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mayjulyn's review
dark
tense
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, and Torture
Minor: Suicide and Alcoholism
jessanicolesingh's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Not only do I give both of these 5 ⭐️, but I can confidently say this is my FAVORITE duet/series to date! This author figured out the perfect balance of steam and plot, and had some downright funny scenes too.
Our MMC, a psychopath and sculptor, is involved in an ongoing rivalry with a fellow artist and serial killer, who “gifts him the FMC. What is mostly characterized as a dark romance of stalking and obsession, somehow manages a slow burn love simultaneously. It features a game of wits and survival, and also overcoming childhood trauma. The first book in the set has a faster paced plot, while the second covered more timeline overall. The accompanying music playlist suggestions were on point with this one, I truly felt immersed in this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Murder
Moderate: Blood and Child abuse
spatterson7's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Body horror, Gore, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Suicide, Torture, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Car accident, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Grief, Self harm, and Alcoholism
claudlessclimes's review
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Death
Minor: Alcoholism
aepompu's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I didn’t love this one as much as the first in the duet, however it did have a very satisfying conclusion so thank God for that.
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Stalking, Blood, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, Stalking, Physical abuse, Gore, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Vomit
smcrain's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Hrm, maybe 3.75 stars here. There are things I like about this series and things I don't. It's not life changing by any stretch, but was it enjoyable? Yes, I was interested enough to keep going all the way through both books. As I said there's a personal humor to the setting of them being fine artists, this continues that line for me in the second book with the of the art shows, interviews, a flashback to art school. I will give Ms. Lark props for either having some art experience, or having done some research into it; because there's definitely a few times where I had the thought that the author must make art. Another thing I enjoy in this series, not just this book, is overall the dynamic between Cole and Mara. I really enjoyed how they changed one another over the course of the book. Honestly, Cole changed more than Mara, or Mara's felt a little less believable, but I enjoyed that aspect. I'm honestly not one to highlight or mark passages in books, but I will say that there are some really nice lines and thoughts sprinkled throughout this series. There were several moments, that gave me pause to where I would read a line and think, "I would highlight this" if I were that type of reader. Overall, I like Sophie Lark's idea of a dark but healthy relationship.
Things I didn't like, and this isn't dislikes so much as maybe didn't quite hit the mark for me. The backstories. I mean it's honestly a hard sell to write someone so broken and abused that they resort to murder. It's not the author's fault I've read it in other works, usually fan works, but still it rarely convinces me. This was kind of no exception. Also, I don't know if it's just a truth universally known that stepfather's are a$$holes? or it just so happens that mine also fit this mold so well, that it just seemed too cliche for me. God, somewhere out there there has to be decent men who don't emotionally abuse and treat their step kids like sh*t. Okay, I know it's totally not a fault of the author's that this stuff hit too close to home for me, that my coping mechanism is to scoff. Again overall I enjoyed the book. Some of the stuff seemed sped through, the coping of some deaths way too fast, but at the same time I don't think I would care/want to read through the actual emotional reaction to that. So while I'm like this seems too unrealistic, I'm also like okay with it being omitted. WOW, I'm such a demanding reader.
I will say, and my favorite thing about this series, is that there are actual book illustrations sprinkled throughout the works. I applaud Sophie Lark for supporting artists and illustrators. That really put a smile on my face. Do the characters look like I imagined in my head, not exactly, no. But did she commission someone to illustrate her work; Yes, and for that I'll be looking at her other works, because now more than ever it's hard for illustrators to get work. I love that she's supporting artists in that way.
Things I didn't like, and this isn't dislikes so much as maybe didn't quite hit the mark for me. The backstories.
I will say, and my favorite thing about this series, is that there are actual book illustrations sprinkled throughout the works. I applaud Sophie Lark for supporting artists and illustrators. That really put a smile on my face. Do the characters look like I imagined in my head, not exactly, no. But did she commission someone to illustrate her work; Yes, and for that I'll be looking at her other works, because now more than ever it's hard for illustrators to get work. I love that she's supporting artists in that way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Child abuse
hapalyn's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I enjoyed a lot more of the backstory than I did the actual current plot. And the plot itself felt a little bit undersold. I think that there was so much more that could've been explored, and I found the swap of the two serial killers' control was really interesting and a good tie-back to the beginning of the first book. I would've loved to see a bit more unraveling of the MMC. The FMC got over a lot of things faster than I expected her to, and she was surprisingly chill with a lot of the unhinged, illegal things going on.
I would've enjoyed more of an exploration of her dark side, seeing her become more twisted as we see the "twisted" MMC become more humanized. Overall, I think this duet is moreso for the people who want a sexual story than one with equal amounts of plot. It wasn't really for me, but it helped me shape my taste and know what I want in darker fiction.
I would've enjoyed more of an exploration of her dark side, seeing her become more twisted as we see the "twisted" MMC become more humanized. Overall, I think this duet is moreso for the people who want a sexual story than one with equal amounts of plot. It wasn't really for me, but it helped me shape my taste and know what I want in darker fiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Cursing, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent
olivia_k_wood's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Death, Murder, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Stalking
kejendjsa's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Self harm, Body horror, Drug use, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Addiction, and Sexual content
krhart's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The second book in this duo. This book picks up pretty much exactly where the first book left off. I really really feel like I shouldn't like Cole but he is that absolute red flag book boyfriend that you have to love because you're just naturally drawn to him. This book holds so much anticipation and excitement and hope for the main characters, both Cole and Mara.
The story takes you along as Cole and Mara's relationship grows and Cole starts to realize that he may actually have a soft spot for Mara. Mara continues to grow within herself with the help of Cole. She becomes more confident in her art, herself, and Cole. She continues to grieve the loss of her friend and she and Cole plan their revenge on Shaw.
The book has some really great redemption and revenge moments, and a fun little cameo from a certain police officer.
There are definitely some pretty spicy scenes and Cole and Mara just fire up the pages. I absolutely love the ending and I'm kind of sad to see this duo end. I would recommend both of these books.
The story takes you along as Cole and Mara's relationship grows and Cole starts to realize that he may actually have a soft spot for Mara. Mara continues to grow within herself with the help of Cole. She becomes more confident in her art, herself, and Cole. She continues to grieve the loss of her friend and she and Cole plan their revenge on Shaw.
The book has some really great redemption and revenge moments, and a fun little cameo from a certain police officer.
There are definitely some pretty spicy scenes and Cole and Mara just fire up the pages. I absolutely love the ending and I'm kind of sad to see this duo end. I would recommend both of these books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Child abuse
Moderate: Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Misogyny
Minor: Stalking