Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Corrupt

quick read and kept me hooked. only liked Alex and Kai towards the end. Damon can go to hell idc. didn't appreciate the sexism and sexual assault at all. if the men in this book were a little less fucked up it would be perfect.

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aris_butwhynotho's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

3.0

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rahma8's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

The octopus and Rika had an intimate moment

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florixer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

So this is a hard one to describe, on one hand I really enjoyed reading this book, because it got me out of a reading slump and is really fast paced. But there were many scenes I thought were not okay.
First, Micheal doesn't like to explain him self most of the time, which often ends in miscommunication. Also they often treated Rika like shit and when she said No to the actions they often still continued and said stuff like, but I know you want it so bad. And also she never really seemed bothered by it most of the time.
The story line though was really interesting, sometimes a little bit confusing, but it was written in a way you couldn't put the book down. I'm not really sure yet if I want to continue the series, but if you have a high tolerance rate it is okay to read. But if you can't read story's that are sometimes a little bit unmorally than this might not be the right book for you

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queen_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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curicastic's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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? No

1.5

This is a hard one to review. (This might have slight spoilers)

I never know how to rate dark romance books because they're an entirely different breed for me, as far as books go.
I heard the hype, I guess it kind of lives up to it. I was a bit slow, the back and forth between the present and the "three years ago" POV was a little tiring at times. I think this book could be 100 pages less and it would change nothing, there where scenes where the character repeted themselves and it was eye rolling.

I might continue the saga because these type of books are like crack, there's just something about em. There were a few moments where I laughed and I was SURPRISSSSSSSSSSED, LEMME TELL YOU.
Penelope Douglas makes assholes look good, that's an art.

PS: Ah, yes, I nearly forgot. While we can all appreciate the kind of asshole Douglas writes... I quite often like it when it comes with a soft center. This might not be the saga for me, maybe... but I am willing to read one more book to find out. All that pulling not giving in Michael did was frustrating at times, which... I get it, if that was the point. I'm just saying that if that doesn't change... I might have to reconsider reading these books lol.

PS2: Oh my god. The whole "Rika got us arrested" was so stretched out thin I nearly fell asleep during that. I even thought it might've been more fun is someone stole the masks and did something with them that oh so special night. But I repeat myself, this book needed to be edited DOWN at least 100 pages.

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gabi_w21's review against another edition

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2.0

I liked this book, sort of? The romance didn’t feel like a romance. All Michael did was treat Rika like absolute shit, threaten her, stand back while his friends torture/torment her and joke about raping her, and he did one nice thing (the fencing tournament) at the end and THAT'S what made Rika love him? Rika was an idiot who thought with her vagina and not her head, and I hated the Alex/Rika scene because it felt way too much like fetishization. I hated how Rika never really stood up for herself despite all this lip service about how strong and fierce she was.

And don’t get me started on the abundance of rape threats & jokes. Those aren’t funny nor do they make the story interesting.

Why didn’t Rika just ask why Michael was ignoring her? Why are they so stupid?

These idiots really

planned to torment this girl because they thought she leaked all the information to the cops without ever confirming it?

These dudes are predators, dangerous, and entitled. They've never been told no and are the epitome of the privileged white boys. They do whatever they want. Rules for thee, not for me.

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