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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
"Fuck" actually was used in excess. I thought the other review I read about that was just like a gentle soul, but nope. Overkill.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Okay so I picked up this series because I read and reviewed and Arc of No Honor Among Thieves. I realized pretty quickly that there were a lot of side characters that definitely had some interesting back stories.
For one I will say this story is brutally dark, so please check the TWs before diving in. At first I didn’t really know how I was going to like this story. Rory has a trauma filled past, but she let Caden, Jensen, Tyler and Lukas in pretty easily if you ask me. The guys wanted to break her, but not all of them knew if her past except Lukas. They all still went through with it and lost her. So for her supposedly being hard and doesn’t like touch it kinda felt off that she let them in so easily. Then there’s Skeeter who she ends up with after the drama and he’s dark and dangerous. Also very much into blood play. I actually ended up liking him more. But it’s when you have high guys put up against older guys it’s a jarring dynamic. It’s not a big age difference but it’s just like wth can a high school kid does against a gang lol. But this story depicts rape on and off page and it’s pretty heart breaking. So it’s no surprise when Rory starts going off the rails. This book was entertaining and I definitely want to keep going. But it definitely has some flaws that I couldn’t ignore.
Tropes:
RH
Bullying
Step siblings
Forced proximity
Trauma past
Blood play
Gang
She’s not like every girl
Wrong side of the tracks
Spice:
For one I will say this story is brutally dark, so please check the TWs before diving in. At first I didn’t really know how I was going to like this story. Rory has a trauma filled past, but she let Caden, Jensen, Tyler and Lukas in pretty easily if you ask me. The guys wanted to break her, but not all of them knew if her past except Lukas. They all still went through with it and lost her. So for her supposedly being hard and doesn’t like touch it kinda felt off that she let them in so easily. Then there’s Skeeter who she ends up with after the drama and he’s dark and dangerous. Also very much into blood play. I actually ended up liking him more. But it’s when you have high guys put up against older guys it’s a jarring dynamic. It’s not a big age difference but it’s just like wth can a high school kid does against a gang lol. But this story depicts rape on and off page and it’s pretty heart breaking. So it’s no surprise when Rory starts going off the rails. This book was entertaining and I definitely want to keep going. But it definitely has some flaws that I couldn’t ignore.
Tropes:
RH
Bullying
Step siblings
Forced proximity
Trauma past
Blood play
Gang
She’s not like every girl
Wrong side of the tracks
Spice:
I dnf’d this one. There was so much going on in this book, it was a mess and didn’t make any sense. The characters also didn’t make any sense, there was no depth to them and the relationship they had with each other developed way too fast and was all over the place. I wanted to like this one as the storyline was a good idea, but it just fell flat for me.
❝You rich kids like to pick on people who you think are below you, but you forget that we’ve had to survive more than you. We know how to fight, we play dirty, and we aren’t afraid to get blood on our hands.
I’m Rory Donovan, nice to fucking meet you.❞
❥
—» Rating:3 Stars
[b: Pretty Lies (Watch Me Burn #1)|55385675|Pretty Lies (Watch Me Burn, #1)|R.E. Bond|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600613751l/55385675._SY75_.jpg|85271934] by [a: R.E. Bond|20531190|R.E. Bond|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1605762067p2/20531190.jpg] is a reverse-harem, new-adult, romance. Our heroine Rory is forced into a new school, when her deadbeat dad moves them into the house of his latest girlfriend. Knowing he’s only using the kind hearted mother for her wealth, Rory tries to warn her, catching the attention of her son, Caden, instead. For the first time in years, Rory finds that she can open herself up to another person, forming a relationship with Caden and his friends. But trusting them is dangerous when the guys are playing a game, and their lies are capable of breaking her already shattered heart.
❥
—» What I Liked:
•I love a heroine who keeps her head held high when facing sh!t.
•Skeeter is a psycho cutie. He may not be everyone’s favorite—as he’s not a standup citizen, and has a liking for violence—but he’s protective of Rory.
❥
—» What I Disliked:
•Rory was definitely wishy-washy when it came to certain things. Her actions didn’t always make sense for who the author tries to portray her as.
•The use of the L-word felt weak.
•The love interests. For a new adult book, the four main male characters were way too childish. Doing drugs, drinking, and threatening violence (even if it’s just a scare tactic) does not make someone mature. Let me be more specific: Caden lashes out at Rory because he didn’t want to face his feelings for her. Tyler went along with it because he always supports his best friend, even if he doesn’t agree with him. Jensen doesn’t want to hurt Rory, but he does because of peer pressure. And Lukas. Lukas may not have actively joined in on the betrayal, but by staying neutral, he allowed her to get hurt. They’re all spineless.
•The only guy I liked was Skeeter. His pain kink blurred the lines of a toxic relationship, but that was consensual between him and Rory, so who am I to judge? Besides that, he looked out for her and tried to protect her in his own way.
•The drug use was excessive. Not only that, but one scene in particular casually mentions one of the four main love interests intentionally getting the heroine high so she would have sex with him.
❝She was fucked up on cocaine, as well as being drunk as fuck, so she’d probably pull the rape card on them. Not that I’d really blame her, because Tyler got her fucked up on purpose, hoping to get her into bed that way.❞
WTF. This genuinely gives me date rape vibes, or dubious consent at the very least, and a second love interest casually acknowledges this!
•Everything felt like it was fast tracked to get us to the end where the conflict was wrapped up in a convenient little blood soaked bow.
❥
—» Recommended If You Like:
•Reverse-harem featuring a stepbrother and his friends, one of which is the heroine's ex-best friend.
•Heroine who fights.
•Poor heroine who is the new girl in a rich school.
•Light bully-romance (there's really only one scene where they intentionally bully the heroine to her face in front of the school)
•Gangs/street-crew
❥
—» My Reading Pace:
I don’t want to be mean, and I’m not sure I even mean this as a criticism, but this book was a train wreck that I couldn’t look away from. I finished it in one sitting, staying up past two in the morning. I’ll let you decide if that means it’s a book you should read.
Note: this story contains A LOT of themes and triggers that may not be suitable for everyone.
What a fantastic start to this series. This is R.E.Bond's debut story. If you are looking for a sweet and innocent h, you're not going to find that here. Our FMC, Rory is flawed, self destructive, toxic af, but still one badass chica. She has been through a lot of messed up shit in her life. I really enjoyed this. Can't wait for the next one!