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Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Rape
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I can’t believe I just finished reading Credence—a 465-page book—in less than two days. That’s how hooked I was. I couldn’t put it down. The story completely consumed me, and despite all its red flags, toxicity, and morally questionable moments, I ended up loving it.
Let’s get this out of the way first: Yes, this book is problematic. There are aspects that directly contradict my personal values—like the fact that Tiernan is technically still blood-related to Jake, Noah, and Caleb. Even though it’s a step-cousin/step-uncle situation, Jake and Tiernan’s father were blood brothers, which means there’s still a biological connection. Thinking too hard about that part makes it uncomfortable, so I had to mentally shove that under the rug just to enjoy the story.
Then there’s the fact that Tiernan was still a minor when some of the intimate situations began unfolding. The uncle-niece, cousin relationships were unsettling at times, and it took some effort to overlook those details. However, once I separated myself from the real-world implications and focused on the characters, their growth, and the story’s development, I fell completely in love with it.
One of my favorite things about Credence is how every character evolves throughout the story.
• Tiernan starts out as this emotionally detached girl, completely isolated from the world because of her parents’ neglect. Her parents’ obsessive love for each other was so deep that there was no room left for her. That kind of love is rare and passionate, but also damaging when it excludes a child. It shaped Tiernan into someone who felt small, unimportant , and unworthy of love. But as the story unfolds, she grows into someone stronger, more self-aware, and independent. She learns what she wants, what she doesn’t, and makes her own choices—good or bad, they’re hers to make.
• Jake also undergoes huge character growth. At first, he’s possessive and controlling, but by the end, he realizes that he has to let go—not just of Tiernan, but also of his sons. He learns that he can’t keep people tied down just to avoid being alone.
• Noah had my heart at some points, and honestly, I felt bad for him because his feelings for Tiernan seemed so genuine. But there was closure for me when, at the end, he realizes he’s actually in love with racing. That moment made me feel better about how things turned out for him. He deserved his own path, and I love that he followed his dreams instead of clinging to something that wasn’t meant to be.
• Caleb was wild from the very beginning. His introduction into the story was feral, chaotic, and borderline terrifying, but the way his character was written—silent but expressive—made me fall for him over time. He didn’t need words to show how much he cared for Tiernan. He was always watching, always there, even in his quietness. And what really sealed it for me was the moment he chose not to stay in that car—the same place his mother abandoned him in when he was four. That was the turning point. He refused to let his trauma define him any longer. He spoke up, he communicated, he fought for Tiernan. That moment showed how much he truly loved her and how far he had come.
Unlike other dark romance books (cough Den of Vipers cough), Credence didn’t just romanticize toxicity—it showed that messy relationships like that don’t end well. There was a realization that what they had at the cabin wasn’t sustainable, and I loved that.
Everyone got a proper resolution:
• Tiernan finished school and built a career for herself.
• Noah pursued his passion for racing.
• Jake and Mirai found love.
• And most importantly, Tiernan and Caleb built a family—one built on love, not trauma.
After reading Den of Vipers, which leaned way too hard into violence and toxicity without any real resolution, Credence felt like a better dark romance. It had its controversial moments, but it also had growth, healing, and closure.
Yes, it’s still problematic in many ways. Yes, the entire “I slept with three men from the same household” situation is insane to think about in a real-life context. But in the end, the story worked. The characters made sense together. The relationships developed, and their arcs felt satisfying.
Would I recommend Credence? Yes, but with caution. It’s not for the faint of heart. You have to be comfortable with dark, taboo themes and willing to separate fiction from reality. If you go into it knowing it’s a dark, twisted, toxic romance with a deep emotional core, you’ll be hooked—just like I was.
Let’s get this out of the way first: Yes, this book is problematic. There are aspects that directly contradict my personal values—like the fact that Tiernan is technically still blood-related to Jake, Noah, and Caleb. Even though it’s a step-cousin/step-uncle situation, Jake and Tiernan’s father were blood brothers, which means there’s still a biological connection. Thinking too hard about that part makes it uncomfortable, so I had to mentally shove that under the rug just to enjoy the story.
Then there’s the fact that Tiernan was still a minor when some of the intimate situations began unfolding. The uncle-niece, cousin relationships were unsettling at times, and it took some effort to overlook those details. However, once I separated myself from the real-world implications and focused on the characters, their growth, and the story’s development, I fell completely in love with it.
One of my favorite things about Credence is how every character evolves throughout the story.
• Tiernan starts out as this emotionally detached girl, completely isolated from the world because of her parents’ neglect. Her parents’ obsessive love for each other was so deep that there was no room left for her. That kind of love is rare and passionate, but also damaging when it excludes a child. It shaped Tiernan into someone who felt small, unimportant , and unworthy of love. But as the story unfolds, she grows into someone stronger, more self-aware, and independent. She learns what she wants, what she doesn’t, and makes her own choices—good or bad, they’re hers to make.
• Jake also undergoes huge character growth. At first, he’s possessive and controlling, but by the end, he realizes that he has to let go—not just of Tiernan, but also of his sons. He learns that he can’t keep people tied down just to avoid being alone.
• Noah had my heart at some points, and honestly, I felt bad for him because his feelings for Tiernan seemed so genuine. But there was closure for me when, at the end, he realizes he’s actually in love with racing. That moment made me feel better about how things turned out for him. He deserved his own path, and I love that he followed his dreams instead of clinging to something that wasn’t meant to be.
• Caleb was wild from the very beginning. His introduction into the story was feral, chaotic, and borderline terrifying, but the way his character was written—silent but expressive—made me fall for him over time. He didn’t need words to show how much he cared for Tiernan. He was always watching, always there, even in his quietness. And what really sealed it for me was the moment he chose not to stay in that car—the same place his mother abandoned him in when he was four. That was the turning point. He refused to let his trauma define him any longer. He spoke up, he communicated, he fought for Tiernan. That moment showed how much he truly loved her and how far he had come.
Unlike other dark romance books (cough Den of Vipers cough), Credence didn’t just romanticize toxicity—it showed that messy relationships like that don’t end well. There was a realization that what they had at the cabin wasn’t sustainable, and I loved that.
Everyone got a proper resolution:
• Tiernan finished school and built a career for herself.
• Noah pursued his passion for racing.
• Jake and Mirai found love.
• And most importantly, Tiernan and Caleb built a family—one built on love, not trauma.
After reading Den of Vipers, which leaned way too hard into violence and toxicity without any real resolution, Credence felt like a better dark romance. It had its controversial moments, but it also had growth, healing, and closure.
Yes, it’s still problematic in many ways. Yes, the entire “I slept with three men from the same household” situation is insane to think about in a real-life context. But in the end, the story worked. The characters made sense together. The relationships developed, and their arcs felt satisfying.
Would I recommend Credence? Yes, but with caution. It’s not for the faint of heart. You have to be comfortable with dark, taboo themes and willing to separate fiction from reality. If you go into it knowing it’s a dark, twisted, toxic romance with a deep emotional core, you’ll be hooked—just like I was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Sexual content
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcohol
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Game of Thrones if you took out all the cool dragons and made it just an incest-fest…. Left me kind of just saying “wtf did I just read…”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual content, Sexual violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
Minor: Violence, Pregnancy
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
what the hell did i just read? i was expecting more man. that was messy. kaleb. kaleb. kaleb. idk. felt kind of random but like it wasn't? she had more chem w the other two. idk. honestly did think it might end in a throuple but no.
i would've enjoyed this if she weren't 17 for a good 1/3 of the book & then freshly 18. if she had been older, it would've had some more interesting nuance & connection but it just felt like... grooming & taking advantage of a child. yes, a child, bc i remember when i was 18 & i was far from feeling like an adult – she had also gone through something traumatic so it just gave me the ick.
all the men in this were just bad men. like point blank period. no good men. this was just nuts. idk. a shame bc i did enjoy a different book by ms. douglas but not this one. man. also mirai is kind of insane for getting w jake after she found out ab everything???? bye. booktok, im never taking you seriously ever again! & don't get me started w the weird fetishization of wlw.
i would've enjoyed this if she weren't 17 for a good 1/3 of the book & then freshly 18. if she had been older, it would've had some more interesting nuance & connection but it just felt like... grooming & taking advantage of a child. yes, a child, bc i remember when i was 18 & i was far from feeling like an adult – she had also gone through something traumatic so it just gave me the ick.
all the men in this were just bad men. like point blank period. no good men. this was just nuts. idk. a shame bc i did enjoy a different book by ms. douglas but not this one. man. also mirai is kind of insane for getting w jake after she found out ab everything???? bye. booktok, im never taking you seriously ever again! & don't get me started w the weird fetishization of wlw.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Blood
Minor: Gun violence
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Not my cup of tea i guess.
The reason im not rating it a 1 is because it was immersive only in a way that i read it fast. I hate every character. I was expecting the book to end every chapter from 30% on.
The reason im not rating it a 1 is because it was immersive only in a way that i read it fast. I hate every character. I was expecting the book to end every chapter from 30% on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In its own right, it’s a trip. And if you’re down for erotica, you should take the trip for sure. But I’m not a huge fan of the tip-toeing around the incest and underage vibes. My first read through, I almost DNFed because of being a mother and how I felt like I shouldn’t be enjoying it. But I did get over it and finish to say that I did it…. and then handed it off to my mom saying “wanna read something f’ed up?” 😂 (to which she responded “not like the book your sister just read” which was Dead Inside for context and I loudly said “oh god no, this is a spicy book”).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent
Minor: Stalking, Abandonment
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, Gaslighting
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Abandonment
dark
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What the heck did I just read. Someone get me some bleach for my eyes. I have a real issue with dnfing books cause I have major fomo and think that maybe the book will get better and i don’t want to miss it but I was so wrong with this one.
I will say, for a “tiktok book” my expectations were low so i was pleasantly surprised with the actual writing. Sometimes with popular books it can feel like a teenager is writing it but this one wasn’t like that.
BUT the plot… yikes. I think it had potential for sure but there were too many red flags and just over all yikes.
FIRSTLY, this girl IS LITERALLY A CHILD. I ain’t trying to yuck the age gap yum but like seriously, she’s 17, get your 40year old self out of here. I don’t care if she was 18 when anything serious happened. You were flirting with a 17year old.
SECONDLY dark romance doesn’t mean no consent. Let me say it one more time. DARK ROMANCE DOESN’T EQUAL NO CONSENT. You can write dark romance with consent. Come on guys, this isn’t something you should play around with. This happened at least twice in this book and I seriously should have stopped reading there.
THIRDLY why are these men literal animals, they can’t last one day without having sex or “needing” sex. Get out of here. You are adult men you can keep it in your pants
FOURTHLY… YOU ARE LITERALLY RELATED YUCK EW STOP. this I could kind of put to the back of my mind cause they aren’t blood related but you can’t be talking like family and then turn around and make it sexual. On top of that, how do you just feel chill about your brother/dad/son is having sex with the same girl you are. Like what? No thoughts on how that is weird to you at all??
Overall, this girl was seriously taken advantage of, the men were not good men. Anyone would be seriously confused by the way each man was treating her. I was waiting for some sort of redeeming factor from the man she ends up “choosing” but really I don’t think the character development happened. Every person in this book needs some therapy.
The only thing I liked about this book is the living in a forest (slay farm vibe #cottagecore) and the mention of Amber run (an artist I like)
I will say, for a “tiktok book” my expectations were low so i was pleasantly surprised with the actual writing. Sometimes with popular books it can feel like a teenager is writing it but this one wasn’t like that.
BUT the plot… yikes. I think it had potential for sure but there were too many red flags and just over all yikes.
FIRSTLY, this girl IS LITERALLY A CHILD. I ain’t trying to yuck the age gap yum but like seriously, she’s 17, get your 40year old self out of here. I don’t care if she was 18 when anything serious happened. You were flirting with a 17year old.
SECONDLY dark romance doesn’t mean no consent. Let me say it one more time. DARK ROMANCE DOESN’T EQUAL NO CONSENT. You can write dark romance with consent. Come on guys, this isn’t something you should play around with. This happened at least twice in this book and I seriously should have stopped reading there.
THIRDLY why are these men literal animals, they can’t last one day without having sex or “needing” sex. Get out of here. You are adult men you can keep it in your pants
FOURTHLY… YOU ARE LITERALLY RELATED YUCK EW STOP. this I could kind of put to the back of my mind cause they aren’t blood related but you can’t be talking like family and then turn around and make it sexual. On top of that, how do you just feel chill about your brother/dad/son is having sex with the same girl you are. Like what? No thoughts on how that is weird to you at all??
Overall, this girl was seriously taken advantage of, the men were not good men. Anyone would be seriously confused by the way each man was treating her. I was waiting for some sort of redeeming factor from the man she ends up “choosing” but really I don’t think the character development happened. Every person in this book needs some therapy.
The only thing I liked about this book is the living in a forest (slay farm vibe #cottagecore) and the mention of Amber run (an artist I like)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Abandonment
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I want to know... WHO HURT YOU, PENELOPE DOUGLAS!
Fantastic book, while as taboo as they come. The underlying theme of grief and abandonment was compelling and emotional.
Fantastic book, while as taboo as they come. The underlying theme of grief and abandonment was compelling and emotional.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment