Scan barcode
buyingbookswithashley's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
merilizabeth's review
3.0
It was not bucking my knees and bending me to its will. I enjoyed it despite the Stockholm syndrome, like cmon we all like Beauty and the Beast, so this is the same just for adults. Basically I had other images of this book, but it was not bad that it never met my supposed lines. Something different to read for me. Not gonna continue series tho, because frankly this is not what I look for.
trinitymconrad's review
2.75
"he may make my soul weep and tear itself into pieces but he made it operatic with joy, too. my soul didn't just sing, it rejoiced."
cala_p's review against another edition
4.0
After 7 years, it’s the right time for a reread of a classic dark romance favourite. And to give it the review it deserves, since the first time I read this was pre-review writing time.
7 years ago was around the beginning of my dark romance journey and Tess and Q were some of the OG couples for me that got me started on the path. Regardless, I was worried about getting into this; that I wouldn’t like it as much and it’d ruin a long-time favourite series.
I rated it 4 stars the first time, and now, I maintain that rating. The beginning and ending are great. The middle is quite slow in my opinion and hard for me to stay attentive to. Q is introduced as being very mysterious but he is the typical dark romance hero so often found in these books. Tess is a fighter from the first moment she’s taken, but what annoys me most is her flip-flopping so quickly. Very early on, she decides she’s okay with Q…but then continues to fight him. The back and forth was tiring.
I do recall loving books 2 & 3, so hopefully that remains so. I’m also wondering if I wasn’t in the mood for this reread after all, given how long it’s taken me to read it…
Favourite Quote:“I promise to protect you, ravage you, hunt those who hurt you, and give you the life you deserve. My fortune is yours. My secrets are yours. And I will give you the corpses of the men who hurt you.”
7 years ago was around the beginning of my dark romance journey and Tess and Q were some of the OG couples for me that got me started on the path. Regardless, I was worried about getting into this; that I wouldn’t like it as much and it’d ruin a long-time favourite series.
I rated it 4 stars the first time, and now, I maintain that rating. The beginning and ending are great. The middle is quite slow in my opinion and hard for me to stay attentive to. Q is introduced as being very mysterious but he is the typical dark romance hero so often found in these books. Tess is a fighter from the first moment she’s taken, but what annoys me most is her flip-flopping so quickly. Very early on, she decides she’s okay with Q…but then continues to fight him. The back and forth was tiring.
I do recall loving books 2 & 3, so hopefully that remains so. I’m also wondering if I wasn’t in the mood for this reread after all, given how long it’s taken me to read it…
Favourite Quote:“I promise to protect you, ravage you, hunt those who hurt you, and give you the life you deserve. My fortune is yours. My secrets are yours. And I will give you the corpses of the men who hurt you.”
erikabra's review against another edition
4.0
3.5** I read this book so fast. I really love Q character he is Well describe and is personnality is credible for this kind of dark romance. The plot is Nice and develop Well during the book. Tess is like a hurricane of emotions, at first i didnt like it but i understand her at the end. It is really dark but i just find the human traffiking laking of realism to my taste. The BDSM part was sometimes veryyyyyy cheesy wich is a little turn off for me. Its a good book but i dont know if I will read the next.
astraeasversion's review
2.0
this book was very weird and i never want to read something like this ever again.
devansbooklife's review
4.0
This book is not a light read. In fact it pulls you so far into the darkness you forget what warmth the sun holds. Let me express this to anyone thinking of reading this book: you MUST finish it. I hated this book when I started. I was filled with feelings of hurt, sadness, hate, pain, and emptiness. And it never failed that with each sliver of hope I grasped, I ended up kneeling retching with bile coating my tongue. I can't describe the emotions this book brought out. I didn't want to understand the madness. The darkness. But at the end of the book I understood. It seemed like my eyes had adjusted and even the thought of light caused me pain. This book is not for the vanillas of the world. Hell this book isn't even for the chocolates of the world. But it has it's place. It's just hard to see.
amiascah's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I am not a fan of writing negative reviews, and I'm not a vanilla queen saying negative things cause BDSM scares me and I shouldn't have picked up this book. I knew what I was picking up and I enjoy dark fantasy, when done right, but there was so much just wrong with this.
The first third of the book felt like internal slut shaming. Instead of acknowledging all her wants and desires as normal kinks that people have and enjoy and that it can be an empowering and safe sex life I left the book feeling like all their kinks are their dirty little secret and that both Tess and Q feel ashamed to enjoy what they enjoy, they're happy to find one another but that they are odd freaks, monsters and that neither of them are good people just cause they like bondage and pain.
I don't think other than learning that he's ashamed of how he feels which you learn in the last 10 pages of the book that I learned anything all about Q. How are you supposed to connect with a character if they remain a mystery for the entire book? And why all the secrecy? Why didn't they tell Tess that they are essentially a halfway house for trafficked women? What would be the harm in telling a woman that they are trying to rehabilitate, who's not broken yet that she can go home? Q had to know he was her first owner? So where's the communication?
Tess bothered me, I could have come around to her if her character grew and she welcomed that she was not a freak or a monster, and maybe if she wasn't so dumb. I can't get over the tracker, the big to do about how she's so brave and smart and how she escaped and quickly she has to snip the tracker off her ankle but then.... leaves it in the car she's traveling in? And who leaves the populated town area with just one man? After being abducted I would hope I remember to stay where there are loads of people and I feel like I would gravitate more towards women after being raped with a knife handle (which probably just means that I'll be lured away by other trafficked women if I ever get taken). And then after she gets back and finds out she's being sent away doesn't she blame Franco the guard? I assume it's been a whirlwind of horrible for her, but how is this his fault? I found her incredibly whinny, from the beginning with Brax and how he just can't do it for her cause he's too soft and nice (don't marry him then, take your vibrator and go) and then the back and forth of wanting Q not wanting Q. I did like, at times, keeping her name from him, when she first did it it showed a bit of back bone and I thought maybe things will be better. And at the end I appreciated her finishing school and taking control of her life. There was one line in there about revenge and the doctor/tattoo artist lady that has her in Mexico getting what she's due and I was happy thinking maybe she's gonna go on a killing spree but she just runs back to Q.
The first third of the book felt like internal slut shaming. Instead of acknowledging all her wants and desires as normal kinks that people have and enjoy and that it can be an empowering and safe sex life I left the book feeling like all their kinks are their dirty little secret and that both Tess and Q feel ashamed to enjoy what they enjoy, they're happy to find one another but that they are odd freaks, monsters and that neither of them are good people just cause they like bondage and pain.
I don't think other than learning that he's ashamed of how he feels which you learn in the last 10 pages of the book that I learned anything all about Q. How are you supposed to connect with a character if they remain a mystery for the entire book? And why all the secrecy? Why didn't they tell Tess that they are essentially a halfway house for trafficked women? What would be the harm in telling a woman that they are trying to rehabilitate, who's not broken yet that she can go home? Q had to know he was her first owner? So where's the communication?
Tess bothered me, I could have come around to her if her character grew and she welcomed that she was not a freak or a monster, and maybe if she wasn't so dumb. I can't get over the tracker, the big to do about how she's so brave and smart and how she escaped and quickly she has to snip the tracker off her ankle but then.... leaves it in the car she's traveling in? And who leaves the populated town area with just one man? After being abducted I would hope I remember to stay where there are loads of people and I feel like I would gravitate more towards women after being raped with a knife handle (which probably just means that I'll be lured away by other trafficked women if I ever get taken). And then after she gets back and finds out she's being sent away doesn't she blame Franco the guard? I assume it's been a whirlwind of horrible for her, but how is this his fault? I found her incredibly whinny, from the beginning with Brax and how he just can't do it for her cause he's too soft and nice (don't marry him then, take your vibrator and go) and then the back and forth of wanting Q not wanting Q. I did like, at times, keeping her name from him, when she first did it it showed a bit of back bone and I thought maybe things will be better. And at the end I appreciated her finishing school and taking control of her life. There was one line in there about revenge and the doctor/tattoo artist lady that has her in Mexico getting what she's due and I was happy thinking maybe she's gonna go on a killing spree but she just runs back to Q.