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4.43 AVERAGE
4.43 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I mean... Uhm... I think I had expectations that were too big, so imagine my surprise when they had spicy time while Bran was drunk. And I'm sorry, but you can't have consentual sex if you're drunk. And you could argue that he wanted it despite, but at the start, he kept thinking how he doesn't want it.
And then the whole thing with Clara? Eeh.
I think everybody gushing over this book forgot to mention the fact that they're both violent... Towards each other. Is it consentual? Kind of? But I still find it iffy.
Hah... I mean, I know this is pretty shitty of me to say, and that he's probably supposed to be like that, but Niko is really... Selfish. And not in a shallow way. But to not see Bran's reactions and to not connect it to a deeper problem when you claim to know him so well? I'm sorry... Reading further, I do understand why he's acting like he is, but I still find it awful.
Okay, upon further inspection... You really can't know what people hide behind their facade.
Okay, as much as I had a lot of bad things to say about this book, the ending made it all up. The crossover between Kyle, Landon, Nikolai and Brandon was worth reading this whole book. Also, the twin moment Lan and Bran had? I swear I shead a tear because I love them both. The emotion the voice actors portrayed in the audio book, too? It made it all much more gut wrenching and heart pulling.
I didn't think I could love Kyle, Levi and Landon more. But this book proved me wrong. I think the only thing that could've made it better was Kirill making an appearance.
And then the whole thing with Clara? Eeh.
I think everybody gushing over this book forgot to mention the fact that they're both violent... Towards each other. Is it consentual? Kind of? But I still find it iffy.
Hah... I mean, I know this is pretty shitty of me to say, and that he's probably supposed to be like that, but Niko is really... Selfish. And not in a shallow way. But to not see Bran's reactions and to not connect it to a deeper problem when you claim to know him so well? I'm sorry... Reading further, I do understand why he's acting like he is, but I still find it awful.
Okay, upon further inspection... You really can't know what people hide behind their facade.
Okay, as much as I had a lot of bad things to say about this book, the ending made it all up. The crossover between Kyle, Landon, Nikolai and Brandon was worth reading this whole book. Also, the twin moment Lan and Bran had? I swear I shead a tear because I love them both. The emotion the voice actors portrayed in the audio book, too? It made it all much more gut wrenching and heart pulling.
I didn't think I could love Kyle, Levi and Landon more. But this book proved me wrong. I think the only thing that could've made it better was Kirill making an appearance.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-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
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
5/5 audio
“Even if you hate yourself, I’ll love you for the both of us.”
Screaming. Crying. Kicking my feet.
In fact, 100000000000 out of 5 STARS.
This broke me, and then put me back together. That's it, that's my review.
quotes:
minor spoilers
“You taste like my new favorite addiction, baby.”
“Don’t run away from me again. If you do, I’ll flip the world upside down to find you. You’re mine now, baby.”
‘I want him. I fucking crave him. So much it hurts.’
‘If fear and pain are the price I must pay for another taste of him, then so be it.’
“I just want you to know that you deserve to be loved in the light, Niko. Just like everyone else.”
“I was doing fine, pretending and putting on a façade, so why the fuck did you ruin that? Why did you come into my life and destroy every wall I built and ruin every lie I told myself? Why do you touch me like I’m beautiful? Why don’t you hate me when I can’t stand my-fucking-self?”
“Please…” His voice is muffled. “Please let me hold you like this. It doesn’t hurt when you touch me.”
‘Now, the thought of being without him terrifies me. Death terrifies me because it would take me away from him.’
‘He kisses me like he will never let go of me. Like he’ll burn for me as hot as I burn for him.’
‘I don’t want a life without him. I can’t have a life without him.’
‘I had to ink him on the heart that beats because he exists.’
’I love this man with everything I have and don’t have.
I love him with my sane and insane parts.
He’s my lotus flower.
My Prince Charming.
The love of my life.
Mine.’
“Even if you hate yourself, I’ll love you for the both of us.”
Screaming. Crying. Kicking my feet.
In fact, 100000000000 out of 5 STARS.
This broke me, and then put me back together. That's it, that's my review.
quotes:
minor spoilers
“You taste like my new favorite addiction, baby.”
“Don’t run away from me again. If you do, I’ll flip the world upside down to find you. You’re mine now, baby.”
‘I want him. I fucking crave him. So much it hurts.’
‘If fear and pain are the price I must pay for another taste of him, then so be it.’
“I just want you to know that you deserve to be loved in the light, Niko. Just like everyone else.”
“I was doing fine, pretending and putting on a façade, so why the fuck did you ruin that? Why did you come into my life and destroy every wall I built and ruin every lie I told myself? Why do you touch me like I’m beautiful? Why don’t you hate me when I can’t stand my-fucking-self?”
“Please…” His voice is muffled. “Please let me hold you like this. It doesn’t hurt when you touch me.”
‘Now, the thought of being without him terrifies me. Death terrifies me because it would take me away from him.’
‘He kisses me like he will never let go of me. Like he’ll burn for me as hot as I burn for him.’
‘I don’t want a life without him. I can’t have a life without him.’
‘I had to ink him on the heart that beats because he exists.’
’I love this man with everything I have and don’t have.
I love him with my sane and insane parts.
He’s my lotus flower.
My Prince Charming.
The love of my life.
Mine.’
dark
emotional
medium-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
rating: ★★★★ - 4. i was (mostly) pleasantly surprised
why i chose this book: who in the dark romance world hasn't heard of rina kent, man. and i've never read anything she's written before this, so i figured i'd give her only MM (i am a bisexual man) a shot.
writing quality: better than expected. as always with these things there are too many unnecessary paragraph breaks, sentence fragments, etc. but we ball
things i liked:
• brandon you are everything to me, you little autism haver. i love his possessive streak, i love the black ink metaphor (which becomes even more pertinent towards the end of the book), i LOVE that he's not your typical bottom bitch that straight women tend to write in gay couples. i love that he's built, that he has sibling issues with landon (who seems like an asshole and a half), i love that he is complex and can't just be boiled down to his trauma or his sexuality. i love that he's demi. i love him forever
• niko is so gentle and patient with bran as opposed to every other love interest in this series wanting to "break" their partners as if that's a good foundation for a relationship. niko just loves bran so much
• i also love that nikolai is not the solution to brandon's mental health issues. they are definitely codependent sure but they also do not fix each other. they go to THERAPY and let the THERAPIST help them do that for themselves and for each other.
• i have more mixed feelings on nikolai but i LOVE scary sunshine characters. he's playful, he's funny sometimes, he clearly cares so much about brandon and tries his hardest to work on himself to be someone brandon deserves.
• the love here feels organic. it feels real. it's built slowly and there are multiple pitfalls and breakup arcs but they are necessary for the plot and the development of the relationship!!
• THIS IS NOT FUCKING YAOI. this is not fetishizing of queer men. THANK YOU RINA KENT. for the love of god i was worried about this but it did not come to pass!!!
• i love scenes where one mc hunts the other down. i felt like we kinda lost the plot there for a second what with all the horny homicidal shit going on but it was a good cold open
• levi fucking hating nikolai. do i know who he is? no. do i love that he is the worlds biggest hater? absolutely yes i do.
• brandon trying to teach landon empathy, or at least some form of it to help him in his relationship with mia. bonding time! and it's a nice touch because we keep saying lan's a psychopath but he's just an asshole
things i disliked:
• nikolai... names his penis... and talks to it throughout the book as if it were a separate character. i rolled my eyes so hard it hurt
• some of the plot outside the relationship seemed lowkey forced? like it Had to be in there. like
• i hate landon. he keeps calling himself an "anarchist" or whatever but i dont think he really knows what it means, and he's an asshole 90% of the book.
• please get another nickname besides "baby" like i know the emotional significance is there but it shows up so goddamn much
• i wish they switched. you can't tell me niko wouldn't love bran topping him, bran's got him on a leash the rest of the time anyway
• the ink metaphor... also overused. and this would be fine if it was done well, but it wasn't
• i just am not the hugest fan of rina kent's writing style
was it worth the money?: sure. im not gonna reread but im glad i read it in the first place
why i chose this book: who in the dark romance world hasn't heard of rina kent, man. and i've never read anything she's written before this, so i figured i'd give her only MM (i am a bisexual man) a shot.
writing quality: better than expected. as always with these things there are too many unnecessary paragraph breaks, sentence fragments, etc. but we ball
things i liked:
• brandon you are everything to me, you little autism haver. i love his possessive streak, i love the black ink metaphor (which becomes even more pertinent towards the end of the book), i LOVE that he's not your typical bottom bitch that straight women tend to write in gay couples. i love that he's built, that he has sibling issues with landon (who seems like an asshole and a half), i love that he is complex and can't just be boiled down to his trauma or his sexuality. i love that he's demi. i love him forever
• niko is so gentle and patient with bran as opposed to every other love interest in this series wanting to "break" their partners as if that's a good foundation for a relationship. niko just loves bran so much
• i also love that nikolai is not the solution to brandon's mental health issues. they are definitely codependent sure but they also do not fix each other. they go to THERAPY and let the THERAPIST help them do that for themselves and for each other.
• i have more mixed feelings on nikolai but i LOVE scary sunshine characters. he's playful, he's funny sometimes, he clearly cares so much about brandon and tries his hardest to work on himself to be someone brandon deserves.
• the love here feels organic. it feels real. it's built slowly and there are multiple pitfalls and breakup arcs but they are necessary for the plot and the development of the relationship!!
• THIS IS NOT FUCKING YAOI. this is not fetishizing of queer men. THANK YOU RINA KENT. for the love of god i was worried about this but it did not come to pass!!!
• i love scenes where one mc hunts the other down. i felt like we kinda lost the plot there for a second what with all the horny homicidal shit going on but it was a good cold open
• levi fucking hating nikolai. do i know who he is? no. do i love that he is the worlds biggest hater? absolutely yes i do.
• brandon trying to teach landon empathy, or at least some form of it to help him in his relationship with mia. bonding time! and it's a nice touch because we keep saying lan's a psychopath but he's just an asshole
things i disliked:
• nikolai... names his penis... and talks to it throughout the book as if it were a separate character. i rolled my eyes so hard it hurt
• some of the plot outside the relationship seemed lowkey forced? like it Had to be in there. like
Spoiler
the concept of a truce seemed so far out of left field for landon to propose there in the last quarter or so of the book. from what i'd seen of him he did not seem like the kind who would want peace. it felt weirdly forced so we could have a peaceful resolution all around when there could have been really interesting conflict here for bran and niko• i hate landon. he keeps calling himself an "anarchist" or whatever but i dont think he really knows what it means, and he's an asshole 90% of the book.
• please get another nickname besides "baby" like i know the emotional significance is there but it shows up so goddamn much
• i wish they switched. you can't tell me niko wouldn't love bran topping him, bran's got him on a leash the rest of the time anyway
• the ink metaphor... also overused. and this would be fine if it was done well, but it wasn't
• i just am not the hugest fan of rina kent's writing style
was it worth the money?: sure. im not gonna reread but im glad i read it in the first place
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Mental illness
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Suicide attempt