Reviews with content warning for Death - Things We Hide From The Light

This series just keeps getting better. I might not have enough stars for number 3 I fear.

The character arcs in this are just *chefs kiss* and don't even get me started on the spice.....the RESTAURANT scene?! I thought I was going to have to hide myself away with it for hours 😂

While it's a slow burn, it's done SO well and when we finally get there it is beautiful.

Onto number 3!

Content Warnings

carly_the_librarian's review against another edition

Go to review page

Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

sami_leigh's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

🌶️🌶️.5/5

Everyone was alive and breathing. Everyone but me. I was just pretending.

“It’s the Morgan way. Why shine the light on things when you can pretend they don’t exist?”

Whenever you’re close, everything is better. The closer you are, the easier I breathe, the less I feel like life is just a never-ending pour of lemon juice into an open wound that won’t heal.

“You’re not responsible for how you were brought up, but you are responsible for your actions and reactions once you’re an adult.”

“Tell me what you need to feel safe with this. With us.”

🪽 First person dual POV

🪽 Brother’s best friend/ex
🪽 Police chief / insurance investigator
🪽 Forced proximity; neighbours

🪽 Insta-chemistry
🪽 Both have secrets
🪽 Representation of working through trauma and anxiety associated with a shooting and a medical ailment

🪽 Nickname 🥹

🪽 Found family

🪽 Banter 👌🏻

🪽 Small town vibes

🪽 ‘Touch her and I’ll kill you’ vibes (‘Touch him and I’ll kill you’ vibes 🙌🏻)
🪽 The way Knox & Nash are cinnamon rolls for Waylay 🥹

🪽 Well established secondary characters; Knox & Daisy (Book 1), Waylay (Book 1), Sloane (Book 3), Lucian (Book 3)

🪽 MC growth; risking a relationship, overcoming trauma, unhealthy family ties, boundaries, communication.
🪽 Consent culture 🙌🏻

🪽 Epilogue
🪽 Bonus epilogue 2 years later

Available in audiobook, ebook and paperback.

⚠️ Toxic relationship (platonic), violence (moderate), gun violence (explicit), death of a parent (past), death, blood (minor), parental abandonment, kidnapping, medical trauma (moderate, past).

Content Warnings

abbeyroad1410's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed this book. The plot was fun. I liked having the light thriller in the background of a romance novel. Knox and Naomi were great side characters, and I appreciated that they were worked into the plot rather than appearing as a strange cameo.
I really liked the character of Lina. At times, she did come off as a member of the "not like other girls" trope, but I enjoyed that she enjoyed inherently feminine things like purses and heels. She got along with other women and was happy for their accomplishments even if they didn't match what she wanted. I also liked that Lina had a fully developed back story that explained her overbearing parents and her desire for freedom.
One of the best scenes (which was fairly irrelevant to the plot) was a moment between Lina and one of her former friends which forced Lina to look inwards while still acknowledging how others contributed to the problem. The scene struck a wonderful balance.
Now, onto the low point of the novel: Nash Morgan. When the novel started out I liked him, but this man was red flag after red flag. He was controlling; he was condescending; he was slightly sexist. All of this was under the guise of "protecting" Lina. At times, he was blatantly interfering with her career when she asked him not to. Honestly, Lina deserves better.
Overall, this was an enjoyable book which I may read again if I get in the mood for 500 pages.

Content Warnings

susieis's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

2.25

Content Warnings

jennabeck13's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-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

3.0

Things We Hide From The Light by Lucy Score

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5)

Genre: Romance

About 575 pages

After losing the competition for a dream girl to his brother, Knox, and being shot, Nash is struggling with his mental health. He feels like a shell of himself and is having trouble coping. Insert Lina… She’s a firecracker of an insurance investigator and challenges Nash in more ways than he could ever imagine. She is stubborn as hell and annoys the crap out of him, but oddly enough being around her soothes Nash’s anxiety. Eventually, the two come to a mutual agreement to help each other solve their respective cases and have some fun along the way😉 What could go wrong?

I liked this book but would definitely rank TWNGO higher. Lucy Score’s writing is easy to read and the spice level in this book was 🔥. However, I had two main issues. One, the story was way too similar to TWNGO. Two, I think Score moved the romance along too quickly between Nash and Lina. We never really saw them interact in book #1, yet it was 🔥🌶️ from the start. So I missed the build-up/foundation that was given to Knox and Naomi…. One more Knockemout book to go and it may be the one I’m most excited for. Lucian and Sloane have intrigued me from book #1 and they seem to have a past we don’t know about that I can’t wait to learn more about.

Favorite Quote: “Heaven and hell intertwined, turning pleasure into an exquisite torture. I wouldn’t survive this. But I already knew I couldn’t survive without her.”

Content Warnings

whosfernn's review

Go to review page

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

Definitely preferred the first book to this one. To be fair though this was basically a reskin of the first book. Not necessarily bad, but not good either. Also, for a book written by a woman, it was very patriarchal. The normalisation of men owning women is so prominent it's insane.

Content Warnings

More...