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bookshelfhannah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Violence
emilynied's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Anyways...this book wasn't great, but it was fast paced and kept me interested for basically the whole book. I didn't really connect with the characters at all because I think they act pretty terribly for no reason (which I think is kind of the point), but they weren't super likable. These characters are morally grey (and sometimes just bad people) with bad pasts who do not good things.
I thought that Rika was treated terribly for no reason at all - and even the justification provided by the Horsemen doesn't justify the abuse and harassment she went through. I mean, they did some sick things to her. I felt like the turnaround between her and Michael wasn't all that smooth and it went from hatred to love wayy to quickly.
ALSO, why is this man literally a professional basketball player? Based on his history, literally how does he have time for that, I mean he spends the whole book thinking about Rika or terrorizing her and *allegedly* he's on one of the best teams in the NBA? Sir does not have time for that. Out of everything in this book, this was the most unrealistic part for me lol.
I liked the timeline changes between the past and present because it provided a lot of insight on the characters and the plot was certainly interesting, but besides that, this wasn't amazing.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship
ephemeral_remi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Rape, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship
roseamillerg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Stalking, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
ana_maria5's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Graphic: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Hate crime, Murder, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Rape, Animal death, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
rahma8'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Mental illness, Murder, Stalking, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Toxic friendship
Run.anastashamarie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
If you take the 2006 film The Covenant, remove the magic, flesh out the plot a little more, and add smut...that's what this book is. An untouchable group of mischief-causing, incredibly attractive bad boys who enthrall everyone with their mystique. Old money posturing and politicking that leads to a revenge plot that uses the sweet blonde FMC as a pawn. Dramatic confrontation scenes that could have been resolved with a much-less-attractive, logical conversation. Some unexpectedly homoerotic tension that I don't think was intentional. The vibes are identical between the two.
And those vibes are immaculate for the first 2/3 of the book. But around 67.5%, this takes a weird atmospheric turn that I didn't vibe with as strongly. Idk how to explain it, but the storyline just didn't carry the same oomph after the 67% mark (the spicy scenes still did for sure, but I'm talking specifically about the actual storyline). It went from this hot push and pull between Rika and the whole Horseman group, to a different dynamic that I didn't enjoy nearly as much.
Also as much as I enjoyed the Rika and Michael circling each other, I really just felt bad for her the whole book because everyone around her objectively sucks. This girl deserves better than the thousand red flags surrounding her entire social circle. I hope she finds a genuine friend eventually or that at least the ones she does have treat her better.
But this was greatly enjoyable as a guilty pleasure read. I see why people like Penelope Douglas if this one was any indication, and I am going to read the next one for sure.
⚠️ TWs: lots of sexually explicit scenes, sexual assault/harassment, violence, murder, arson, gaslighting, manipulation, bullying, alcohol use, death of a parent, death of a dog (side note: wtf did this need to be in here for?)
Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Sexual assault, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal death, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Alcoholism
Minor: Car accident
A dog dies in the last chapter; I feel like you can just totally skip that chapter and feel like things are neatly concluded.becflourish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Stalking, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Addiction, Blood, Body shaming, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Car accident, Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny
ecravens'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence
jen1804'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Drops points because some of that shit I read was disturbing and also because of the high number of spelling/grammatical errors! Penelope, get a new editor girl.
Satisfactory ending? Yes.
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Rape, and Animal death