied to his fate running Carnage. There are very few things that matter to him, but at the top of the list are his other Spade brothers, and Ashtyn, his Chosen. Ashtyn knows her role as a Chosen is to serve her Lord and she willing did so, until she found a way out. Except now, Saint has found her and dragged her back to Carnage to remind her who she is and what her role is.
Just like the previous LORDS books, this book is dark and spicy. Saint is a morally black, over the top alpha male, and as much as I was prepared to hate him for at least a little bit in the book that never happened for me. To me, he wasn’t as dark as some of the other Lords in the previous books. I loved that at the heart of all his anger and rage was his love for Ashtyn. After reading about the Spade brothers in the previous books, it was great for me as a reader to get additional background about them. They seemed so ominous and mysterious in the other books and this kind of opens up the curtain a bit.
I appreciate the dual POV in this book and the way it is used in the writing. You are given just enough information from each character for the story and then some of those key moments are called back either in a flashback or from the other POV. It helps to drive the story and keeps you on your toes.
As I expect from these books, there are a lot of twists and turns. Shantel writes to keep you guessing and while some people find it chaotic, I found exciting. Okay, so I may have guessed some things because that’s the kind of reader I am, I try to guess the unexpected, so then I can feel accomplished when I’m right, but this didn’t take any of the excitement out of anything. There are some call backs to The Sinner and The Sacrifice, so there were moments where I felt the need to go back as a refresher, but I love revisiting the old characters to see how they’re doing.
If you want something dark, intense, suspenseful, with a little bit of “What is this and why do I like it?” Then you need to give this book a read. I took my time with this book, trying to savor it because I know I’ll be waiting for the next Spade brother for awhile, but I probably could have devoured this in a day.
Saint is not just a Lord, but a Spade brother tied to his fate running Carnage. There are very few things that matter to him, but at the top of the list are his other Spade brothers, and Ashtyn, his Chosen. Ashtyn knows her role as a Chosen is to serve her Lord and she willing did so, until she found a way out. Except now, Saint has found her and dragged her back to Carnage to remind her who she is and what her role is.
Just like the previous LORDS books, this book is dark and spicy. Saint is a morally black, over the top alpha male, and as much as I was prepared to hate him for at least a little bit in the book that never happened for me. To me, he wasn’t as dark as some of the other Lords in the previous books. I loved that at the heart of all his anger and rage was his love for Ashtyn. After reading about the Spade brothers in the previous books, it was great for me as a reader to get additional background about them. They seemed so ominous and mysterious in the other books and this kind of opens up the curtain a bit.
I appreciate the dual POV in this book and the way it is used in the writing. You are given just enough information from each character for the story and then some of those key moments are called back either in a flashback or from the other POV. It helps to drive the story and keeps you on your toes.
As I expect from these books, there are a lot of twists and turns. Shantel writes to keep you guessing and while some people find it chaotic, I found exciting. Okay, so I may have guessed some things because that’s the kind of reader I am, I try to guess the unexpected, so then I can feel accomplished when I’m right, but this didn’t take any of the excitement out of anything. There are some call backs to The Sinner and The Sacrifice, so there were moments where I felt the need to go back as a refresher, but I love revisiting the old characters to see how they’re doing.
If you want something dark, intense, suspenseful, with a little bit of “What is this and why do I like it?” Then you need to give this book a read. I took my time with this book, trying to savor it because I know I’ll be waiting for the next Spade brother for awhile, but I probably could have devoured this in a day.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Sexual content