Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
Don't know how I feel about this honestly. There were bits I liked, and there were also bits and moments where I just wanted to give up.
This was advertised as a dark paranormal romance, but honestly, there were just bits of paranormal sprinkled here and there, and as for dark, sure the blurb sounded pretty dark considering a murderous cult raping, torturing and sacrificing children is definitely very messed up, but honestly, most of the darkness happened off page, with just mere mentions here and there. And for those like me yearning for some serious revenge porn, most of it was pretty deflating and unsatisfying. What was left was alot of confusing gooey romance and sex.
Before y'all go judging me, no I am not some pervert psycho who wants plenty of death, destruction, sick torture scenes et al, I am just stating facts, because it definitely was not as dark and atmospheric as what I know I can expect from the author(s). I don't need hardcore stuff splayed out page to page, but what I expected was definitely not this, which felt more like an ooey-gooey romance that happened to have some dark stuff, and not the other way round.
As for the MCs, I started out sympathising with Gabriel and of course loving and lusting over Abbadon, but over the course of the book, my feelings for them waned, as they slowly became caricatures, and losing dimension. And of course throw in some irreverent actions and thoughts along the way and by the 3/4 of it I just wanted the whole book to end because I had lost respect for them.
The story and setting was alright, nothing spectacular as I would have expected. Like I stated, and though I may not have read alot of the authors' works, the couple I read had shown to me that they are capable of dramatic, gothic, dark, atmospheric and descriptive settings and stories. Even the air of mystery surrounding Abbadon and his origins were very quickly figured out and dissipated.
Maybe I expected too much, and the only foil here is no one but my own. All I can say is I at least stuck by it and am very glad it ended.
This was advertised as a dark paranormal romance, but honestly, there were just bits of paranormal sprinkled here and there, and as for dark, sure the blurb sounded pretty dark considering a murderous cult raping, torturing and sacrificing children is definitely very messed up, but honestly, most of the darkness happened off page, with just mere mentions here and there. And for those like me yearning for some serious revenge porn, most of it was pretty deflating and unsatisfying. What was left was alot of confusing gooey romance and sex.
Before y'all go judging me, no I am not some pervert psycho who wants plenty of death, destruction, sick torture scenes et al, I am just stating facts, because it definitely was not as dark and atmospheric as what I know I can expect from the author(s). I don't need hardcore stuff splayed out page to page, but what I expected was definitely not this, which felt more like an ooey-gooey romance that happened to have some dark stuff, and not the other way round.
As for the MCs, I started out sympathising with Gabriel and of course loving and lusting over Abbadon, but over the course of the book, my feelings for them waned, as they slowly became caricatures, and losing dimension. And of course throw in some irreverent actions and thoughts along the way and by the 3/4 of it I just wanted the whole book to end because I had lost respect for them.
The story and setting was alright, nothing spectacular as I would have expected. Like I stated, and though I may not have read alot of the authors' works, the couple I read had shown to me that they are capable of dramatic, gothic, dark, atmospheric and descriptive settings and stories. Even the air of mystery surrounding Abbadon and his origins were very quickly figured out and dissipated.
Maybe I expected too much, and the only foil here is no one but my own. All I can say is I at least stuck by it and am very glad it ended.
I was really excited to read this book. I loved the concept of it so much and I really appreciated the romance but sadly this book just wasn’t as dark as I wanted it to be so while I enjoyed it, it was missing something for me.
I received an arc of this book and this is my honest opinion
I received an arc of this book and this is my honest opinion
Independent reviewer for Gay Romance Reviews, I was gifted my copy of this book.
This book comes with the warning: Not for the faint hearted. I strongly suggest you heed it!
Because this book is dark and deadly. It's violent and vicious. It's bloody and bloody amazing and I loved it!
I can't say the usual gushing lovey dovey things about this book, because while there IS love here, it's a kinda bookdrop to what's going on in Gabriel's life and finding out what happened when he had his " psychotic episode in his childhood" I put in in inverted commas, for two reasons: I took the wording directly off the blurb. And because, well, you'll see why when you read it.
I loved that Gabriel was, at first, not believing his angel Abaddon was real, but lots of little clues made him put it all together. Loved that Abaddon was so very NOT who is was at first portrayed to be. I have to admit, til all was revealed, I really did not see this coming out good for Gabriel, I really didn't. But when Abaddon, as well as Gabriel, discover the truth? I wasn't sure who I felt more for!
While Abaddon is not perfect, for he does some damage here (not to Gabriel, never to him!), he IS perfect for Gabriel. And Gabriel can see that Abaddon is the product of his upbringing, just as he is.
LIke I said, not for the faint hearted and to be honest, I was in two minds when I requested this book. I figured it will be really bad for me, or really rather amazing and I am so very glad I read it cos it absolutely was the latter.
Possibe trigger themes: opposites attract, hurt/comfort, size difference, angst, childhood trauma and abuse, mental health, self-harm, deception, mindf*ck, occult, gaslighting, revenge, torture, blasphemy, orphanage, cults (taken off the blurb)
5 dark and oh so deadly stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
This book comes with the warning: Not for the faint hearted. I strongly suggest you heed it!
Because this book is dark and deadly. It's violent and vicious. It's bloody and bloody amazing and I loved it!
I can't say the usual gushing lovey dovey things about this book, because while there IS love here, it's a kinda bookdrop to what's going on in Gabriel's life and finding out what happened when he had his " psychotic episode in his childhood" I put in in inverted commas, for two reasons: I took the wording directly off the blurb. And because, well, you'll see why when you read it.
I loved that Gabriel was, at first, not believing his angel Abaddon was real, but lots of little clues made him put it all together. Loved that Abaddon was so very NOT who is was at first portrayed to be. I have to admit, til all was revealed, I really did not see this coming out good for Gabriel, I really didn't. But when Abaddon, as well as Gabriel, discover the truth? I wasn't sure who I felt more for!
While Abaddon is not perfect, for he does some damage here (not to Gabriel, never to him!), he IS perfect for Gabriel. And Gabriel can see that Abaddon is the product of his upbringing, just as he is.
LIke I said, not for the faint hearted and to be honest, I was in two minds when I requested this book. I figured it will be really bad for me, or really rather amazing and I am so very glad I read it cos it absolutely was the latter.
Possibe trigger themes: opposites attract, hurt/comfort, size difference, angst, childhood trauma and abuse, mental health, self-harm, deception, mindf*ck, occult, gaslighting, revenge, torture, blasphemy, orphanage, cults (taken off the blurb)
5 dark and oh so deadly stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
dark
mysterious
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Enjoyable is the wrong word to use. Don’t get me wrong, it is good, brilliantly written and I did like it. I just can’t say I enjoyed it.
The characters are multifaceted and have a darkness that seems to resonate. Gabriel is isolated, naive and so alone, he feels broken which comes across in how he reacts to what is happening around him. Abaddon is the angel sent to protect him, his mission is finite, but complications and unexpected revelations abound.
As I said I did enjoy it and found the romance to be the lightness I needed in the darkness of the book, I am intrigued enough to look at some of the other books from this multi author series.
The characters are multifaceted and have a darkness that seems to resonate. Gabriel is isolated, naive and so alone, he feels broken which comes across in how he reacts to what is happening around him. Abaddon is the angel sent to protect him, his mission is finite, but complications and unexpected revelations abound.
As I said I did enjoy it and found the romance to be the lightness I needed in the darkness of the book, I am intrigued enough to look at some of the other books from this multi author series.
This was a huge disappointment. And I'm not saying that lightly.
I love most of KA Merikan's work, from The Cattery to Kings of Hell MC. I've come to expect angsty books with an emotional core, and that's what I went into this thinking it would be. Genuinely, I thought it might become my all-time favorite book, edging out even Gray's Shadow (also by KA Merikan), because of how good it looked.
It was not good.
It felt like a strange hodgepodge blend of a Wattpad romance with a Quotev fanfiction with a side of literally zero useful plot. The suspense was hugely ratcheted down and the tension almost nonexistent when the characters decided they would just wait a whole MONTH after killing two people in quick succession to do ANYTHING interesting. Right after this decision, they go to a diner and, I swear, discussed things like their favorite colors. No bearing on the plot. No useful information for the reader. Then they have bland sex scenes every ten percent or so, which, frankly, I could not make myself read. There was no emotional connection between them, so what was the point of reading the sex scenes in a romance novel??
They felt like two cardboard cutouts that were together because the authors wanted them to be together.
This book was not at ALL what I was hoping it would be. I thought it would be like Gray's Shadow, with two characters who were so clearly meant for each other that one of them was literally the other's shadow come to life.
It was not. The characters were dry, tedious, and boring, the plot was slow and bland, the tension and stakes felt almost nonexistent for the entirety of the story (WHY would you just say that it's God's will that they won't be found out??? WHY would you remove suspense from the most exciting thing, which is that they're going around killing half a dozen people???), and by the end of the book, even with all the twists and reveals, all I could think was that it wasn't too little too late, it was way too late and way too over-the-top to compensate.
Frankly, this was an exceptional disappointment.
This also took me from August 6th to August 14th to wade through. I have read entire series in less time than that--hell, it took me five days to read the last four books of Kings of Hell MC. Definitely going to be checking reviews for KA Merikan's books before I read them from now on.
I love most of KA Merikan's work, from The Cattery to Kings of Hell MC. I've come to expect angsty books with an emotional core, and that's what I went into this thinking it would be. Genuinely, I thought it might become my all-time favorite book, edging out even Gray's Shadow (also by KA Merikan), because of how good it looked.
It was not good.
It felt like a strange hodgepodge blend of a Wattpad romance with a Quotev fanfiction with a side of literally zero useful plot. The suspense was hugely ratcheted down and the tension almost nonexistent when the characters decided they would just wait a whole MONTH after killing two people in quick succession to do ANYTHING interesting. Right after this decision, they go to a diner and, I swear, discussed things like their favorite colors. No bearing on the plot. No useful information for the reader. Then they have bland sex scenes every ten percent or so, which, frankly, I could not make myself read. There was no emotional connection between them, so what was the point of reading the sex scenes in a romance novel??
They felt like two cardboard cutouts that were together because the authors wanted them to be together.
This book was not at ALL what I was hoping it would be. I thought it would be like Gray's Shadow, with two characters who were so clearly meant for each other that one of them was literally the other's shadow come to life.
It was not. The characters were dry, tedious, and boring, the plot was slow and bland, the tension and stakes felt almost nonexistent for the entirety of the story (WHY would you just say that it's God's will that they won't be found out??? WHY would you remove suspense from the most exciting thing, which is that they're going around killing half a dozen people???), and by the end of the book, even with all the twists and reveals, all I could think was that it wasn't too little too late, it was way too late and way too over-the-top to compensate.
Frankly, this was an exceptional disappointment.
This also took me from August 6th to August 14th to wade through. I have read entire series in less time than that--hell, it took me five days to read the last four books of Kings of Hell MC. Definitely going to be checking reviews for KA Merikan's books before I read them from now on.
Ok I like this a decent amount and love these authors but also a little bored and feel like i can see where this is going and also distracted by other books so i think i just have to press pause for right now, ty!
There is nothing more rewarding then reading about a broken and abused man finding his way back and getting his revenge! Gabriel's live has been painful and very dark and confusing. Wonderful descriptive world and character building even if some of it is sad to read through! Abaddon is if nothing else that you know for sure, he is a definitely Gabriel's Guardian Angel. This book really does have a lot of twists and turns, darkness and horror so I do not want to give any that actually happens away. Underneath it all is a sweet love story of hope and conquering your demons! I read an arc, and it is a dark journey of romance and redemption you need to take from beginning to end with them! Wonderful descriptive world and character building even if some of it is sad to read through!
Talk about being "neck deep" into a book! There are very few authors whose dark books I'm willing to read without question. This dynamic duo, is definitely at the top of my list.
Not one single time was I bored or drifting in thought. Fully engaged, unpredictable, more twists and complete understanding of the story plot.
If you're an addict for suspense, spice, thrills, chills, heart-pounding intrigue - I 'strongly' suggest you begin to immerse yourself in this book as part of a multi-author series.
**I received this ARC for my honest feedback.**
Not one single time was I bored or drifting in thought. Fully engaged, unpredictable, more twists and complete understanding of the story plot.
If you're an addict for suspense, spice, thrills, chills, heart-pounding intrigue - I 'strongly' suggest you begin to immerse yourself in this book as part of a multi-author series.
**I received this ARC for my honest feedback.**