Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Vicious

This book was bottom of the barrel. And I know that’s harsh, but the heavy topics in this book were not handled with care. The writing style was not my cup of tea and the characters (even the minor ones) were so hard to like. I’m honestly surprised I didn’t dnf this.

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valeria_gzz's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Edit: the biggest reason I gave this such a low rating even though it was entertaining was because there was too much “you’re mine” and not in the cute way but in the creepy way ya know? 2 These people need therapy. This was entertaining enough because of the drama. I didn’t like Vicious at all for the first 60% which good for me.

I liked that Vicious got better about expressing his feelings and knowing what he wanted, even though I still don’t think this is a good relationship. I also liked that the author showed that while he did like her he knew that the way he was going about it was completely wrong.

I don’t plan on continuing this series because I didn’t like the other characters enough and don’t want to read another bully or dark romance, I’ll stick to my fluff.

I only have a few things to add about the bully romance aspect:

I think the author could have written Vicious a lot worse than how he was written i.e. as someone who physically hurt Emilia (did threaten her a lot though which isn’t any better, it’s the thought that counts). He also could’ve been written as someone who actually hated her and then felt bad about it and started to like her, unlike how he knew of his attraction to her but was hindered by his personal issues. Omfg I just went back and skimmed the first few chapters and yeah no this guy was absolutely crazy awful to Emilia and I’m just now remembering that I thought it was so weird how even though we were in Vicious’ pov he didn’t act like he knew he liked her more like he just wanted HER (and not to be with her) it was weird.

(Original)2,5 These people need therapy. This was entertaining enough because of the drama. I didn’t like Vicious at all for the first 60% which good for me.

I think the author could have written Vicious a lot worse than how he was written i.e. as someone who physically hurt Emilia. He also could’ve been written as someone who actually hated her and then felt bad about it and started to like her, unlike how he knew of his attraction to her but was hindered by his personal issues. I’m really glad the only bully romance I’ve ever read (this one) was one where the characters were not physically abusive and hateful.

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golden_like_dior's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Actually a good dark romance with some little things that personally annoyed me.

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anouverlinden_'s review against another edition

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relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

After dnf-ing 'The Hunter' by LJ Shen I decided to give her another try with this book. I heard many great things about 'Vicious' so I was curious to find out myself.

This book was good but not mind-blowing. I liked the banter between the characters and the chemistry they had but that's were it ended for me. Most of the time I did not like Vicious because he is a jerk to everyone without a clear reason, he justifies his behaviour by saying 'I'm an asshole, I know'. Like I need more than that.

The ending left me unsatisfied. Yes, everything wrapped up nicely but I don't know, I just wanted more from it.
I also expected more smut or more sexy scenes but it literally took the book 50% before they even kissed or something. I don't mind a 'slow burn' (but I would not classify this as slow burn) but nothing happened between them in the first 50% so felt a bit over the place.

I don't know if I will give her other books a try because in the end I felt mostly meh about the story but I guess we will never know.

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