Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
Genre: Adult Contemporary (MM Rockstar Romance)
Tropes & themes: MM love story between a rockstar and a k-pop idol, bi-awakening, secret relationship, obsession at first sight, beautiful descriptions of love, sex, and feelings, all the pining and angst, cultural differences and appreciation
TW: cheating
Spoiler-Free Summary:
The second Raphael sees Jaehyun for the first time his body chemistry changes. For two years Raphael obsesses about him from afar, but both being in the music industry, their paths eventually cross again. Faced with the opportunity to figure out why his brain won’t stop thinking about Jaehyun, Raphael makes impossible decisions to follow his heart.
Thoughts:
Holy gods. What was this book made of? Crack?
Raphael’s love story is full of mistakes and imperfections, and I appreciate it all the more because of them.
I was sucked into this book from page one. The writing is so dreamy, and the descriptions of feelings and visuals are so vivid and juicy. Reading this was like watching a painter bring their vision to life. The imagery was just so wonderful. It reminded me many times of Saint by Sierra Simone.
The obsession in this book is unrivaled because it’s toxic and beautiful and causes a lot of damage outside of the main character’s relationship. A lot of readers will have issues with Rapha’s decisions and his cheating, rightfully so. But I can’t hate that part of the story because it was real. I can’t hate that the characters are imperfect and make painful, morally questionable decisions. There’s just so much beauty in the humanity of the mistakes.
The love story itself is just. So. Damn. Good. The chemistry, the heat, the pining and raw want made me feel ravenous. It was just so visceral and exposed and the smut was somehow religious in its execution.
I cannot say enough good things about this book. I highly recommend to those that enjoy these tropes and themes.
Tropes & themes: MM love story between a rockstar and a k-pop idol, bi-awakening, secret relationship, obsession at first sight, beautiful descriptions of love, sex, and feelings, all the pining and angst, cultural differences and appreciation
TW: cheating
Spoiler-Free Summary:
The second Raphael sees Jaehyun for the first time his body chemistry changes. For two years Raphael obsesses about him from afar, but both being in the music industry, their paths eventually cross again. Faced with the opportunity to figure out why his brain won’t stop thinking about Jaehyun, Raphael makes impossible decisions to follow his heart.
Thoughts:
Holy gods. What was this book made of? Crack?
Raphael’s love story is full of mistakes and imperfections, and I appreciate it all the more because of them.
I was sucked into this book from page one. The writing is so dreamy, and the descriptions of feelings and visuals are so vivid and juicy. Reading this was like watching a painter bring their vision to life. The imagery was just so wonderful. It reminded me many times of Saint by Sierra Simone.
The obsession in this book is unrivaled because it’s toxic and beautiful and causes a lot of damage outside of the main character’s relationship. A lot of readers will have issues with Rapha’s decisions and his cheating, rightfully so. But I can’t hate that part of the story because it was real. I can’t hate that the characters are imperfect and make painful, morally questionable decisions. There’s just so much beauty in the humanity of the mistakes.
The love story itself is just. So. Damn. Good. The chemistry, the heat, the pining and raw want made me feel ravenous. It was just so visceral and exposed and the smut was somehow religious in its execution.
I cannot say enough good things about this book. I highly recommend to those that enjoy these tropes and themes.
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Another absolute banger by Scarlett!
listen, i rate books solely on vibes and tend to not care about technical things so…do with that what you will.
five star banger off the bat, ok. rockstar x kpop idol romance? yeaaaaaah i devoured that. i am not a kpop stan, i don’t know how it would all work out realistically and honesty? i don’t care. i don’t read books for realism - i read for HEAs. and queen scarlett fucking delivered.
- cheating trope is NOT my fav but when done right…? i covered my eyes a lil and looked away. LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN: cam is my girl. my queen. i love her. she deserves the world and best believe she gets it, ok?
- insta love/simping rockstar..cha CHING. yup. i loved it, no surprise there. if he’s not obsessed with him, what is he doing? like IM obsessed with jae, ok!
- the writing. immaculate. were there grammatical errors? sure. but they were minor & did not distract from the plot in my opinion.
- it was hot. all imma say.
book ratings these days are so cut throat. i had fun, i cried, i laughed, i smiled, fuck i screamed into my pillow. the 90% twist was not my fav at first but as the author built on it, i became okay with it. tbh you could see it coming when the early stages of the novel happen.
five star banger off the bat, ok. rockstar x kpop idol romance? yeaaaaaah i devoured that. i am not a kpop stan, i don’t know how it would all work out realistically and honesty? i don’t care. i don’t read books for realism - i read for HEAs. and queen scarlett fucking delivered.
- cheating trope is NOT my fav but when done right…? i covered my eyes a lil and looked away. LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN: cam is my girl. my queen. i love her. she deserves the world and best believe she gets it, ok?
- insta love/simping rockstar..cha CHING. yup. i loved it, no surprise there. if he’s not obsessed with him, what is he doing? like IM obsessed with jae, ok!
- the writing. immaculate. were there grammatical errors? sure. but they were minor & did not distract from the plot in my opinion.
- it was hot. all imma say.
book ratings these days are so cut throat. i had fun, i cried, i laughed, i smiled, fuck i screamed into my pillow. the 90% twist was not my fav at first but as the author built on it, i became okay with it. tbh you could see it coming when the early stages of the novel happen.
I am OBSESSED.
This is the best book I've read in months.
This is the best book I've read in months.
I have the tendency to put off books that my friends hype up because I’m terrified they won’t live up to the hype.
Hamartia was one of those hyped up books and I took so long sitting on it prior to reading it and I really shouldn’t have. This is an MM romance masterpiece and no I want every copy ever made.
Raphael, Rapha, is an American rockstar who’s only ever known music, sex, drugs, and women… that is until he lays eyes on K Pop star Jaehyun, Jae, in the mirror of a bathroom.
Rapha is beyond the definition of obsessed and I love Jae’s aloofness in this whole first portion of the book.
I did get a little weary at the beginning that this wasn’t HEA, but it is. The book throws you for a roller coaster but stay on and hold tight. This book is so worth it. Bravo!
Hamartia was one of those hyped up books and I took so long sitting on it prior to reading it and I really shouldn’t have. This is an MM romance masterpiece and no I want every copy ever made.
Raphael, Rapha, is an American rockstar who’s only ever known music, sex, drugs, and women… that is until he lays eyes on K Pop star Jaehyun, Jae, in the mirror of a bathroom.
Rapha is beyond the definition of obsessed and I love Jae’s aloofness in this whole first portion of the book.
I did get a little weary at the beginning that this wasn’t HEA, but it is. The book throws you for a roller coaster but stay on and hold tight. This book is so worth it. Bravo!
Multiple people GUSHED about this book in my reading groups so I decided to give it a shot. I enjoy romances with musicians and others in the spotlight, though I've never read anything with a K-pop star. I don't KNOW anything about K-pop really so it was an interesting twist for me.
Cheating is something I would never consider wanting to read about, but I've read a few books now where the cheating happens outside the two MCs, and I find that as long as it's written in a way that feels believable, I can deal. And I felt that way with this book. I didn't necessarily agree with the way Rapha went about things with Cam, but I can also understand how confused he was about everything.
I really enjoyed Jae and Rapha together. For being new to everything and for being confused about so much, Rapha was surprisingly open and communicative. Jae was more reserved, especially because we got so few chapters from his perspective, but I could feel how much he WANTED to be in love. He was just scared he wasn't going to be allowed.
There were some things I had a hard time with or at least had to overlook to enjoy the story. Rapha's obsession of Jae...he definitely could have come across as a stalker. Had Jae been a woman, would this story have worked? If Rapha hadn't been a rock star, would Jae have enjoyed the attention or would he have felt uncomfortable and stalked? I love how all in Rapha was, but also...definitely problematic haha. This book also needed a proofreader; there were quite a few mistakes sprinkled throughout. It didn't take me out of the story too much, and I know with my training that I'm more likely to find these mistakes, but they are there.
Overall, I really liked this one. I had to look up the meaning of Hamartia, and I have to say that the title is really cool and pretty perfect. I'm definitely interested in learning more about K-pop stars now!
Cheating is something I would never consider wanting to read about, but I've read a few books now where the cheating happens outside the two MCs, and I find that as long as it's written in a way that feels believable, I can deal. And I felt that way with this book. I didn't necessarily agree with the way Rapha went about things with Cam, but I can also understand how confused he was about everything.
I really enjoyed Jae and Rapha together. For being new to everything and for being confused about so much, Rapha was surprisingly open and communicative. Jae was more reserved, especially because we got so few chapters from his perspective, but I could feel how much he WANTED to be in love. He was just scared he wasn't going to be allowed.
There were some things I had a hard time with or at least had to overlook to enjoy the story. Rapha's obsession of Jae...he definitely could have come across as a stalker. Had Jae been a woman, would this story have worked? If Rapha hadn't been a rock star, would Jae have enjoyed the attention or would he have felt uncomfortable and stalked? I love how all in Rapha was, but also...definitely problematic haha. This book also needed a proofreader; there were quite a few mistakes sprinkled throughout. It didn't take me out of the story too much, and I know with my training that I'm more likely to find these mistakes, but they are there.
Overall, I really liked this one. I had to look up the meaning of Hamartia, and I have to say that the title is really cool and pretty perfect. I'm definitely interested in learning more about K-pop stars now!
Well, I lost my previous review...
Bottom line: I loved it!
May 18, 2023 – "Ok… so… I’m obsessed!
Bottom line: I loved it!
May 18, 2023 – "Ok… so… I’m obsessed!
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Parts of this I really liked but the parts I didn’t like tanked it. A lot of it felt like a total cheese fest. I know for a fact there is no way in hell the conflict would’ve been cleaned up as quickly as it did given my minimal knowledge I have from my friends regarding k-pop. It took twelve hours and everything was completely fine?? Also, Camille was a saint and did not deserve to be cheated on. The fact this had the cheating trope, a third act break up, AND pregnancy trope?? Like holy shit pick a struggle. I don’t think I can read and fully enjoy musician love stories because none of them are accurately portrayed at all. Why were the Grammys in September??? Why did this Grammy award winning musician never tour??? Or really do ANYTHING related to his career for MONTHS. It literally makes no sense. I wish I could’ve enjoyed this more because the relationship was actually very sweet but everything else was a hot mess.