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morgansbookshelves's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Bumped up my rating from a 4.5 to a 5! I love how dark and twisted this book is. Lark has a very impressive talent for making you root for the bad guy, as much as I should have disliked Cole I couldn't help but hang on to every word in his chapters. Seeing how his mind worked was fascinating and I am so glad that I have access to book 2. I need to see how this is going to end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Classism, Kidnapping, Cursing, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Death, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Stalking, Violence, Body horror, and Bullying
Moderate: Self harm, Abandonment, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Confinement
Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol
leslielikesliterature's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Torture, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Body horror, and Vomit
_missal3x's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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: Blood, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Stalking, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Self harm, and Alcohol
ginniereads's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Child abuse, Death, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse
booksandcoffeewithlexi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Stalking, and Body horror
Moderate: Murder and Death
Minor: Alcoholism and Self harm
ktkeps's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, and Murder
Minor: Self harm
jen1804's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
He’s a 10 but he’s a serial killer stalker.
⚠️Significant content warnings⚠️
⚠️Significant content warnings⚠️
Mixed feelings about this book but on the whole I really enjoyed it. This is a dual POV book where each chapter alternates between Mara Eldritch, a 26 year old junior artist trying desperately to make ends meet in San Francisco, and Cole Blackwell, a (maybe 30 year old), wealthy, famously renowned artist, who also happens to be a serial killer.
Cole has a rival artist named Alastor Shaw whom he competes with within the art world, for recognition, awards, praise etc. Oh and Shaw also just so happens to be a serial killer too!
The difference between Cole and Shaw is made obvious to the reader. Shaw is more impulsive, more gruesome, more aggressive with his victims and leaves remains behind. Cole is more meticulous, more refined, more secretive and gives nothing away.
It was really interesting, and also chilling, to read a book through the perspective of a sociopath, Cole’s thought processes, his coldness towards everything, his lack of empathy.
The book starts at an art show where both Cole and Shaw are showcasing work, jumping straight in with Cole thinking about Shaw’s most recent murder making the headlines.
Cole notices Mara for the first time when someone spills red wine on her white dress but she takes herself to the bathroom, tie dyes the rest of the garment with more wine and manages to turn the spillage into something beautiful. Shaw notices Cole looking at her and naturally decides to kidnap her and “gift” her to Cole, bound and bleeding, leaving her dying and vulnerable not far from the cave where Cole disposes of his victims. (Yeah I know, pretty fucked up.) After Cole is done with his kill of the night he comes across Mara in his path. He knows it’s Shaw messing with him, offering the girl from the art show for him to kill. Cole has never killed a woman before and disturbingly he just stares at Mara for a while before simply stepping over her and walking away, leaving her to bleed out. But Mara is stronger than either Cole or Shaw thought because she uses her survival instincts to get out of the situation, find her way to a road and she somehow survives, albeit with some deep scars.
Thus ensues Cole’s obsession with Mara. He stalks her, breaks into her property, man handles her things. Rents the place next door so he can watch through her window. He sets it up so that Mara is offered studio space at his studio, something she’s elated about because she’s in desperate need of art space. But when they meet she recognises his face as the man who stood over her watching her die in the woods and then walked away. But Mara’s probably a little bit fucked up as well. I mean case and point she very easily returned to normal after said kidnapping. Whereas if that had been me I think I’d be a broken woman for a very long time. She’s had a traumatic childhood and every instinct which tells her to run and be afraid of Cole Blackwell, she ignores, obviously. She’s stubborn and we are rewarded with a tense back and forth between Mara and Cole, each trying to get under the other’s skin.
Ultimately they find themselves attracted to each other and Cole is confused about what’s happening when he starts experiencing jealousy whenever Mara has ‘interactions’ shall we say with other guys. What begins to unfold is some rare tender moments between them as well as a deep lust and Cole’s overprotective need to keep her safe from Shaw. There’s no fully fledged love yet but this book is part of a duet and I suspect their ‘relationship’ will develop in the second book, likely with Mara ending up a little murderous herself, and tbh I’m here for it.
There’s honestly a lot to love about this book. It’s fascinating and sometimes incredibly hot (yeah I probably need a therapist, whatever). But there’s also some scenes I could do without because they’re so dyer and so graphic (but hey this is a book about serial killers so what did I expect) and I’m also not in love with some of the smut either, sorry not sorry.
But overall yes a good read.
Satisfactory ending? Yes, a cliffhanger, onto book 2.
The difference between Cole and Shaw is made obvious to the reader. Shaw is more impulsive, more gruesome, more aggressive with his victims and leaves remains behind. Cole is more meticulous, more refined, more secretive and gives nothing away.
It was really interesting, and also chilling, to read a book through the perspective of a sociopath, Cole’s thought processes, his coldness towards everything, his lack of empathy.
The book starts at an art show where both Cole and Shaw are showcasing work, jumping straight in with Cole thinking about Shaw’s most recent murder making the headlines.
Cole notices Mara for the first time when someone spills red wine on her white dress but she takes herself to the bathroom, tie dyes the rest of the garment with more wine and manages to turn the spillage into something beautiful. Shaw notices Cole looking at her and naturally decides to kidnap her and “gift” her to Cole, bound and bleeding, leaving her dying and vulnerable not far from the cave where Cole disposes of his victims. (Yeah I know, pretty fucked up.) After Cole is done with his kill of the night he comes across Mara in his path. He knows it’s Shaw messing with him, offering the girl from the art show for him to kill. Cole has never killed a woman before and disturbingly he just stares at Mara for a while before simply stepping over her and walking away, leaving her to bleed out. But Mara is stronger than either Cole or Shaw thought because she uses her survival instincts to get out of the situation, find her way to a road and she somehow survives, albeit with some deep scars.
Thus ensues Cole’s obsession with Mara. He stalks her, breaks into her property, man handles her things. Rents the place next door so he can watch through her window. He sets it up so that Mara is offered studio space at his studio, something she’s elated about because she’s in desperate need of art space. But when they meet she recognises his face as the man who stood over her watching her die in the woods and then walked away. But Mara’s probably a little bit fucked up as well. I mean case and point she very easily returned to normal after said kidnapping. Whereas if that had been me I think I’d be a broken woman for a very long time. She’s had a traumatic childhood and every instinct which tells her to run and be afraid of Cole Blackwell, she ignores, obviously. She’s stubborn and we are rewarded with a tense back and forth between Mara and Cole, each trying to get under the other’s skin.
Ultimately they find themselves attracted to each other and Cole is confused about what’s happening when he starts experiencing jealousy whenever Mara has ‘interactions’ shall we say with other guys. What begins to unfold is some rare tender moments between them as well as a deep lust and Cole’s overprotective need to keep her safe from Shaw. There’s no fully fledged love yet but this book is part of a duet and I suspect their ‘relationship’ will develop in the second book, likely with Mara ending up a little murderous herself, and tbh I’m here for it.
There’s honestly a lot to love about this book. It’s fascinating and sometimes incredibly hot (yeah I probably need a therapist, whatever). But there’s also some scenes I could do without because they’re so dyer and so graphic (but hey this is a book about serial killers so what did I expect) and I’m also not in love with some of the smut either, sorry not sorry.
But overall yes a good read.
Satisfactory ending? Yes, a cliffhanger, onto book 2.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Murder, Self harm, Kidnapping, and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Confinement, Gaslighting, and Torture
j4ywalker's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Of course what pulls me out of a massive reading slump is a deranged, sociopathic serial killer romance😃....... It was pretty freaking good too; I feel my sanity slipping thru my fingers😭.
Cole intrigues me to no end which in reality would make me just as insane as him but shhhh🤫 it's fiction lemme live. It was just really interesting to me how his mind worked and his actions that followed; dude was willddingg in some scenes (him in Mara's bedroom-💀), doesn't help that he's finnneee asl and got the whole mysterious, artsy vibe going on. I really need to see a psychologist or something, cuz the way these characters stay having me in a chokehold...
Mara is also an anomaly to me, badass too for getting herself outta that shitty situation that woulda had me wishing to see the heaven gates. It's characters like hers that make me really wanna dive head first into the human mind and criminal psychology. Her childhood was pretty effed too cuz why tf not atp?? I want Cole to teach her his ways so she can pop all the way off tbh. That insanity is in there and I hope the next book shows it off, cuz Lord knows what's-his-face needs to die a thousand gruesome deaths and then some🙂.
Cole intrigues me to no end which in reality would make me just as insane as him but shhhh🤫 it's fiction lemme live. It was just really interesting to me how his mind worked and his actions that followed; dude was willddingg in some scenes (him in Mara's bedroom-💀), doesn't help that he's finnneee asl and got the whole mysterious, artsy vibe going on. I really need to see a psychologist or something, cuz the way these characters stay having me in a chokehold...
Mara is also an anomaly to me, badass too for getting herself outta that shitty situation that woulda had me wishing to see the heaven gates. It's characters like hers that make me really wanna dive head first into the human mind and criminal psychology. Her childhood was pretty effed too cuz why tf not atp?? I want Cole to teach her his ways so she can pop all the way off tbh. That insanity is in there and I hope the next book shows it off, cuz Lord knows what's-his-face needs to die a thousand gruesome deaths and then some🙂.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Death
Minor: Self harm
vanhalenreads's review
challenging
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
My first Sophie Lark book!!!
I'm so glad I finally decided to take the plunge tbh. She's kind of a badass. No, I take that back. She is a total badass. Sophie, I bow at your feet, girl. You managed to make me, a true crime junkie who can't stand when people romanticize killers, to somehow love a full-on serial killer??? Granted, he's a lot better than his competitor. Listen to me, defending a murderer. Sophie, babe, what have you done to me?
Anyway, check your trigger warnings on this one, people. While it is a masterpiece, it is NOT for the faint of heart by any means.
AND there is a sequel or part two or whatever you want to call it. So if you liked this one, make sure to check out its companion There is No Devil. I haven't read her just yet, but I'm on my way and very ready for more.
I'm so glad I finally decided to take the plunge tbh. She's kind of a badass. No, I take that back. She is a total badass. Sophie, I bow at your feet, girl. You managed to make me, a true crime junkie who can't stand when people romanticize killers, to somehow love a full-on serial killer??? Granted, he's a lot better than his competitor. Listen to me, defending a murderer. Sophie, babe, what have you done to me?
Anyway, check your trigger warnings on this one, people. While it is a masterpiece, it is NOT for the faint of heart by any means.
AND there is a sequel or part two or whatever you want to call it. So if you liked this one, make sure to check out its companion There is No Devil. I haven't read her just yet, but I'm on my way and very ready for more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Body horror, Child abuse, and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual violence, Torture, Stalking, Violence, and Self harm
dkgreads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
I liked the serial killer angle; it’s definitely interesting being in Cole’s head. Mara is scrappy and resilient. I can’t wait to see how they handle Shaw in the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Torture, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Self harm