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gillianw's review against another edition
3.0
I'll be honest, there are so many surprises in this book and some major mind-fuckery going on, that it's almost impossible to write a review without giving anything away. I can tell you, though, that the first major plot twist happens about 30% in and it literally had me exclaiming "holy shit" because it totally came out of left field. you gotta love when that happens. The rest of the book is a dark, sexy ride that can only be described as a sorta-BDSM suspense story. The climax was another twist within a twist that ended on a strangely light note which was slightly incongruous with the rest of the story. Funny enough, it was probably my favourite part. All in all, a good story with a few surprises wrapped in a decent mystery. 3.5 stars
raynebair's review
4.0
I just couldn't stop. Intense! Definite mind-fuck that had me so confused at times. But like a train wreck or something, I just couldn't stop til I finished the book. Gah! Once I got into it, this was fun! Surprisingly I'm looking forward to the next book.
mikibooks's review against another edition
4.0
Otros de los libros que terminó quedando sin reseña por apuro. Impresionante relato del que es mejor no saber mucho para poder sufrirlo y gozarlo en su plenitud. En general los spoilers arruinan cualquier emoción y adrenalina, pero no siempre conocer el desarrollo de los acontecimientos te modifica mucho el resultado. En este caso creo que sí. Es intenso, es poderoso, es complejo, es duro. Juega con tu cabeza, es disruptivo de cualquier moral social con la que estemos acostumbrados a convivir. Y lo hace no recurriendo a los golpes bajos innecesarios, sino a los cambios de timón en el plot, a los giros y contravueltas en la trama que te dejan siempre al borde del abismo. No recomendado para personas prejuiciosas, superficiales y que sólo buscan un pasatiempo livianito en sus lecturas. Esta novela te hace reflexionar sobre muchas cosas. Sencillamente sublime. Con gusto espero por la segunda parte y ojalá este apenas sea el comienzo en la biblioteca personal de una autora con indiscutible talento.
sasreadsthings's review against another edition
5.0
Mate. I don't even know. I'm not sure if it's actually a 5* book, or if 5* just reflects how much I enjoyed it.
Dark. Hot. FULL OF CONTENT WARNINGS. Super unrealistic.
But still hot. And the characters, still endearing.
Dark. Hot. FULL OF CONTENT WARNINGS. Super unrealistic.
But still hot. And the characters, still endearing.
laura_editor's review against another edition
Dnf @ 27%
Ho provato a farmelo piacere perché la trama sembrava interessante, ma non riesco proprio ad andare avanti.
La narrazione è molto confusa, fatico a comprendere la scansione temporale e lo stile della prosa non aiuta a fare chiarezza.
Ho provato a farmelo piacere perché la trama sembrava interessante, ma non riesco proprio ad andare avanti.
La narrazione è molto confusa, fatico a comprendere la scansione temporale e lo stile della prosa non aiuta a fare chiarezza.
nayabimtiaz's review against another edition
3.0
This was so intense! Kinda weird. Kinda messed up in a twisted way but intense.
bookish_notes's review against another edition
3.0
This review is also posted on my blog.
I love this book, but can also recognize that this series will not be for everyone. I would say this book is split into two parts - the first part which is described in the blurb, and a part two kind of doesn't have anything to do with any of it? But I would still count this as a psychological thriller of sorts. The story blends into what I would think is more dark romance? Something surprising about this book it does stress consent, even if it doesn't seem that way at first. In the author's note at the beginning of the book, the author does say that say this is fictional BDSM, but I definitely think going forward with this series, some stronger warnings would be warranted.
Trigger warnings include consensual non-con, knife-play, self-harm, psychological mind games, misogyny, transmisia, death of an ex-lover and child, mentions of cheating, mentions of child pornography, mentions of abuse, and mentions of rape.
This book is intense. The story is addicting and I found myself unable to put the book down, but I would say that it's kind of all of the place? I know this is a re-edited version, but some pieces could have been edited a lot more.
We start off the story meeting Jack Harrison from his POV. This story takes place in London and Jack is 29 and owns his own garage where he works on cars for a living. He has his friend Steve at the garage and he loves what he does. Things kind of spiral out of control at home when he seems like he has a stalker on his hands who breaks into his apartment. He meets Jan. Jan is 27 and...soft. Jan is sweet, but quite forward and attentive to Jack's darker wants and needs. They get off to a great start, but the plot really starts moving along when it looks like Jan might not be who he says he is
This book introduces a whole world and a life in the second half of the book like you're drawing back a curtain and getting to go behind the scenes of what happened in the first half of the book. It does make me want to go back and re-read the first piece of the book because I want to re-evaluate everything I thought to be true. That's what I really love - when books can turn a story on its head and make a reader question everything they thought they knew.
I apparently don't pay attention to blurbs. Like. At all. Imagine my surprise to find out this was not a m/m thriller book but really a polyam m/m/m dark romance. Grey is a mysterious character who makes himself known later on in the book. He's dangerous and scary at times, but pretty controlled? He has Jack's best interests at heart, I think, but just has a very bad way of showing that affection.
So. My problems with this book is stems from the author wanting to show diversity, but doing a poor job of it. In gay dark romances in general, there's usual a lack of female characters. I would say the author tried, but she failed badly in this case. I would have thought a man wrote this book, to be honest. The description of one lady at the reception desk is horrendous and doesn't make sense:
I know Jack is gay, but come on.
At one point, I want to say a character is mentioned to be non-binary but is only introduced as "gender-neutral." Which is very strange. Worse yet, is a character later on in the book introduced as Jess, is first introduced as "cross-gender", but then is said to be transgender later in the book and gets deadnamed, SO THERE ARE A LOT OF PROBLEMS where that's concerned. This next part is also not great?
What I'm not so sure about is the way that Jack's mental illness is written in this book. He has OCD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD)? The way this story is, is that BDSM is Jack's way of living with his mental illness. I can't really speak to any of that, Jack's mental illness appears to be a main piece of drama that's in upcoming books in the series, so I'm just making that note.
I have a question in regards to something that happens in this book. How long is a reasonable amount of time to keep a guy in a cock cage? Jack has one on for something like over a week? Earlier on in the story, it was mentioned that he would get to take it off every few days, but maybe it's just something missed in editing, but he was wearing a cock cage for quite a long time without taking it off.
One thing that's a minor complaint for personal reasons is that there are a lot of characters who have names that start with the same letter? It gets confusing. There's Jack, Jan, and Jess. And then there's Steve and Sam? At the rate I read, I still get between Jack and Jan sometimes. Also, it's kind of weird when an author's pseudonym (which I'm assuming is a pseudonym) shares the same name as the main character.
I did initially start this book as an audiobook. The narrator is Dan Calley and he has a wonderful voice, but I found the tenor of his voice difficult to understand? Or maybe it's the accent? It's probably authentic to the area the book is set, but my sad American ears can only understand posh accents apparently, and the audiobook just didn't work for me and I switched to e-book the second I saw the e-book was on KU.
The book is intriguing and mysterious, but definitely not to everyone's tastes. I think I would recommend it for people who have read and enjoyed the Auctioned series by Cara Dee and the Guns n' Boys series by K.A. Merikan (which I both winded up loving). The books aren't really related in any way except that they're dark gay romances. But if you liked those books, I think you'd like this series as well? I did look ahead into the next book in this Don't... series and the blurbs for the upcoming books and it seems like it's only going to get darker and more difficult to read (like, I would give a very strong trigger warning for rape and torture in the next book). So, just take care of yourselves if you're diving into this series.
I love this book, but can also recognize that this series will not be for everyone. I would say this book is split into two parts - the first part which is described in the blurb, and a part two kind of doesn't have anything to do with any of it? But I would still count this as a psychological thriller of sorts. The story blends into what I would think is more dark romance? Something surprising about this book it does stress consent, even if it doesn't seem that way at first. In the author's note at the beginning of the book, the author does say that say this is fictional BDSM, but I definitely think going forward with this series, some stronger warnings would be warranted.
Trigger warnings include consensual non-con, knife-play, self-harm, psychological mind games, misogyny, transmisia, death of an ex-lover and child, mentions of cheating, mentions of child pornography, mentions of abuse, and mentions of rape.
This book is intense. The story is addicting and I found myself unable to put the book down, but I would say that it's kind of all of the place? I know this is a re-edited version, but some pieces could have been edited a lot more.
We start off the story meeting Jack Harrison from his POV. This story takes place in London and Jack is 29 and owns his own garage where he works on cars for a living. He has his friend Steve at the garage and he loves what he does. Things kind of spiral out of control at home when he seems like he has a stalker on his hands who breaks into his apartment. He meets Jan. Jan is 27 and...soft. Jan is sweet, but quite forward and attentive to Jack's darker wants and needs. They get off to a great start, but the plot really starts moving along when it looks like Jan might not be who he says he is
This book introduces a whole world and a life in the second half of the book like you're drawing back a curtain and getting to go behind the scenes of what happened in the first half of the book. It does make me want to go back and re-read the first piece of the book because I want to re-evaluate everything I thought to be true. That's what I really love - when books can turn a story on its head and make a reader question everything they thought they knew.
I apparently don't pay attention to blurbs. Like. At all. Imagine my surprise to find out this was not a m/m thriller book but really a polyam m/m/m dark romance. Grey is a mysterious character who makes himself known later on in the book. He's dangerous and scary at times, but pretty controlled? He has Jack's best interests at heart, I think, but just has a very bad way of showing that affection.
So. My problems with this book is stems from the author wanting to show diversity, but doing a poor job of it. In gay dark romances in general, there's usual a lack of female characters. I would say the author tried, but she failed badly in this case. I would have thought a man wrote this book, to be honest. The description of one lady at the reception desk is horrendous and doesn't make sense:
Behind the immaculately kept reception desk sat a pert twentysomething, didn’t-need-a-bra-to-hold-up-her-breasts, young woman. As a warmer welcome, her crisp lab coat, with the clinic’s name printed boldly on the pocket, opened at the top two buttons, revealing the over-tanned curve of firm breasts.
Focusing too much on the breasts, Jack. Move on.
'“Jack Harrison. I have an appointment booked for two.” I deliberately kept my eyes above chest level; I was gay, not blind, and certainly open to appreciating a good set of twins like that.
I know Jack is gay, but come on.
At one point, I want to say a character is mentioned to be non-binary but is only introduced as "gender-neutral." Which is very strange. Worse yet, is a character later on in the book introduced as Jess, is first introduced as "cross-gender", but then is said to be transgender later in the book and gets deadnamed, SO THERE ARE A LOT OF PROBLEMS where that's concerned. This next part is also not great?
She was every part female, mannerisms, shape of long legs, small frame, yet when she’d sat on my lap, male had made its presence known, and every confusion in me had disappeared. She came into her own looking like that; and it was a damn shame she’d been bullied; nobody in their right mind should have tried to stop this kind of metamorphosis.
What I'm not so sure about is the way that Jack's mental illness is written in this book. He has OCD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD)? The way this story is, is that BDSM is Jack's way of living with his mental illness. I can't really speak to any of that, Jack's mental illness appears to be a main piece of drama that's in upcoming books in the series, so I'm just making that note.
I have a question in regards to something that happens in this book. How long is a reasonable amount of time to keep a guy in a cock cage? Jack has one on for something like over a week? Earlier on in the story, it was mentioned that he would get to take it off every few days, but maybe it's just something missed in editing, but he was wearing a cock cage for quite a long time without taking it off.
One thing that's a minor complaint for personal reasons is that there are a lot of characters who have names that start with the same letter? It gets confusing. There's Jack, Jan, and Jess. And then there's Steve and Sam? At the rate I read, I still get between Jack and Jan sometimes. Also, it's kind of weird when an author's pseudonym (which I'm assuming is a pseudonym) shares the same name as the main character.
I did initially start this book as an audiobook. The narrator is Dan Calley and he has a wonderful voice, but I found the tenor of his voice difficult to understand? Or maybe it's the accent? It's probably authentic to the area the book is set, but my sad American ears can only understand posh accents apparently, and the audiobook just didn't work for me and I switched to e-book the second I saw the e-book was on KU.
The book is intriguing and mysterious, but definitely not to everyone's tastes. I think I would recommend it for people who have read and enjoyed the Auctioned series by Cara Dee and the Guns n' Boys series by K.A. Merikan (which I both winded up loving). The books aren't really related in any way except that they're dark gay romances. But if you liked those books, I think you'd like this series as well? I did look ahead into the next book in this Don't... series and the blurbs for the upcoming books and it seems like it's only going to get darker and more difficult to read (like, I would give a very strong trigger warning for rape and torture in the next book). So, just take care of yourselves if you're diving into this series.
nicola949's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely brilliant!
Loved this book from beginning to end. It is a totally engrossing story, full of mystery and suspense.
The book introduces a world that is sexually charged, intense and passionate.
Jack is central to the story, a man with a dark past and psychological issues who uses BDSM as a coping strategy. He is compelling and wonderfully attractive! Gray, a Master Dom, is powerful, mysterious and intriguing. Jan is new to their world, a loving man with pain in his past, who falls instantly for Jack. A fabulous, complex cast of characters.
The story is thrilling with twists and turns, edge-of-your-seat stuff as someone starts playing Jack, sending him messages designed to play on his past: his deepest thoughts and compelling desires.
A brilliant combination of psychological thriller and emotional journey.
Loved this book from beginning to end. It is a totally engrossing story, full of mystery and suspense.
The book introduces a world that is sexually charged, intense and passionate.
Jack is central to the story, a man with a dark past and psychological issues who uses BDSM as a coping strategy. He is compelling and wonderfully attractive! Gray, a Master Dom, is powerful, mysterious and intriguing. Jan is new to their world, a loving man with pain in his past, who falls instantly for Jack. A fabulous, complex cast of characters.
The story is thrilling with twists and turns, edge-of-your-seat stuff as someone starts playing Jack, sending him messages designed to play on his past: his deepest thoughts and compelling desires.
A brilliant combination of psychological thriller and emotional journey.