Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - Hideaway

1.5 star…?⭐️ 😬🫣 idk— i’m sorry. I wanted to like it, & feel bad when I don’t, but honest review leggo ⤵️

~

💀this book was just not it for me.

💀I felt like it was slow, not exciting, & lacked plot & chemistry. I probably would have DNF’d if I wasn’t buddy reading it.

💀my favorite part about this book is the side character Alex. I loved her in book one & continue to. but she’s in like only a handful of scenes.

💀I also liked the scene with Banks in the shower after being out in the rain

💀I didn’t get Kai’s obsession with The Pope building & 12th floor & it felt anticlimactic. they barely gave us more depth to his character & it was supposed to be his book? a lot of the book is getting Banks backstory & Damon backstory—so not much of Kai, which was disappointing.

💀there was repetitiveness in the writing (in phrasing) and also..there feels like there’s a lot of instances of men being too handsy/harassing/attacking women like throughout this series (including but not limited to the ‘four horsemen’) & it’s not really written where it feels like the women have mixed feelings/are okay with it & it’s just like never addressed & I didn’t like it (I’ve read many dark romances & this scenario can be executed so much better in my opinion)

~

💀I honestly don’t know if I’ll continue the series at this point.

🎧I listened to the audio and it was done pretty well as far as narrators go

Content Warnings

diamondsequallove25's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I love Kai and Banks's relationship.

I didn't particularly appreciate their story reflected on Damon

I love Pen's writing in this book.

Content Warnings

bigbookslay's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

KAI AND BANKS ARE THE LOML

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dkgreads's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

For a book that’s supposed to be about Kai, it sure seemed like it was more about Damon than anything. It was also really sloooooooow. And there was, like, ZERO chemistry between Kai and Banks. This one didn’t really do it for me. On to the next I guess…

Content Warnings

_terah_hansen_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is NOT a Young Adult (YA) book, I'm not sure why it's labeled that way. Not suitable for anyone younger than 18.

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littlebookishfairy's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

FIVE STARS BABY!!!!! You kidding me Kai Mori HELLO BABY ILY 🫶🏻💕 inject this into my bloodstream cause this was the right amount of smut and plot and I’m here for it!!!!

Spoiler warning but, banks stealing the dogs has me going awooga ily 🫶🏻

Content Warnings

booklovinmamas's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It was time for a reread of Hideaway due to the books being re-published by Berkley with new covers, but really, it was an excuse for me to revisit some of my favorite characters. This is one of my favorite Dark Romances/Romantic Suspense from Penelope Douglas, involving MMCs who wear masks. It also gives me an excuse to finally finish the series since I never read Will’s book. I’m a reader who starts a series and tends never to finish, which I’m correcting this year (2024). I was excited to reread Kai’s book because he’s always intrigued me. He comes off as reserved but is scary at the same time, if that makes sense.)

Female Protagonist: Banks is one female character who is quiet and reserved when you first meet her, but after you get to know her, she’s the complete opposite. She’s loyal to the ones she works for and lives with, but she’s also broken/damaged. She works for the worst kind of person, but she has learned how to handle herself. She doesn’t wear fancy girl clothes, and she is told to stay away from all males. Readers will find out why when they read this book.

Male Protagonist: Kai Mori is one of the four horsemen. He’s an ex-convict, a millionaire/billionaire with his real estate properties, and a martial arts instructor. He comes off as an alpha male because he goes after what he wants and he’s very commanding. I liked his character in the first book because he came off as mysterious. In this book, he was the same, but he also became darker. Kai is one character that is not as scary as Damon, but he has his moments.

Storyline/My Thoughts: First, let me say that this book won’t be a favorite. I looked forward to Kai’s book, especially after being introduced to him in the previous book. I wanted to know who would win over Kai’s heart and didn’t expect it to be Banks. If you read the first book, you would have found out why Kai Mori went to jail and why he feels lost in this book. This book mainly focuses on Kai trying to find Damon for specific reasons. The other horsemen want to find Damon, too, especially after what Damon did to them. Kai goes to Damon’s father for help and ends up doing something out of character that even his friends can’t believe he agreed to do. However, Kai does end up finding the one girl who got away 6-7 years ago. The one girl that he fell for hard, even though he didn’t know her. He never expected to see her working for Damon’s father. There were definitely twists and turns in this book because the FMC, Banks, is full of secrets that she refuses to say.

This book was good, but it dragged a bit, especially in the beginning. It took me a bit to finish it, even the second time reading it. Certain things drove me crazy, like the fact that Banks would not tell the truth to Kai about who she was, and then Michael was a douche in this book, especially to Banks.

Penelope did have me on the edge of my seat when it came to Kai and the others trying to find Damon. Damon is not for the faint of heart, and he does things that are downright scary, but readers will learn some things about him in this book that will make them understand him better. Banks knows him better than even the others after I got to know her more throughout the book.

Overall, this was a good book, and I gave it four stars. Now, I’m onto Damon’s book next, which is a reread.

If you haven’t read this series by Penelope Douglas, you are missing out on a dark and suspenseful read. However, check your triggers before reading this series.

Trope(s)/Element(s):
🖤Enemies to Lovers
🖤Second Chance
🖤Brother’s Best Friend
🖤Forced Proximity
🖤Found Family

Trigger Warnings: Violence, Animal Cruelty, almost rape scene, pedophilia and incest that is mentioned in the book.

Content Warnings

francess_m's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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