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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Check your trigger warnings but I LOVED it. I don’t mind the craziness. Obsessed
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Zade Meadows is my love but honestly didn't approve of stalking part. Definitely like the Gigi part.
the parts that contains the children and that thing I didn't really want to mention really bothers me. I was so close to cry for both girls.
The mansion gave a gothic vibe that matched the dark side of book (the book was totally gray and black.).
the parts that contains the children and that thing I didn't really want to mention really bothers me. I was so close to cry for both girls.
The mansion gave a gothic vibe that matched the dark side of book (the book was totally gray and black.).
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DNF'd @ page 326
I would give this negative stars if I could. Everything about this offends my freak sensibilities. I can't write a proper review right now because I need to go lie down on my Victorian fainting couch and have the maids bring in some smelling salts for my nerves.
UPDATE 4/15/2024 FEAT. MY PURE UNDILUTED RAGE
###
I was shocked that the book that gave us the line 'You're so fucking creamy' had more bad writing. My feelings about where this book went wrong for me are complicated, because I've read, watched, and played other media that contain similarly dark material to this book and enjoyed those things. Hazbin Hotel, The Coffin Of Andy And Leyley, Flowers In The Attic, and more deal with all sorts of taboo or other controversial content, but they're all things that I enjoy. In fact, I am what you would call a fucking freak who actively seeks out problematic content in fiction. It's not that I didn't know what I was getting into with this, because my friend told me that he heard bad things about this one, and I saw a LOT of one-star Goodreads reviews, but I thought I would give it a try. I thought I should try out a book before I start making fun of it on social media.
The problem with this book isn't necessarily that it contains these dark topics, but that these topics are fumbled so badly that with each page turned, I became increasingly baffled. I don't know if I can properly articulate how badly this book fumbled at every turn. How so utterly confused I was about the decisions made in this book. I kid you not, this book made me wonder if I judged A Court Of Mist And Fury too harshly. A COURT OF MIST AND FURY. THAT IS NOT GOOD.
There is a massive disconnect between how Zade behaves and what the narration says about him. I started to dread and loathe his POV chapters because he is so insufferable. The only way I can put it is that Zade is what you get if you take the Navy Seals copypasta WAY too seriously. He has a jaw sharp enough to cut steak and is a master hacker and vigilante and has two colored eyes and a cool scar on one eye that has no negative effect on his vision. He makes Addie wet with the sound of his voice and acts like he's Mr. Feminist by going around and SAVING THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN. We don't know his real name for a good chunk of the book because he only goes by 'Z'.
After a long day of saving trafficked women and children from warehouses and successfully getting information out of pedophiles by torturing them, Zade goes to Adeline's manor to stalk her and, later, rape her. I made it over three hundred pages in this book and not a single sex scene was consensual, which like, whatever, but it doesn't make any sense. Zade being a vigilante who wants to dismantle the government and end human trafficking makes no sense because he's a rapist, and him being a rapist makes no sense because he's a vigilante who wants to dismantle the government and end human trafficking. Pick one. Pick ONE. A character CANNOT be the Savior Of Women while also raping a woman in his spare time.
Haha, look how cool Zade is. He's torturing bad men to death and successfully getting information out of them while he does it (I hate this, there's no way this would work IRL). He's supporting the victims with his boatloads of cash, you guys! He's also going to take advantage of how women who report stalking cases aren't taken seriously, by destroying all digital and physical evidence of her police reports. What in the Seven Rings Of Hell am I supposed to take away from all of this?
It only makes him all the more vile and unlikeable, not in a 'the author does a great job of making him a shitty person' but in a 'this is shittily-written and whatever the author is trying to put down, I'm not picking up' kind of way.
I think that people need to remember that a character doesn't need to be a good person to be a good character. I honest to God have no idea what the narrative was trying to accomplish here. Addie's and Zade's interests don't overlap until close to where I dropped the book, because of a coincidence where the the senator that Zade is planning to assassinate also happens to have some connection to Addie's deceased great-grandmother.
Speaking of which, every chapter is prefaced with a diary entry from said great-grandmother. They're corny as fuck (WW2 ended, BUT THE WAR AT PARSON'S MANOR HASN'T) and I honestly don't give a shit about the murder mystery part.
Speaking of Adeline, she starts having this weird attraction to Zade because he makes her cum really hard. She is conflicted because she hates him and wants to kill him, but he also gives her really good orgasms. Please try harder to convince me.
Adeline has no real reason to stay at Parson's Manor. She is a successful author with enough money to renovate the whole damn place, she was specifically warned by her mother that it's a shitty place (she hates her mom in all of the two scenes we get of them so far and I don't get it???), and her best friend keeps telling her to get the hell out of the house. We are told, not shown, that Adeline has an emotional attachment to this house because it belonged to her Nana. Like, okay, fine? Maybe if the book spent more time going into Adeline's relationship with her family, it would be more believable.
Anyway, the reason I dropped this book is because Addie eventually finds out what Zade does when he isn't terrorizing and molesting her, and we get this exchange:
Fluttering in her stomach.
FLUTTERING. IN. HER. STOMACH.
But it gets worse:
WHERE'S YOUR ANGER? WHERE'S YOUR RAGE? RISE, RISE, RISE! I finished this chapter and decided that I couldn't take it anymore
Side note, the warning at the beginning specifies that nothing in this book is related to QAnon and antisemitism, and I was like, huh? How bad could it be? But then it is revealed that US Senators are secretly trafficking children, sacrificing them and painting themselves with their blood. Uh. My friend had to explain some stuff to me about QAnon for further context, because I live under a glittery, bedazzled rock.
Huh. Wonder what some of these common conspiracies are?
Anyway, fuck this book.
I would give this negative stars if I could. Everything about this offends my freak sensibilities. I can't write a proper review right now because I need to go lie down on my Victorian fainting couch and have the maids bring in some smelling salts for my nerves.
UPDATE 4/15/2024 FEAT. MY PURE UNDILUTED RAGE
###
I was shocked that the book that gave us the line 'You're so fucking creamy' had more bad writing. My feelings about where this book went wrong for me are complicated, because I've read, watched, and played other media that contain similarly dark material to this book and enjoyed those things. Hazbin Hotel, The Coffin Of Andy And Leyley, Flowers In The Attic, and more deal with all sorts of taboo or other controversial content, but they're all things that I enjoy. In fact, I am what you would call a fucking freak who actively seeks out problematic content in fiction. It's not that I didn't know what I was getting into with this, because my friend told me that he heard bad things about this one, and I saw a LOT of one-star Goodreads reviews, but I thought I would give it a try. I thought I should try out a book before I start making fun of it on social media.
The problem with this book isn't necessarily that it contains these dark topics, but that these topics are fumbled so badly that with each page turned, I became increasingly baffled. I don't know if I can properly articulate how badly this book fumbled at every turn. How so utterly confused I was about the decisions made in this book. I kid you not, this book made me wonder if I judged A Court Of Mist And Fury too harshly. A COURT OF MIST AND FURY. THAT IS NOT GOOD.
There is a massive disconnect between how Zade behaves and what the narration says about him. I started to dread and loathe his POV chapters because he is so insufferable. The only way I can put it is that Zade is what you get if you take the Navy Seals copypasta WAY too seriously. He has a jaw sharp enough to cut steak and is a master hacker and vigilante and has two colored eyes and a cool scar on one eye that has no negative effect on his vision. He makes Addie wet with the sound of his voice and acts like he's Mr. Feminist by going around and SAVING THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN. We don't know his real name for a good chunk of the book because he only goes by 'Z'.
After a long day of saving trafficked women and children from warehouses and successfully getting information out of pedophiles by torturing them, Zade goes to Adeline's manor to stalk her and, later, rape her. I made it over three hundred pages in this book and not a single sex scene was consensual, which like, whatever, but it doesn't make any sense. Zade being a vigilante who wants to dismantle the government and end human trafficking makes no sense because he's a rapist, and him being a rapist makes no sense because he's a vigilante who wants to dismantle the government and end human trafficking. Pick one. Pick ONE. A character CANNOT be the Savior Of Women while also raping a woman in his spare time.
Haha, look how cool Zade is. He's torturing bad men to death and successfully getting information out of them while he does it (I hate this, there's no way this would work IRL). He's supporting the victims with his boatloads of cash, you guys! He's also going to take advantage of how women who report stalking cases aren't taken seriously, by destroying all digital and physical evidence of her police reports. What in the Seven Rings Of Hell am I supposed to take away from all of this?
I've been deleting [the police reports] since she started making them and sent a guy in to destroy any physical evidence. The policemen will recall going to her house, but the second they try to investigate--if they ever get off their asses, that is--they would have nothing to go off of. Not that stalking cases are ever taken seriously anyways, which is why so many women end up murdered.
It only makes him all the more vile and unlikeable, not in a 'the author does a great job of making him a shitty person' but in a 'this is shittily-written and whatever the author is trying to put down, I'm not picking up' kind of way.
I think that people need to remember that a character doesn't need to be a good person to be a good character. I honest to God have no idea what the narrative was trying to accomplish here. Addie's and Zade's interests don't overlap until close to where I dropped the book, because of a coincidence where the the senator that Zade is planning to assassinate also happens to have some connection to Addie's deceased great-grandmother.
Speaking of which, every chapter is prefaced with a diary entry from said great-grandmother. They're corny as fuck (WW2 ended, BUT THE WAR AT PARSON'S MANOR HASN'T) and I honestly don't give a shit about the murder mystery part.
Speaking of Adeline, she starts having this weird attraction to Zade because he makes her cum really hard. She is conflicted because she hates him and wants to kill him, but he also gives her really good orgasms. Please try harder to convince me.
Adeline has no real reason to stay at Parson's Manor. She is a successful author with enough money to renovate the whole damn place, she was specifically warned by her mother that it's a shitty place (she hates her mom in all of the two scenes we get of them so far and I don't get it???), and her best friend keeps telling her to get the hell out of the house. We are told, not shown, that Adeline has an emotional attachment to this house because it belonged to her Nana. Like, okay, fine? Maybe if the book spent more time going into Adeline's relationship with her family, it would be more believable.
Anyway, the reason I dropped this book is because Addie eventually finds out what Zade does when he isn't terrorizing and molesting her, and we get this exchange:
"Yes," he confirms. "I do my own work on the side to bring in the funds to support the organization. Luckily, it's something that allows me, my employees, and every survivor we rescue to live comfortably. But that isn't the only thing we do. The government takes advantage of the public in more ways than stealing their kids. The enslavement of children and women is just my primary focus."
"Okay," I say slowly, trying to ignore the fluttering in my stomach. "What exactly is Mark involved in?"
Fluttering in her stomach.
FLUTTERING. IN. HER. STOMACH.
But it gets worse:
"I've never stalked anyone before you," he says simply. "Not outside of my job, at least. Definitely not for romantic purposes."
I give him a face, my expression full of incredulity.
"Is that supposed to make me feel special?"
A slow, wicked smirk glides across his face, unbothered by my increasingly burning stare. "I wouldn't mind if it did."
I want to slap him. But the asshole would probably like it, and then turn around and slap me back. And my dumbass self would probably like it, too.
WHERE'S YOUR ANGER? WHERE'S YOUR RAGE? RISE, RISE, RISE! I finished this chapter and decided that I couldn't take it anymore
Side note, the warning at the beginning specifies that nothing in this book is related to QAnon and antisemitism, and I was like, huh? How bad could it be? But then it is revealed that US Senators are secretly trafficking children, sacrificing them and painting themselves with their blood. Uh. My friend had to explain some stuff to me about QAnon for further context, because I live under a glittery, bedazzled rock.
None of these conspiracies derive from a belief in antisemitism or Q Anon, but from my own demented imagination, common conspiracies in the media, and a'many occult horror movies my dad used to watch growing up.
Huh. Wonder what some of these common conspiracies are?
Anyway, fuck this book.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
We’re just havin a rompin good time I guess
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really somewhere between a 3 and 4. The plotting could have been smoother and at times less rushed.
I don't get some of the critique this book gets for being the genre it is and happening to get caught in the mainstream… Dark romance is not for everyone and that is okay. No one's claiming it to be classic literature, and that's okay too. I respect the authors(and dark romance being women dominant!!) who deeply respect that their art is NOT reality and just art—something that doesn't always logically makes sense. Frankly there are other mainstream books out there that deserve the heat XD
I don't get some of the critique this book gets for being the genre it is and happening to get caught in the mainstream… Dark romance is not for everyone and that is okay. No one's claiming it to be classic literature, and that's okay too. I respect the authors(and dark romance being women dominant!!) who deeply respect that their art is NOT reality and just art—something that doesn't always logically makes sense. Frankly there are other mainstream books out there that deserve the heat XD
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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