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koistyfishy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5/5
There is nothing more disappointing than picking up a book that has been hyped by a few of your friends and it completely falls flat for you
This book follows Killian and (what the fuck is her name) - Glyndon. Glyndon is contemplating life and considering jumping off of a cliff because she is a little sad that her friend nosedived maybe accidentally on purpose or was forced over said cliff. Unbeknownst to her, she is stalked by Kill who is only mildly obsessed with her. He then forces her (while holding her over the cliff) to give him a blow job and then like any “child” on a playground basically declares “we’re boyfriend and girlfriend” now (in his mind at least) much to the chagrin of Glyndon. Soon Glyndon finds her life completely revolving and absorbed in the life of Killian Carson.
I don’t know if it’s because I am desensitised to dark romance or if I’ve just seen so much of it, but this just lacked everything I expected. I just expected more from Killian based on what I have seen about him and he just came across as a selfish petulant brat who is spoiled and has never been told no in his life. This is the main factor that makes up his personality so he just takes what he wants. I actually didn’t have much problem with him not really understanding the lines of consent (which is what I have seen is a lot of the reason people DNF). It was more that right from the start you’re shown his worst and he doesn’t really get darker from that point. It’s more of the same and much of a muchness all around him being a brat that I disliked. I like it when I’m constantly shocked and consistently see how darkness develops through a book if I’m reading a dark romance with a morally grey MMC. I was also multiple times contemplating throwing my kindle across the room if I had to read one more time about how he wanted to “fuck her virgin cunt”…. You know, if it’s the only thing you say about her in your POV it starts to lose its “shock” factor and just becomes EXCEEDINGLY ANNOYING! What I did like about him though was the way that Rina Kent displayed his psychopathy. It was very “textbook” but it aligned very well with what I understand a psychopath or sociopath would behave like and seeing that portrayed well on paper in a character was one of the plusses in this book.
Glendon was a definite weakness given that I struggled to remember her name. That just shows how little of an impression she made. She was completely overshadowed and overpowered by Killians personality and character. Now maybe this was done on purpose to show her as submissive and meek but as a results she felt dull, sad, moapy and boring. She only really became slightly exciting when she had her brains fucked out.
What kills me the most about this though is that there was so much potential with Devlin‘s death and the investigation around the mystery! I just wish that this was explored a little bit more. It was almost like that plot was pushed to the wayside and Glydon left Gareth to do all the hard work just because she was distracting his brother with her boobs. I wanted Dev’s death to be a little bit more because it was literally was bleeding potential on page.
From writing perspective this wasn’t bad. There is a definite “catnip” feeling to the writing that is able to draw you in, entice you and keep you captivated. Those first few chapters of this book had me salivating, it was just the bits after it that took that same nosedive off the cliff that Glyn contemplated doing at the start of the book.
There is also the aspects of the secret society (aka cult) moonlighting as a fraternity and the rival schools but besides adding a little bit of Dark it was just a bunch of rich kids with too much money acting like they had power doing what ever they wanted in light-up purge masks…
The best thing about this book was the buddy read with my twin while we continue on our Journey of Depravity to find the best five star darkest Book.
Trope Summary:
I realised after writing them that there is a fucktonne of them!
▶ Dual POV
▶ Enemies to Lovers
▶ Collage Romance (Rival Schools)
▶ Mafia Vibes
▶ Obsessive, Possessive MMC
▶ Alphahole
▶ Touch Her You Die
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Secret Society (Actually a “cult” vibes)
▶ NonCon and DubCon
▶ Masked Men
▶ Primal Play
▶ Mine
▶ Hand Necklaces
▶ Stalking
(Again given all of the “dark romance” tropes I thought it would be a little heavier on dark 🙄😑)
I know I say a lot about how much I didn’t enjoy this, but I didn’t hate it. I am just more mad because so many people I know loved this and I wanted to love it too! This won’t be my last Rina Kent… I always give an author another chance so will see what God of Pain has to offer.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol and Panic attacks/disorders
snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Murder, Torture, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Blood, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
katyiswriting's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Stalking, Rape, Suicide, Car accident, Sexual content, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, and Confinement
Minor: Ableism and Biphobia
bbygirl21's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Glyndon is just a sweetheart. I love how much she cares about everyone. And I hated that Devlin used her compassion and empathy for others against her. I'm so happy he got what was coming for him in the end.
I will say I think my favorite character so far in this series just from this book alone was Brandon. I can't wait to get to his book. But I'm also excited for all the other characters books as well.
I absolutely recommend this. And I'm excited to get into Creighton and Annika's book next. I really loved their interactions in this book, so I feel like theirs is gonna be a really fun one.
Graphic: Cursing, Blood, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Bullying, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, and Addiction
bookdragong24's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Cursing, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Torture
Minor: Murder, Alcohol, and Car accident
ephemeral_remi's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Suicide, Blood, Drug use, Alcohol, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Toxic friendship, Torture, Cursing, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Abandonment, Addiction, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Grief, Violence, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
britbrit29's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, and Stalking
Minor: Murder, Ableism, and Alcohol
zc2's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Gore, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Violence, Blood, Cursing, Toxic relationship, War, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, and Animal death
angeliquescollection's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
OMG. I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY. I ATE THIS BOOK UP!!!! I loved it, was sooo good. I don’t want to forget anything in this book but my memory is not on my side. KILLIAN IS MY FAVORITE. BEST BOOK BOYFRIEND. I loved the possessiveness, and his power. i liked his character so much. Broody, scary, psycho, crazy, and i’ve never been in the mind of a neurodivergent the way he is and it was so interesting to say the the least.
Everything felt so realistic, I didn’t question anything besides like being submerged in the book and was questioning things happening in the book. But i didn’t question the authors choices at all and that’s rare. I feel so heavily for this book. Is this what a 5 star feels like? idk i’ve never felt this before lol.
SPICEEEEEEEEEEEEEE GIRL THE SPICEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Amazing, 10/10 would recommend. I could totally see myself reading the whole series, that’s how invested I am. Im more invested in this series than I am in the Magnolia Parks universe.
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 Loved. Chefs Kiss
Graphic: Cursing, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Sexual harassment, Blood, Stalking, and Bullying
Moderate: Alcohol and Torture
agoraphobic_crawfish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I read every book in the series that's available, (God of Malice/ God of Pain / God of Wrath), and all I have to say is every book is a HEAVY Trigger Warning. Personally, I love dark romances, but I've never strayed further than angry/sunshine type of dark romance. This is actually the first time I've read something this heavy and I'm surprised I made it through Book #1.
About the Series:
Each book follows two POVS, with the endings including bonus POV's [and Epilogues] from other characters on the relationship between the main characters. The main characters are on an island attending Universities that are located side by side, separated by a wall. One side is rich-kid-central (UK), and the other side is Mafia-Galore (US). There is underground fighting, initiation nights where people are literally being hunted for sport, and a whole lot of sexual discoveries. The male love interest are sociopaths, psychopaths, and annoyingly possessive/obsessive over the love interest. There is also a lot of controlling and manipulation.
Thoughts:
I get that this is dark romance, however this series doesn't really involve any romantic/passionate themes that I read about in the reviews. (I assumed this was one of those tropes where the villain becomes soft for her type of book but it's not. lol oops. my bad!) The relationships between the characters felt forced. Trauma bonding, maybe? The characters are repetitive, and so is the story. For some reason the author is obsessed with writing virgin characters. I love the whole "evil villain finds love" trope but each book is basically copy-and-paste except for name changes and a few character details and assigned kink(s). Each book gets 2 stars because while this was unrealistic and repetitive, it delivered on the dark themes; and the author did influence me to try to stray further into the dark romance genre.
I'm honestly reaaaally curious on who the author plans to pair up with Landon. I have a guess, but the author could also do a 180 and completely kill off the conniving character. (I'm rooting for the 180.) Also, was the mystery member for the initiation ever mentioned because either I zoned out or completely erased that info from my mind???
Graphic: Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Alcohol