You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
It's got a very sad and dark ending.
Colton kills Justin in a very dramatic and traumatic way. It's awful. Damian ends up shooting Colton so he dies too. But man, Justin's death was brutal.
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
saw another review that is accurate. First 60% of the book, outstanding. It holds your attention. But the remaining, 40%…. WTF? Did the author forget how to write a book?
The second half is rushed, boring, lame, and Jenna is an idiot. Damien deserves better- and their attachment doesn’t make sense given how completely different their personalities are.
Also. The absolute worst trope in the entire trope library……..
SPOILER
Surprise! You’re preggers! Honestly, I started skimming just to finish at this point. Woohoo…. Whoopdedoo. Spare me
The second half is rushed, boring, lame, and Jenna is an idiot. Damien deserves better- and their attachment doesn’t make sense given how completely different their personalities are.
Also. The absolute worst trope in the entire trope library……..
SPOILER
Surprise! You’re preggers! Honestly, I started skimming just to finish at this point. Woohoo…. Whoopdedoo. Spare me
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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:
Yes
Wow
Ok for those that seen this on tiktok like I did know this before setting down to this emotional roller coaster its a slow burn that fades quickly and doesn't happen until 70 percent that being said wow this brings to life what someone who is just in the first stages of domestic abuse may feel and how one could react. Also not there is only one point of view through out the entire book which was why I gave four stars I would of loved to know his pov. This had some surprises that was shocking and made it realistic. The main characters do get an hea but not without true heartbreak along the way
Ok for those that seen this on tiktok like I did know this before setting down to this emotional roller coaster its a slow burn that fades quickly and doesn't happen until 70 percent that being said wow this brings to life what someone who is just in the first stages of domestic abuse may feel and how one could react. Also not there is only one point of view through out the entire book which was why I gave four stars I would of loved to know his pov. This had some surprises that was shocking and made it realistic. The main characters do get an hea but not without true heartbreak along the way
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Way to quick of a turnaround from one guy to the next. Go to therapy Jenna. Actually everyone in this book needs therapy.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-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
I really don't know how to describe how i feel about this book. It was hard hitting and very provocative but i really disliked Jenna.
Jenna was so incredibly stupid throwing herself into dangerous situations that didn't just impact her. I do inderstand her wanting a nirmal life, I really do (sibling in an abusive relationship, they went back after the first time and almost died, i lived through the aftermath both times) but the was she recklessly acts without a thought past how she can fix something despite the consequences to her and those she loves. It was so frustrating that i almost stopped reading a coupoe of times because of her.
Also what was that ending? She's been in a crap place for months due to the heartbreak and suddenly she is perfectly fine? No growth at all just that one second changes everything and suddenly everything is bright and shiny? And then nothing but an epilogue! So out of the blue and strange and not well done.
Jenna was strong and vibrant until Colton... She survived and that is also what's heartbreaking about the book.
Justin and Damian were my favourite characters in the book. They had dimension and they were both just great characters. And i was really hoping she mis-remembered.
Jenna was so incredibly stupid throwing herself into dangerous situations that didn't just impact her. I do inderstand her wanting a nirmal life, I really do (sibling in an abusive relationship, they went back after the first time and almost died, i lived through the aftermath both times) but the was she recklessly acts without a thought past how she can fix something despite the consequences to her and those she loves. It was so frustrating that i almost stopped reading a coupoe of times because of her.
Also what was that ending? She's been in a crap place for months due to the heartbreak and suddenly she is perfectly fine? No growth at all just that one second changes everything and suddenly everything is bright and shiny? And then nothing but an epilogue! So out of the blue and strange and not well done.
Jenna was strong and vibrant until Colton... She survived and that is also what's heartbreaking about the book.
Justin and Damian were my favourite characters in the book. They had dimension and they were both just great characters. And i was really hoping she mis-remembered.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
* Disclaimer
Going into this review I knew exactly what I wanted to say,but then I read the inspiration for this book and it's throwing me a little bit. Deadly Illusion was HEAVILY inspired by the author's real life events, so even though I have commentary on the plot and characters and how it read as a story, I feel a little bad sharing it given how close the events of this book are to the author's experiences. I'm going to share them because I like having reviews to look back on, but please know that I am commenting on the STORY and not trying to take away or minimize what happened to the author or several other people in real life.
* Review
Getting into it. I'm going to start with the good things. The first good thing was the plot. It was exciting and very high stakes, causing it to read fast as a result (it's also fairly short for a novel, so I can definitely see you finishing it in one day if you don't have other responsibilities). As far as romantic suspense went (which is one of my favorite sub-genres ever) she really did hit it out of the park. Another good thing was how she handled domestic violence. If you're a fan of It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover and you're looking for something similar (albeit a lot darker) then I'd highly recommend checking this out. Lockheart actually went into the cycle of abusive relationships and I think she handled it beautifully overall. It was very informative, and gave deeper insight to domestic abuse. Finally, the smut is very minimal (I would go as far as to call it borderline closed-door). I felt the need to mention that since I feel like most Dark romances are pretty smut-forward and that's not everyone's cup of tea. So if you've been looking to delve more into the genre but that's off-putting to you, I would recommend this.
On to the bad stuff. The relationship between Damian and Jenna developed so FAST! They only met at page 50 of 280, and by the time they were both available to be together there were only 130 pages left of the book. Couple that with the fact that there was a very extensive domestic abuse plotline to get through, everything between them just transpired too quickly. She tried to squish a plot that takes most authors upwards of 400 pages to get through in a quarter of the time, and it definitely showed. Not to mention the fact that Colton and Damian were very similar . . . I just wished the author handled their relationship a little differently. Another big problem was that I didn't like Jenna. I found her to be annoying and overly dramatic. Lastly, despite the plot moving really quickly, there were times where it felt uninspired, causing my attention to wander.
To conclude, it was a good book. I don't know if I would necessarily read it again, but there were several good points that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would recommend it if any of the aspects I mentioned appeal to you.
Going into this review I knew exactly what I wanted to say,but then I read the inspiration for this book and it's throwing me a little bit. Deadly Illusion was HEAVILY inspired by the author's real life events, so even though I have commentary on the plot and characters and how it read as a story, I feel a little bad sharing it given how close the events of this book are to the author's experiences. I'm going to share them because I like having reviews to look back on, but please know that I am commenting on the STORY and not trying to take away or minimize what happened to the author or several other people in real life.
* Review
Getting into it. I'm going to start with the good things. The first good thing was the plot. It was exciting and very high stakes, causing it to read fast as a result (it's also fairly short for a novel, so I can definitely see you finishing it in one day if you don't have other responsibilities). As far as romantic suspense went (which is one of my favorite sub-genres ever) she really did hit it out of the park. Another good thing was how she handled domestic violence. If you're a fan of It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover and you're looking for something similar (albeit a lot darker) then I'd highly recommend checking this out. Lockheart actually went into the cycle of abusive relationships and I think she handled it beautifully overall. It was very informative, and gave deeper insight to domestic abuse. Finally, the smut is very minimal (I would go as far as to call it borderline closed-door). I felt the need to mention that since I feel like most Dark romances are pretty smut-forward and that's not everyone's cup of tea. So if you've been looking to delve more into the genre but that's off-putting to you, I would recommend this.
On to the bad stuff. The relationship between Damian and Jenna developed so FAST! They only met at page 50 of 280, and by the time they were both available to be together there were only 130 pages left of the book. Couple that with the fact that there was a very extensive domestic abuse plotline to get through, everything between them just transpired too quickly. She tried to squish a plot that takes most authors upwards of 400 pages to get through in a quarter of the time, and it definitely showed. Not to mention the fact that Colton and Damian were very similar . . . I just wished the author handled their relationship a little differently. Another big problem was that I didn't like Jenna. I found her to be annoying and overly dramatic. Lastly, despite the plot moving really quickly, there were times where it felt uninspired, causing my attention to wander.
To conclude, it was a good book. I don't know if I would necessarily read it again, but there were several good points that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would recommend it if any of the aspects I mentioned appeal to you.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes