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heroturnedhuman's review against another edition
- 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
0.25
I wish I could erase this book from the collective human memory bank.
If you liked this book, don’t read this review. It’s shamelessly mean, much like this book is shamelessly terrible.
This has to be the most self serving pile of shit I have ever read. It is so obvious this “author” literally just wrote herself into her own stupid, poorly educated, thinks she’s “so kinky” wet dream.
Yeah, the “smut” is full on rape. But I’m not here to yuck anyone’s yum, as an enjoyer of CNC myself, that’s truly not why I’m giving this one star.
I could forgive the uneducated stab at kink, i could forgive the seriously rapey under(over?)tones, I could forgive all of that!
If it wasn’t SO. FUCKING. C R I N G E.
Like holy shit!!
This book is so fucking poorly written! I literally do not understand how anyone with a basic fifth grade understanding of English Lit and creative writing doesn’t see that!!!!! She uses the phrase “I twist my lips” EIGHT. FUCKING. TIMES. Do you not know what a simile is? How about a metaphor?
Girly pop that’s like, BASIC high school creative writing!! Learning how to say the same thing multiples times but in different ways!
not to mention the completely obvious QAnon storyline. Your disclaimer in the beginning is cute, Carlton, but just as shallow, vapid and stupid as your self insert main character.
I am thoroughly convinced this book was written for boring, bigoted, mindless conservative stepford wives to thumb their bean while reading this right wing wet dream because heaven knows the scheduled spaghetti night Tuesday sex in only missionary position with their equally boring husband who couldn’t find a clitoris if smacked him in the face like the word of God isn’t doing it for them.
Why are there SO many storylines and plot points? And how are NONE of them even slightly interesting?
Why is this book nearly six HUNDRED pages long? It shouldn’t even be 100 pages long. It shouldn’t even be SIX
I hate this book more than I hate the fact that my mother is dead.
If I hadn’t read it on my Kindle, I would have set it on fire.
-1000/5.
Also
“Sounds to me like you don’t understand a woman’s body well enough to know when it sings for you, even when her mouth tries to resist.”
Really?
As a survivor of rape, who’s heard this exact sentiment in a million different ways to make me feel like what happened to me was somehow my fault?
Fuck you, H.D. Carlton.
From the bottom of my mean little heart,
Fuck. You.
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Trafficking, and Stalking
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, and Murder
Minor: Racism
serenaann's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Racism, Sexism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment
valeadriana's review against another edition
Booktok made me pick up this novel, and boy, do I regret not reading up on this more before starting it.
The FMC is raped by her stalker, who conveniently hunts down rapists and human traffickers for a living, but then does the EXACT SAME THING to her???
This is so so so bad and I just want to factory reset my brain to never ever have touched upon this bullshit novel
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
meemoomeemootm's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, and Murder
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Racism
autumn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
But, I’m trying to push myself out of my comfort zone with my reading this year, in case I might find that I enjoy something I never bothered to try. It worked with another title (following two serial killers’ romantic tryst), so why not this?
Well. I’ll tell you why.
The male main character. Ugh. He’s a super-hacker who is also a super-spy and super-stealthy super-soldier who rescues “trafficking victims” by killing bad guys. He devotes his life to saving “girls and children” (as written in the book), but upon seeing a poster of the FMC outside a book shop decides he is going to stalk her and force her to love him. Huh??? Where’s that savior complex now, dude?
Of course, the first trafficker we encounter is described as a “Mexican” man. The next predator we are introduced to is part of a group of politicians who participate in Satanic rituals of drinking kid’s blood, and - wouldn’t ya know it - he’s got a stereotypically Jewish last name! Bigoted stereotypes, ahoy!
All the “trafficking victims” are portrayed as loved and cared for little English-speaking girls who were snatched up by evil immigrants and will be returned to loving families, furthering this ridiculous notion that these trafficking rings are snatching up middle-class white women and their tow-headed children Braydynn and Braxxlyeigh from the children’s section of Target, rather than portraying the reality that most trafficking victims are groomed by family or close friends, or are a part of marginalized communities that are easily exploited or taken advantage of.
The “hero” MMC murders a man and leaves his hands on the FMC’s doorstep, sexually assaults her multiple times (once with a handgun), and then she falls in love with him because he bangs her so good. He’s a disgusting hypocrite, and she is a dimwit.
We’ve also got a potential ghost (?), a drug dealing crime family, a 1940s mafia, a crazy “broken doll” who works in a haunted fair and murders people…the list goes on.
The FMC was maybe (?) haunted in this book, but the fact that people can find anything redeeming in either of the main characters of this book is what will haunt me.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
wolvenheart's review against another edition
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, and Trafficking
Seriously, a terrible book. It is written for shock value without substantial content warnings from the author. Somehow, this has been marked as contemporary or dark romance and IT IS NOT. It is horror.trashely's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
bashsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
My biggest issues with Haunting Adeline are as follows:
1) Its writing style is bad. This author cannot write for shit. This book is extremely vague and noncommittal in its descriptions, frustratingly unwilling to give much specific information about the world, and unbelievably cringe-worthy in its dialogue.
2) It promotes a pretty fucked up view of gender - the world of Haunting Adeline implies that even the best of men are predators and even the most strong-willed of women are victims/prey. I could go on about this point with a few dozen examples, but I will boil it down to the most galling one: at one point, there are two victims of human trafficking being discussed - one an adult woman described as a "twenty-four year old girl" and one a child, a little boy. And there is more time and focus put on how this poor "girl" than the actual child. It goes without saying that it's normal to feel for any victims of trafficking, but I find it suspicious that in a book that pulls out pedophilia and child abuse as an excuse for every other crime committed, more focus is given to the female victim, who is an adult, than the literal child - and of course, she's infantilized.
3) Putting a warning that says "this isn't antisemitic" at the beginning of a book is not sufficient. You have to actually not perpetuate antisemitic propaganda in the book. Saying "oh I just like conspiracy theories and it's just my twisted mind" and then vomitting the contents of right-wing Facebook memes onto the page is an act of both idiocy and hubris. God, the ego on this Carlton.
There is a lot more I could gripe about - like how the male lead Z justifies his murders in the most annoying and unconvincing ways or how the titular Adeline just takes him at his word about everything despite him stalking and raping her or the super pervasive ableism or the absolutely weaksauce attempt at class analysis or how this is absolutely catnip for white women who believe they're going to be kidnapped at Target - but I'll just save us both some time and sanity and tell you not to bother with this dumpster fire of a book. If you're looking for a dark bit of smut, just pull up AO3.
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Racism and Torture
Minor: Death of parent
lolalastname's review against another edition
0.25
Full review later
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Minor: Child death, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Deportation
Almost every sexual scene contains choking/strangulationlolalastname's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
To paraphrase Tyra Banks “It’s so bad I want to give you a zero. But that’s not possible, so I give you a 0.25.”
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Vomit