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maybhank's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment
mickeymattioli's review against another edition
5.0
Words cannot express the depth of love that I have for this book and how proud I am of it and of one of my favorite authors! Liza went for it with this one and was absolutely relentless with her intense and captivating plot and her emotional and relatable characters.
It’s hard to put into words the way I felt reading it, but the fact that I could so heavily relate to Aura had me thinking I can’t be the only one who feels this way. It almost felt like a permission to be interested in connections with others despite what their gender may be, to be comfortable with what I like, and to not be afraid to talk about it with others.
Between my love for a badass like Ruby, and my emotional connections to Aura, I was rooting for these two from the very beginning, and I wasn’t let down with an explosive story about accepting who you are and learning to follow what feels right. To follow the good vibes. This was beautiful, it was raw, it was edgy, and it was epic.
Thank you, Liza, for letting me take part in something so fantastic and huge. I am forever awestruck!
It’s hard to put into words the way I felt reading it, but the fact that I could so heavily relate to Aura had me thinking I can’t be the only one who feels this way. It almost felt like a permission to be interested in connections with others despite what their gender may be, to be comfortable with what I like, and to not be afraid to talk about it with others.
Between my love for a badass like Ruby, and my emotional connections to Aura, I was rooting for these two from the very beginning, and I wasn’t let down with an explosive story about accepting who you are and learning to follow what feels right. To follow the good vibes. This was beautiful, it was raw, it was edgy, and it was epic.
Thank you, Liza, for letting me take part in something so fantastic and huge. I am forever awestruck!
thesapphichour's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
caitlin_519's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
ravenwolfereads's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this more than I thought I would. I usually despise all those insta-love stories. Eyeroll. But this one wasn't too bad, considering. As someone who grew up with sketchy religious upbringings, this was pretty accurate in terms of comparative religious themes.
A bit too predictable. I guessed the connection between Dom and Malin long before it was revealed. The connection between Dom and Aura was a surprise though. Not a good one, either. Very cringey and...well....kinda felt like it was thrown in there last minute. However, not writing off this author yet. I do plan on reading more of her works.
A bit too predictable. I guessed the connection between Dom and Malin long before it was revealed. The connection between Dom and Aura was a surprise though. Not a good one, either. Very cringey and...well....kinda felt like it was thrown in there last minute. However, not writing off this author yet. I do plan on reading more of her works.
literaryhomeland's review against another edition
1.0
So, I remembered that it’s Sapphic September and I actually hadn’t read anything sapphic this month, so decided that I was going to take a pause on the books I’m currently reading in order to read sapphic literature until the end of the month, bar my degree reading.
I was originally going to read One Last Stop, but because I’m ill I decided to just find a sapphic read on Kindle Unlimited rather than having to worry about sitting up and dealing with a physical book.
Anyway, let’s say that I am regretting not just reading One Last Stop now, but, I’m not here to talk about that, let’s talk about this book.
Do you ever read something and just think: what the actual f!ck?
Yeah, that’s just. . . this book in general, honestly.
What I anticipated from the synopsis: a rebellious girl, avoiding a rich family and expectations she did not want to fill, meeting a bar worker on a night out and the two of them falling for each other.
What you get: A girl who escaped a cult (which you actually never get a full explanation of how she escaped and how she managed to properly flee) which is messed up in so many manners, meeting a worker in the bar who don’t really have much development in their relationship and basically yell at each other and have sex to cope with that frustration but are convinced that vibes draw them together and that they love each other after having a few exchanges which are, quite frankly, toxic.
Don’t get me wrong, and I feel like I’m saying this a lot in recent reviews; these kind of plots can be executed properly, but there’s a line when things get too much, and, my God, this goes beyond the line of messed up. I can’t even.
I couldn’t even sit here and mention all of the trigger warnings in this book, I don’t think. There’s more trigger warnings than there are characters, honestly, and, right off of the bat in the prologue, you’ve got some things that made me feel absolutely sick to the stomach.
Also, there was only one scene in the book I didn’t predict: there’s tell after tell of certain characters actually being connected to the Nation, and my main question is, if she received therapy after leaving, why on Earth did the police not try to take the cult down then?!?!
Oh yeah — so that the plot of this book exists, right?
I always feel horrible writing negative reviews. I know that authors put their heart and their soul into their work and I feel guilty tearing this apart, but please; I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this book to anyone. Please be mindful if you do proceed to read this book.
I was originally going to read One Last Stop, but because I’m ill I decided to just find a sapphic read on Kindle Unlimited rather than having to worry about sitting up and dealing with a physical book.
Anyway, let’s say that I am regretting not just reading One Last Stop now, but, I’m not here to talk about that, let’s talk about this book.
Do you ever read something and just think: what the actual f!ck?
Yeah, that’s just. . . this book in general, honestly.
What I anticipated from the synopsis: a rebellious girl, avoiding a rich family and expectations she did not want to fill, meeting a bar worker on a night out and the two of them falling for each other.
What you get: A girl who escaped a cult (which you actually never get a full explanation of how she escaped and how she managed to properly flee) which is messed up in so many manners, meeting a worker in the bar who don’t really have much development in their relationship and basically yell at each other and have sex to cope with that frustration but are convinced that vibes draw them together and that they love each other after having a few exchanges which are, quite frankly, toxic.
Don’t get me wrong, and I feel like I’m saying this a lot in recent reviews; these kind of plots can be executed properly, but there’s a line when things get too much, and, my God, this goes beyond the line of messed up. I can’t even.
I couldn’t even sit here and mention all of the trigger warnings in this book, I don’t think. There’s more trigger warnings than there are characters, honestly, and, right off of the bat in the prologue, you’ve got some things that made me feel absolutely sick to the stomach.
Also, there was only one scene in the book I didn’t predict: there’s tell after tell of certain characters actually being connected to the Nation, and my main question is, if she received therapy after leaving, why on Earth did the police not try to take the cult down then?!?!
Oh yeah — so that the plot of this book exists, right?
I always feel horrible writing negative reviews. I know that authors put their heart and their soul into their work and I feel guilty tearing this apart, but please; I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this book to anyone. Please be mindful if you do proceed to read this book.
clemwist's review against another edition
4.0
4/5
i really loved this book. the whole ‘The Nation’ thing was weird but cool at the same time. the whole story was just amazing. while i was reading this, i was trying to figure out why ‘The Nation’ seemed familiar and then i realized it reminded me of season 3 of riverdale
i really loved this book. the whole ‘The Nation’ thing was weird but cool at the same time. the whole story was just amazing. while i was reading this, i was trying to figure out why ‘The Nation’ seemed familiar and then i realized it reminded me of season 3 of riverdale
lezreadalot's review against another edition
2.0
1.5 stars. Have to be honest, this had potential but it was ultimately... not great! At all! I don't often read dark romance but I have to be clear that that's not why this didn't work for me; I knew what I was getting into and the type of stuff I could expect. This just wasn't very well-written or well-executed and as a romance, it did very little for me.
Aura is a survivor, having run away from the cult that brainwashed her since she was a little girl. Ruby is a dancer at a strip club, beholden to a powerful man. They meet one night when Aura's boyfriend and best friend take her for a fun night at the strip club and the two women have a (supposedly) undeniably spark and attraction. The insta-connection is where things started going a little awry for me. Authors use it a lot at the start of their books, and sometimes it works and it's really convincing, but I really didn't feel it here. Nothing about their romance ever really got me; there was nothing to show why they fell for each other. Sometimes, they would talk to/about each other in a way that made me flinch, like... was any of that supposed to be romantic?
The darkness of the story also didn't really work, imo. There's dark, and then there's ridiculous. A lot of horrible things happen to these women, both on and off-page, and after a while the book just started to feel over-saturated with suffering. In all but a few notable instances, there's nothing they can do about what they're going through. It began to feel like misery/trauma porn, especially in a few key instances where ANY reasonable person would have taken certain steps to get themselves out of the situation, but they didn't? Spoilers ahead: The author wrote them putting themselves back into dangerous and compromising situations, because apparently she wasn't done making them suffer. It starts to bleed the sadness/seriousness out of those situations, and just makes them... exhausting. Gratuitous. Needless.
The writing did not compel me, to say the least. I'd have preferred bare simplicity, rather than the pseudo-flowery language we got, with randomly cobbled together images and metaphors that didn't make much sense. This also introduced me to a new pet peeve: too much fucking profanity in the fucking prose. I 1000% don't care if characters have filthy mouths, but an over-abundance of f-bombs in prose is just kinda silly to me. The plot is... okay, and there are a few interesting reveals, but all in all the story moves in a way that makes the beginning a little nonsensical. The romance has undercurrents of obsession/possessiveness which is usually my JAM, but ultimately I felt very little for it. I like unique pet names, but Vibe Girl... what is that?
I think I'll stop here before this review just devolves into me listing nit-picks. Cult survivor stories and abuse survivor stories can be really powerful, but this just missed the mark for me by a mile. I'm trying to think of complimentary things to say about this, and all I can think of is that most of the sex scenes were hot. Give it a go if you're interested and if you like dark stuff (I'd recommend taking a look at the content warnings). This just wasn't for me.
Content warnings:.
Aura is a survivor, having run away from the cult that brainwashed her since she was a little girl. Ruby is a dancer at a strip club, beholden to a powerful man. They meet one night when Aura's boyfriend and best friend take her for a fun night at the strip club and the two women have a (supposedly) undeniably spark and attraction. The insta-connection is where things started going a little awry for me. Authors use it a lot at the start of their books, and sometimes it works and it's really convincing, but I really didn't feel it here. Nothing about their romance ever really got me; there was nothing to show why they fell for each other. Sometimes, they would talk to/about each other in a way that made me flinch, like... was any of that supposed to be romantic?
The darkness of the story also didn't really work, imo. There's dark, and then there's ridiculous. A lot of horrible things happen to these women, both on and off-page, and after a while the book just started to feel over-saturated with suffering. In all but a few notable instances, there's nothing they can do about what they're going through. It began to feel like misery/trauma porn, especially in a few key instances where ANY reasonable person would have taken certain steps to get themselves out of the situation, but they didn't? Spoilers ahead:
Spoiler
Not leaving town after they stab Dom?? Aura going back to Hawk's apartment BY HERSELF?? Stopping to have sex after killing Hawk instead of fleeing the scene/getting rid of the body?? Make it make sense!!The writing did not compel me, to say the least. I'd have preferred bare simplicity, rather than the pseudo-flowery language we got, with randomly cobbled together images and metaphors that didn't make much sense. This also introduced me to a new pet peeve: too much fucking profanity in the fucking prose. I 1000% don't care if characters have filthy mouths, but an over-abundance of f-bombs in prose is just kinda silly to me. The plot is... okay, and there are a few interesting reveals, but all in all the story moves in a way that makes the beginning a little nonsensical. The romance has undercurrents of obsession/possessiveness which is usually my JAM, but ultimately I felt very little for it. I like unique pet names, but Vibe Girl... what is that?
I think I'll stop here before this review just devolves into me listing nit-picks. Cult survivor stories and abuse survivor stories can be really powerful, but this just missed the mark for me by a mile. I'm trying to think of complimentary things to say about this, and all I can think of is that most of the sex scenes were hot. Give it a go if you're interested and if you like dark stuff (I'd recommend taking a look at the content warnings). This just wasn't for me.
Content warnings:
Spoiler
child sexual abuse, grooming, cults, non-consensual drug use, multiple instances of rape (including rape by a parent), violence, gaslighting, physical abuse, torture, branding, cheating, blood playjordynstew's review
dark
emotional
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