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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
dark
emotional
sad
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
Nearly DNF’ed it, but pushed through to the end. As much as Tiernan annoyed me with having the same monologue a thousand times, she was also just some abandoned and vulnerable little girl being taken advantage of, so I don’t know how I feel about her. I didn’t like any of the other characters except Mirai and at times Noah. I especially disliked Kaleb (yes, you were horrifically abused, that doesn’t excuse your actions…) , and didn’t love the ending because of it. It felt like we were romanticizing a relationship that absolutely should not be romanticized, and not even just because he’s her cousin.
Honestly, I knew going in that it wasn’t really my type of book, but hey, it’s fun to read about some toxic chaos sometimes… In that regard, I got exactly what I was looking for.
I will also say I loved the description of the setting. As much as I wouldn’t want to be stuck on that mountain with those specific characters, I would kill to live in a place like that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Sexual content, Toxic relationship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent
Couldn’t get past the theme of the book and the way it depicts romance
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abandonment
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Check your trigger warnings ⚠️
Now let me preface this with I am aware people either love this book or strongly dislike this book, especially due to the trope/subject matter.
Is there age gap? Yep.
Taboo romance? Yep.
Why choose? Yep.
Smutty smut smut? Yep.
However, I absolutely devoured this book and could not put it down. The age gap, the two for one special of the step cousins, the going back and forth between the step uncle and the step cousins… can be a lot to process 😅
But they are STEP, never met one another ever, and are NOT blood related. So with that being said I felt comfortable enjoying this book completely. 😍😅
Highly recommend 👏
Now let me preface this with I am aware people either love this book or strongly dislike this book, especially due to the trope/subject matter.
Is there age gap? Yep.
Taboo romance? Yep.
Why choose? Yep.
Smutty smut smut? Yep.
However, I absolutely devoured this book and could not put it down. The age gap, the two for one special of the step cousins, the going back and forth between the step uncle and the step cousins… can be a lot to process 😅
But they are STEP, never met one another ever, and are NOT blood related. So with that being said I felt comfortable enjoying this book completely. 😍😅
Highly recommend 👏
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ok I understand why this book got grief…….but I freaking loved it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We follow a girl who loses both her parents all in the same day but both in life and in death she is left to be taken care of by someone and anyone other than her mom and dad. She is lonely in every sense of the word until she receives a phone call from her father’s step brother explaining until her 18th birthday (which is in a few weeks) she is to be taken care of by him. Her step uncle lives in Colorado high up on a mountain with his two sons very different from her LA only child life……She quickly agrees to this change of scenery. She doesn’t know yet that loneliness, a secluded house in the mountains, three very attractive men and no blood to blur the lines can bring out her inner self in just a few weeks.
This definitely was a little deeper into the dark romance world I normally go with Penelope Douglas new plots were definitely tested. However if you look past what I already assume you are judging you do find a book about growth. It’s a weird character development for sure I’m not disagreeing with you there but this book definitely provided everything a reader needs romance, spice, mystery, growth and inspiration.
I only knocked a star because there are some parts of the book I feel dragged on. For example I don’t need a whole chapter about fixing an old chest. It also took a very long time to get to the spice but when it got there it definitely got there. But that is my only complaint.
Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
We follow a girl who loses both her parents all in the same day but both in life and in death she is left to be taken care of by someone and anyone other than her mom and dad. She is lonely in every sense of the word until she receives a phone call from her father’s step brother explaining until her 18th birthday (which is in a few weeks) she is to be taken care of by him. Her step uncle lives in Colorado high up on a mountain with his two sons very different from her LA only child life……She quickly agrees to this change of scenery. She doesn’t know yet that loneliness, a secluded house in the mountains, three very attractive men and no blood to blur the lines can bring out her inner self in just a few weeks.
This definitely was a little deeper into the dark romance world I normally go with Penelope Douglas new plots were definitely tested. However if you look past what I already assume you are judging you do find a book about growth. It’s a weird character development for sure I’m not disagreeing with you there but this book definitely provided everything a reader needs romance, spice, mystery, growth and inspiration.
I only knocked a star because there are some parts of the book I feel dragged on. For example I don’t need a whole chapter about fixing an old chest. It also took a very long time to get to the spice but when it got there it definitely got there. But that is my only complaint.
Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
I got the ick and nothing even happen yet
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
First half of the book RIPS, and then the second half is a total snooze. Ah well. ALSO, obsessed with the fact that monogamy is the one line they won't cross . We can excuse [literally so much weird shit], but we draw the line at polyamory . This is why more of these *~*dark romance*~* need to be written by little homosexual freaks like myself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol
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
dark
emotional
sad
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
I was recommended this book by a few friends. I'm down with the smuttiest of books. While I liked the book overall and was satisfied with it, when I break it down, I'm really not super impressed with it.
To start, there's obviously a lot of very triggering topics from the beginning of the book. The main character, Tiernan, isn't super loveable or charismatic and I found myself not even sympathizing with her for much of the book. Some of the reveals about her relationship with her parents I really felt like should have been explained earlier on, then I might have had more empathy for her.
Much of the time she spends with her uncle and cousins is very triggering. Basically lowkey rape to start with. And while I know they weren't technically blood relatives, the fact that that's how she addresses them the whole book, just weirded me out to be honest.
The ending also frustrated me sooo much. I'm all for a happy ending, but I definitely thought that given the darker theme of almost the whole book that it would have a more on brand ending but NOPEKaleb miraculously shows up, makes the romantic gesture and suddenly starts to speak. Of course they end up together, with a child and happily ever after. . I genuinely wish that Kaleb had the character development and nuances that we learned in the latter half or latter quarter of the book in the beginning. Again, I liked the book overall, it was a bit of a slow burn to start with, got intense in the middle and then just had the perfect resolution.
To start, there's obviously a lot of very triggering topics from the beginning of the book. The main character, Tiernan, isn't super loveable or charismatic and I found myself not even sympathizing with her for much of the book. Some of the reveals about her relationship with her parents I really felt like should have been explained earlier on, then I might have had more empathy for her.
Much of the time she spends with her uncle and cousins is very triggering. Basically lowkey rape to start with. And while I know they weren't technically blood relatives, the fact that that's how she addresses them the whole book, just weirded me out to be honest.
The ending also frustrated me sooo much. I'm all for a happy ending, but I definitely thought that given the darker theme of almost the whole book that it would have a more on brand ending but NOPE
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship
Minor: Animal death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
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