Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Butcher & Blackbird

What It’s About: When one serial killer who only kills other serial killers rescues another with the same mandate, they decide to play a game to see who’s the best at their dark vocation. But even serial killers can fall in love. It’s just a little more dangerous when they do.

Spice Level: Off the charts dirty and off the charts hot. Like, you have to wait a while for it, but it is so worth it.

Realism: It seems ridiculous to talk about realism in a serial killer romance, but honestly, this story is more realistic than a lot of romances I’ve read. I love how even though the characters are unmatched killers, they also both have insecurities that hold them back in many ways. And I was stoked that the author addressed cleaning up all the evidence these two leave behind, which I find often gets skipped over, but seems rather crucial, considering.

Trope Alert: Friends to lovers and I’m pretty sure a bunch of other ones that didn’t exist until now, but are awesome.

Trigger Warnings: Okay, this is a book about murderers, so there’s, you know, a lot of murdering. Specifically, though, if you don’t like gory stuff having to do with eyeballs, skip this one. Um, what else? Cannibalism. Those are the two really big ones. There’s a list of more at the beginning of the book, which was very nice, but also very enticing, at least for me.

Final Thoughts: This was one of those books I didn’t know I needed. A friend asked me to read it because it was blowing up on TikTok and she wanted to know if it was really as good as everyone was saying, and I can now confirm that it is. It’s unhinged, funny, emotional, sexy, and so romantic. It takes huge talent to pull off a combination like that. I bet even Brynne Weaver’s grocery list is tantalizing. As long as none of the triggers she lists turn you off, you should read this book. Just do yourself a favor. I cannot wait for the second one.

Content Warnings

ptreader's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious fast-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

4.5

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tabea1409's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Content Warnings

whynotreadwithalex's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

Fast-paced. Dark humor. A deadly competition between two vigilante serial killers who fall in love. I simply couldn't help myself. And I am incredibly glad that I did! Even though I'm definitely scarred for life (seriously, read the content warnings before...Weaver isn't messing around).
This book made me laugh-out-loud probably more than I would care to admit. I loved Rowan's quick wit (and the fact that he's obsessed with Blackbird from day one), and sweet -- scoop-your-eyeballs-out -- Sloane. This is truly a tale of unconditional love, albeit insanely grotesque circumstances. It's a riot!

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s1ck4n's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

When two serial killers who kill evil people meet and fall in love, things get...messy.
Well, thank f*ck for the content warnings at the beginning, though to be honest, they partly got me to read this book as I was intrigued. This was my first dark romance, and it was a ride! I liked this book's mix of funny and disturbing, which probably says something about me.
The writing was a bit too descriptive at certain points for my ability to visualize things vividly, so be warned if you can also create very vivid pictures in your mind while you listen!
Overall it was enjoyable if a bit graphic and I mostly liked the main characters! I cannot wait to read the next book in the series!

Narrator Rating- 5 stars
Both narrators did an excellent job! You could tell they put production money into the audiobook!

Elemental Levels: Heartfelt-4/5 Horror-3/5 Love aka Romance-4/5 Predictability-3/5 Spice-3.5/5 Tear- 3/5 Thrill-1.5/5 Humor-1/5

Content Warnings

faduma's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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