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cheruphim's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
This was something of an ironic hate read, after seeing snippets of it circulate on Twitter (i.e. the dedication is 'Move aside baby shark. Daddy Shark is here.'), along with some brief summaries of what happens in the novel. So, my curiosity piqued, and wanting to give it a shot, I decided to check this out. I went into this knowing that it'd be a read I may not like, judging by what I had seen, so my rating is less about subject matter. I know it's dark romance smut, and I'm not going to whinge about the possible negative impact that dark romance could have on its readers, or that it's smut. Rather, I'm going to mainly talk about its tone, its prose, its characterization.
Does it Hurt? is a dark romance about two characters named Sawyer, an American and our FEMC, and Enzo Vitale, an Aussie-Italian man and our MMC. Sawyer is on the run from her past, sleeping with rich men to get by and steal their identity so she can open credit cards in their name.
So, I guess she was meant to invoke the femme fatale trope, or the sexy thief girl at the start, but as soon as she meets Enzo, her personality then screams more 'quirky awkward horny anxiety girl', from her inner dialogue to her spoken dialogue. The book then does the classic Booktok-era romance trope of telling us that our FeMC is badass, but not showing, from that point onward, inste ad giving her quippy dialogue to spar with Enzo to give the allusion that she's a Certified Badass, talking about "bean gods", how a spooky lighthouse reminds her of a video game, and Finding Nemo, because she's SOOO relatable. I think my beef with Sawyer's character is that her personality feels plucked from a Young Adult 12-15 novel, rather than an Adult Dark Romance book filled to the brim with gore, dark themes and smut. She -supposedly- is a 28yr old badass that stole a gun and commits fraud under rich mens' names, but Daddy Enzo figures her out immediately after she charges >$1000 to a credit card she opened in his name? And cries over stuff like thinking Enzo called her ugly? Or not needing her? That's not even touching upon the crucial element of her backstory, which is that
Then we have our MMC, Enzo. He suffers from the same stuff that Sawyer has, being a melodramatic teenager underneath his Suave Italian Possessive Daddy Dom vibe, and the narrative always sides with him over it. After their first tryst (in which he makes her squirt multiple times for the first time ever in her life), he finds out that she opens a credit card in his name, and what does he do? He.. tracks her down, makes her get on his boat, and fucks her while dunking her head in shark infested water to punish her. Kind of an overreaction if you ask me, especially something as inconsequential as credit card fraud, but Enzo is torn up over this, and mentions this multiple times to Sawyer throughout the story of this being the reason why 'he can't trust her again', how she wound him so badly, etc. etc. Mind you. This is a grown man who assumedly has a lot of money, being a marine biologist with his own shark rescue and boat.
It is this that leads them to shipwrecking on the shore of a mysterious island with a lighthouse, where we spend the rest of our book, sucking and fucking with a dark mystery in the background. There's a creepy Australian named Sylvester, who owns the lighthouse and offers them refuge from the elements, with a catch.
I don't have a problem with people writing 'dark' content, really, but I think it's the way it's done that bothers me in this book. It feels like shock content, if that makes sense? Dark for the sake of dark, if you will, akin to a Sonic the Hedgehog/My Little Pony fanfiction where they're in a max security prison and one of the characters is a baby eater, suddenly. There isn't really much keeping me invested in Sawyer and Enzo's relationship, other than the smut scenes, which are '..eh' in and of themselves. I think I would enjoy them more if the characters weren't archetypes for the sake of archetypes, but they aren't. Enzo is here to be the possessive daddy dom and there's nothing else more to his character aside from his tragic backstory that
And the prose. Here's a few tidbits:
“I’d rather spend my time gurgling caffeine, like I’m a porn star surrounded by five dicks.”
“..the glare he shoots me could melt fucking Antartica.”
“...to be no more desirable than a vasectomy without anesthesia.”
“We broke. The fucking table. Like, Humpty Dumpty bad. There’s no putting it back together.”
“..the fact that he remembered has my ovaries exploding.”
“His tongue sensually slides against mine, coercing it into a dance as if they’re swaying to a ballad of star crossed lovers.”
Something I didn't notice people mention in reviews that I saw was the character of Simon, and how he embodies not only the Token Minority trope, but the Magical Minority trope as well (specifically of Maori people, IIRC?) He shows up to make Sawyer happy and gives her tattoos on the bus. Full disclaimer: I'm white so I can't really speak completely on this issue, but so is H.D. Carlton, and I've seen and read dissertations from writers of color regarding its appearance in media. I cannot help but notice it here.
Graphic: Incest, Pedophilia, Cursing, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Sexual content, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Rape, and Grief
Minor: Gun violence
fink1129's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Bullying, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Murder, Gore, Blood, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Confinement, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Excrement
theartistreader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Police brutality, Abandonment, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Violence, Body horror, Murder, Slavery, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Death, Pedophilia, Confinement, Incest, Medical content, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Emotional abuse
ciarareadstoomuch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Death, and Domestic abuse
mjdedevis24'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
2.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
britrcup'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
3.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Child death, Medical trauma, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Confinement, and Emotional abuse
daphnebluereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
the spooky-ooky element, is so pointedly and perfectly placed throughout to keep you so interested that you just HAVE to keep reading. you’ve just got to know what’s going on. it leads you on such a wild ride. absolutely amazing.
the love story, started off so iffy for me, but i was desperate for it to work. the epilogue just fills me with so much joy, to know how much the characters develop. so heartwarming 🥹
THE SPICE?! shut up. 12 stars. bar set. phenomenal.
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Confinement, Torture, Gun violence, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Gore, and Emotional abuse
summerunderawillowtree's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Incest, Child abuse, Suicide, Child death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Torture