Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Damaged

Short novella that intersects with the main world of the series, I liked it but for being so short there was a but that felt very explaining everything to you that got a little dry. Loved getting more Calliope though

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jessie_h's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

OMG! Calliope has a kid! Who is also a psychopath! I have been wondering how she got involved with the Mulvaneys since the first book and now I know. Dmitri and Arlo were cute together and the cameos from the Mulvaneys were awesome! I can't wait to see how the ending of their novella fits in to the series.

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shybookstagramer's review against another edition

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5.0

This is the first book that doesn't center around one of the Mulvaney boys but we still have a beloved psychopath who just wants to lay claim to his obsession. I really liked this one. I ended up reading this in the middle of reading Headcase because he was introduced in that and I was very confused at who this guy was and all the plot holes that came of not knowing his background. So I stopped headcase to go read this one. It provided some much-needed background. Even though this book was a novella instead of a full novel like the others in the series, it didn't disappoint. There was a great plot, characters, and spice! Overall a really great and necessary addition to the series.

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aromarrie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

for something pretty short, this author still packed quite a heavy punch in this novella; something to be expected with how she writes suspense & mystery into each book in this series. i think even though i didn’t feel that connected to the main characters, i could still see how strong of a connection they had with each other and it almost…endeared me more to the story as we see arlo panic about this unprecedented murder that took place while dimitri was there to keep him steady.

after all the abuse & mistreatment that arlo has suffered in his life, for someone like dimitri to offer him a comfort that’s so at odds with what’s deemed the norm about psychopaths, it made their romance hit a little hard because that’s the thing with this entire series, isn’t it? we’re seeing these characters fall in love with their psychopaths and the whole thing just makes you wonder what the author is telling you with that. these characters feel safe with their lovers, they feel protected, they feel…loved, in a way. and i think getting to read a story in this series where we were witnessing this love at around the time where dimitri & arlo are in college offered a really well-rounded perspective that had its share of chaos like all the other books but all boiled down to these soft moments between our two main characters.

would i have loved to see more of the mulvaney family? yes. it would’ve been so cool to see them interacting more with dimitri, someone whose mom has tried to prevent him from involving himself in any more crime, and yet he finds himself in some deep shit anyways. and so what better way to see him evolve better than with the mulvaney brothers? august’s presence in this novella is a huge factor as to what makes me wish we could’ve seen more of that dynamic, because there’s this speech he gives at the end to dimitri that hints that he could sorta be considered the “next generation” for this project that thomas had created with his entire family.

getting to learn more about calliope’s background and how she came to even be part of this family was really interesting; so interesting, in fact, that a part of me is bitter we didn’t see more about her, either, specifically her relationship with her son, dimitri, altogether. the appealing thing about novellas for a majority of people is that they make you crave more, they make you latch onto these characters you only know for a brief amount of time and then boom!! they’re gone. here it felt like the same thing for me, but it also kinda revealed the disheartening thing with this format of storytelling because as sweet as this overall novella was, as tense & suspensful as it was, it didn’t feel like enough? but alas….

i’m glad i finally read this. this was something short & quick to read right before one of my most anticipated 2022 releases drops into my kindle library at midnight, and it was a nice reading experience, too. it had its emotional moments to be honest—again, the abuse that arlo has suffered is not to be taken lightly and seeing the effects it’s had on him makes for a sobering venture into what turns into a really bloody & scary night for him and dimitri. i’m just glad the two found each other, and it’s nice to have gotten to see what this novella was all about.

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readingtotravel's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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