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autumn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
But, I’m trying to push myself out of my comfort zone with my reading this year, in case I might find that I enjoy something I never bothered to try. It worked with another title (following two serial killers’ romantic tryst), so why not this?
Well. I’ll tell you why.
The male main character. Ugh. He’s a super-hacker who is also a super-spy and super-stealthy super-soldier who rescues “trafficking victims” by killing bad guys. He devotes his life to saving “girls and children” (as written in the book), but upon seeing a poster of the FMC outside a book shop decides he is going to stalk her and force her to love him. Huh??? Where’s that savior complex now, dude?
Of course, the first trafficker we encounter is described as a “Mexican” man. The next predator we are introduced to is part of a group of politicians who participate in Satanic rituals of drinking kid’s blood, and - wouldn’t ya know it - he’s got a stereotypically Jewish last name! Bigoted stereotypes, ahoy!
All the “trafficking victims” are portrayed as loved and cared for little English-speaking girls who were snatched up by evil immigrants and will be returned to loving families, furthering this ridiculous notion that these trafficking rings are snatching up middle-class white women and their tow-headed children Braydynn and Braxxlyeigh from the children’s section of Target, rather than portraying the reality that most trafficking victims are groomed by family or close friends, or are a part of marginalized communities that are easily exploited or taken advantage of.
The “hero” MMC murders a man and leaves his hands on the FMC’s doorstep, sexually assaults her multiple times (once with a handgun), and then she falls in love with him because he bangs her so good. He’s a disgusting hypocrite, and she is a dimwit.
We’ve also got a potential ghost (?), a drug dealing crime family, a 1940s mafia, a crazy “broken doll” who works in a haunted fair and murders people…the list goes on.
The FMC was maybe (?) haunted in this book, but the fact that people can find anything redeeming in either of the main characters of this book is what will haunt me.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Murder, Slavery, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Blood, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Torture, Vomit, Antisemitism, Child death, Drug abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
wolvenheart's review against another edition
Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Torture, Stalking, Violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Blood, and Alcohol
Moderate: Child abuse, Trafficking, Sexism, Racism, and Pedophilia
Seriously, a terrible book. It is written for shock value without substantial content warnings from the author. Somehow, this has been marked as contemporary or dark romance and IT IS NOT. It is horror.trashely'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
Graphic: Torture, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Body horror, Violence, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Slavery, Trafficking, Rape, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Gore, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse
bashsbooks'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? No
0.25
My biggest issues with Haunting Adeline are as follows:
1) Its writing style is bad. This author cannot write for shit. This book is extremely vague and noncommittal in its descriptions, frustratingly unwilling to give much specific information about the world, and unbelievably cringe-worthy in its dialogue.
2) It promotes a pretty fucked up view gender - the world of Haunting Adeline implies that even the best of men are predators and even the most strong-willed of women are victims/prey. I could go on about this point with a few dozen examples, but I will boil it down to the most galling one: at one point, there are two victims of human trafficking being discussed - one an adult woman described as a "twenty-four year old girl" and one a child, a little boy. And there is more time and focus put on how this poor "girl" than the actual child. It goes without saying that it's normal to feel for any victims of trafficking, but I find it suspicious that in a book that pulls out pedophilia and child abuse as an excuse for every other crime committed, more focus is given to the female victim, who is an adult, than the literal child - and of course, she's infantilized.
3) Putting a warning that says "this isn't antisemitic" at the beginning of a book is not sufficient. You have to actually not perpetuate antisemitic propaganda in the book. Saying "oh I just like conspiracy theories and it's just my twisted mind" and then vomitting the contents of right-wing Facebook memes onto the page is an act of both idiocy and hubris. God, the ego on this Carlton.
There is a lot more I could gripe about - like how the male lead Z justifies his murders in the most annoying and unconvincing ways or how the titular Adeline just takes him at his word about everything despite him stalking and raping her or the super pervasive ableism or the absolutely weaksauce attempt at class analysis or how this is absolutely catnip for white women who believe they're going to be kidnapped at Target - but I'll just save us both some time and sanity and tell you not to bother with this dumpster fire of a book. If you're looking for a dark bit of smut, just pull up AO3.
Graphic: Murder, Sexism, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Violence, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Classism, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Ableism, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Blood, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Racism and Torture
Minor: Death of parent
lolalastname's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
To paraphrase Tyra Banks “It’s so bad I want to give you a zero. But that’s not possible, so I give you a 0.25.”
Graphic: Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Child death, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Slavery, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Torture, Racism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Vomit
queenie_ofthe_void's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Q-anon vibes. All of the villains were POC.