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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
So hold tight because I need to go pet some fluffy bunnies before I start this review...
OK, so...WOW. Where do I start? First, I have to say I think Lily White is one of the most versatile authors I have ever had the pleasure to read. Whenever you pick up one of her books, you never know what you are getting yourself into. Every one of them are unique and frankly, amazing. This book was no different. This is the second book in as many days where I have been blown away by how good it was. It is also the second book in a row where I will leave my review pretty dang vague.
This book was CRAZY. I am not gonna even lie. It was also amazingly well written. It is a relatively long book, but you won't want to skim a single moment. Trust me on that point. It is told in a dual POV format and through the use of "past" and "present" chapters. The plot was super engaging. Dark. Twisted. Heartbreaking. Uncomfortable. Rainy...man...I don't even know what to say about this girl. She made me depressed, but she also made me want to shake the sh!t out of her. I am not even going to touch on the men in this book...oy vey. Last...the ending. The only TINY niggle I had with this one was the ending, and that is only because something is mentioned earlier in the book that gave the ending away. As soon as a character mentioned it, I knew how this book would end. I think if that conversation had been left out the ending would have had a much bigger impact on me. Especially since as far as I could tell that bit of information wasn't pertinent to the story. Still, even with that this book was an amazing read and well deserving of the 5-Stars I am gifting it. I can't wait to see what this author has up her sleeve next!
Author Lily White brought it!
In her signature dark & twisted style of writing, she just blew me away with this story.
I did not see any of it coming...
I was floored.
I was stunned.
I was aroused.
I was hurt.
I was loving every word as I read.
I fell for the one person I should have not and knew it.
I wanted to believe everything Rainey said...
but there is always a but,
the quiet ones are always the ones that you least except to surprise you.
I had soo many theories on the outcome and not one of them was right because Author Lily White knows how to throw you off her scent on where she will take the story and that is what I like about reading her books.
Totally not predictable ever.
This book took me on an emotionally charged & mind blown ride that even after reading over a week ago, I am still thinking about soo many things that happened in this book.
Go grab it and be ready to have your secret little detective self and come out to play on who Rainey & Rowan really are.
A Top 2019 Must Read!
Loved it!
**ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review***
5 Cherries Popped
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Vibe: Basic Instinct meets Euphoria
┍━━━━━━━ ❝ ━━━━━━━┑
She deserved the fairy tale and all she’d been given was a nightmare.
┕━━━━━━━ ❞ ━━━━━━━┙
A web of seduction, secrets, and death surrounds Rainey as psychologist Justin Redding attempts to uncover the truth.
┍━━━━━━━ ❝ ━━━━━━━┑
It was too bad that my story would never be worth the paper it was written on.
┕━━━━━━━ ❞ ━━━━━━━┙
The Five is a dark and twisted journey into the depths of obsession, desire, and the complexities of human relationships. It is a book that will challenge you and keep you guessing until the end. If you are a fan of psychological thrillers and aren’t afraid to explore the darker side of human nature, this is for you.
What I Liked
- The dual timelines of present day interviews and flashbacks of the events as they unraveled.
- The pacing that never lets up.
- Love-ish. Mind-boggling-earth-shattering-sense-numbing love-ish.
- Pain. Mind-boggling-earth-shattering-sense-numbing pain.
- 𝓡🩶𝓞🩶𝓦🩶𝓐🩶𝓝
White’s writing is atmospheric, setting the stage for the eerie and unsettling events that unfold throughout the book. Her prose vividly describes the characters’ surroundings and the emotions that consume them.
┍━━━━━━━ ❝ ━━━━━━━┑
Perhaps circumstances age us more than the years do. The harder the life, the faster you grow.
…to blend in while remaining separate, like a butterfly mingling among moths; more beautiful, more powerful, yet somehow still more delicate.
She was the type of girl men would want without knowing why.
It was like taming a wild animal. You know it has the ability to tear you to shreds with sharp claws and gnashing teeth, but it makes you feel powerful for its love and obedience.
┕━━━━━━━ ❞ ━━━━━━━┙
It had me in a chokehold from beginning to end. You have my attention, L.W.
🎙️ Excellent performances by the narrators! Their skillful narration makes it an even more gripping and immersive experience. 👏👏
Before you go… 🩶
┍━━━━━━━ ❝ ━━━━━━━┑
“I think I love you, Rainey Summer Day. I think I’ve loved you since the moment we first met.”
The way he looked at me. The way he talked to me. The way he loved me when he should have loved someone else.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “You have no fucking idea how beautiful you are.”
“Even when I close my eyes, all I see is you.”
“You’ve been avoiding me.” My voice was lazy, deeper because I hadn’t quite woken fully.
“For good reason.”
“That’s impossible. There’s no reason out there good enough for you to shove me away.”
┕━━━━━━━ ❞ ━━━━━━━┙
⚠️ If you have ANY triggers, I highly recommend heeding the trigger warnings. Not for the faint-hearted.
Like what!!! When I say this book had me hooked, I was hooked.
The hell that Rainey dealt with and me shook!
I think this story hit differently is because I can see this as real life type dateline stuff.
Check triggers and content warnings as this is dark. It’s nota typical love story type romance…but it is one with a HEA.
Story 4⭐️
Spice 3⭐️
The hell that Rainey dealt with and me shook!
I think this story hit differently is because I can see this as real life type dateline stuff.
Check triggers and content warnings as this is dark. It’s nota typical love story type romance…but it is one with a HEA.
Story 4⭐️
Spice 3⭐️
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Read the trigger warnings
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
dark
emotional
sad
tense
This dark romance is not for the faint of heart! It’s definitely not something I’d recommend to just anyone but for the girlies that get it will get it ya know. Rainey’s character is just so sad and her and Rowing’s relationship broke my heart. This might have one of the most intense plot twists I’ve read this year! I will be reading more of Lily Whites work in the future.
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Five by Lily White
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
4/5
🆘MAKE SURE TO CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS🆘
The sorry starts off with four people being murdered, and Rainey Summer Day was the only surviving person. In order to find out what happens, the police bring in a psychologist named Justin to evaluate Rainey, and determine if she committed the murdered. Rainey wants to tell Justin about her time living in Clayton Heights.
Rainey was born into a life of unfortunate circumstances. Rainey lived with her mother, who was constantly bringing new men into their lives. Every time a relationship didn’t work out for her mom, they moved.
When Rainey was 17, they moved to Clayton Heights, and next door to the Connors family, which consisted of Paul the dad, and his four sons. Rowan was the youngest, 15 at the time.
The first day they moved to Clayton’s Heights Rainey meets Rowan’s oldest brother Jacob. Jacob asks Rainey if she wants to smoke a joint, but Rainey tells Jacob she doesn’t have any money. Jacob lets her know she can earn it through “favors”. This starts Raineys toxic relationship with the Connors men. Each one of them, minus Rowan was dealing drugs, and if Rainey wanted any, she had to earn them….
Overall this was a good story, I was just able to figure it out pretty quickly, which isn’t my favorite.
Includes
- dark romantic suspense
- Unstable fmc
- Dual pov
- Sex in exchange for drugs
- Spicy
- Twists and turns
- Non con
- Drug use
- Murder
- HEA