Reviews - Beautiful Prey | The StoryGraph

67 reviews for:

Beautiful Prey

Lora Darc

4.5 AVERAGE

thecontinuitybibliophile's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Dual POV, Spicy, Dark Romance, Inmate x Therapist, Enemies to Lovers, Masked MMC, Revenge, Serial Killer, Hidden Identity, Touch Her & Perish, Primal Play

Beautiful Prey will put you through the whole human range of emotions. This dark romance is full of witty banter, delicious chemistry, and plot twists that will rip your heart out. Emery and Evee are have an extremely complicated and nuanced relationship which is incredibly well written. And when the spice finally hits...who would have guessed Emery was hiding such a dirty mouth behind that red skull mask? The cliff hanger ending has me counting down the days until the next book releases.

autumn_always_reads's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I absolutely loved this book. The pacing was so quick, and the plot kept me on my toes. The mystery surrounding Eve and how it entangled with Emery was genius (I don't want to give away spoilers). I genuinely could not put this book down; it had a chokehold on me. I love both Eve and Emery's relationship as twisted as it is. When I read the overview, I saw that it was psychiatrist x patient and thought that the novel was going to be a Harley Quinn and Joker knock off, but it is SO much better than that. 10/10 recommend this book!

Because of this being a dark romance, be sure to expect darker elements to be explored.

alatedbibliophile's review against another edition

5.0

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Thank you so much, Lora Darc, for giving me the chance to read and review your book!

This book had me in an absolute chokehold. Y’all. With the way the book starts out, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel like the MMC had any redeeming qualities at all, but once you get into the story and learn the why behind what he did, it’s so much easier to feel empathetic toward him. Frankly, I just wanted him to have a win in his life and Eve was so perfect for him.

I genuinely loved this book and despite the upsetting story matter, it’s skyrocketed to my favorite reads of 2024 list. Lora Darc is a new author to me, but she definitely won’t be for long. I also can’t wait for book 2 because that cliffhanger was killer (see what I did there? 😏)

bullet points:
* I kind of saw where this was going as far as how the FMC’s family fits in with the MMC’s past, but I didn’t quite expect the depth of it. Wow. It’s horrible and heartbreaking and I feel so bad for both of these characters.
* I still love the masked man concept 😍
* The writing in this book was fantastic *chef’s kiss*
* That cliffhanger…seriously. Brutal.

If you’re a fan of dark romance and/or genuinely unhinged characters, you need to read this book! It’s also a fabulous read this time of year 💀🖤🎃🍂

As always, if you read this book, please come back and let me know what you thought in the comments!

Full review: https://alatedbibliophile.com/arc-review-beautiful-prey-lora-darc/

Content Warnings

classicgirl97's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Oh Emery. I need book 2 asap!

Content Warnings

alisharose's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

Halloween 🎃 Vibes
🧠 psychology scholarship 👩‍🏫
💻 interview killer ☠️

foster homes
dead sis , drugged
💛yellow 👁️
🐰

☕️ 🥯 📱
1920s medical building
🏣
🧟‍♀️ bruises on her arms hair missing
♾️ 🐰 missing 👀 or 👂

Murder & Mystery
🚙 Blue mustang 🐎
meds 💊
Car accident
👩🏼‍🦰

🏣Family Company secrets 🤐
🥤 🗂️☠️

🌧️ ⛓️‍💥 🎁 👁️

Kidnapping🏡
Knife 🔪 play
Tied bound and gagged

🐺 🐝 🍯 🚮 🕷️🔪
He eats 🐱
Government testing

“I’m in deep water and you’re the 🌖 “

🐴 🌊🛥️ 🏕️ 👦🏻 💃 🕺

🎂👗 👱🏻‍♀️🥞🍯🍓🫐🍳
🥵 He eats 🐱
✨🚫🏃‍♀️
🎀Brat💝😚

Fathers journal 📔

🃏 Harley Quinn meets the crow 🐦‍⬛

🔫🛥️😵 🏥

Therapist X Inmate
Enemies to lovers
🎭 MMC 👺
Serial Killer 🔪
Revenge
🏥Asylum
Obsession❤️‍🔥

Content Warnings

kebowling's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

*ARC Review*

This book was a wild roller coaster of emotions that I did not want to get off of. The ups and downs were SO worth it - I wish I could read this book again for the first time.

Eve and Emery’s relationship is a unique one. He murdered her entire family in front of her (unknowingly) on her 16th birthday, and she has plotted her revenge against him. Except, when the time comes, she can’t do it, getting pulled in by the giant man and the puzzle he represents. I really liked her, and her need to help Emery over getting her revenge - especially once she learns the truth.

Emery gives off major Michael Myers vibes. He has a one track mind and when he has his sights set on something, he won’t stop until he gets it. He is also super smart, much more so that he gives off. His story is tragic and heartbreaking, giving us insight into who he is and why he does what he does.

The slow burn was amazing, the obsession was phenomenal, and the spice was so, so good.

This book was truly unhinged in the best way possible. My mind is still reeling and I am trying to figure out where book two could possibly go. How can this all work out? EEK. I am anxiously awaiting the release to find out what happens next.

Definitely recommend this book to all my dark romance lovers - you will not be disappointed.

Thank you so much for the ARC! 🖤

edgybutfemme's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional tense fast-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

🌶️🌶️🌶️3 / 5 -The smut in this novel uses explicit language and a decent amount of detail. We have a good balance of plot and romance. There are several spicy scenes throughout the book, at least two or three, but potentially even more.
The Troupes / Kinks include:

Masked MMC, Therapist x Inmate relationship, Enemies to Lovers, Revenge, Primal Play, Knife Play, Serial Killer

TLDR
This book had me captivated from start to finish. It is dark, it is compelling, and it is a wild ride from start to finish. I honestly wasn't sure if this book would be too dark for me based on the pitch, but I've been trying to push my dark romance reading further and further to test the boundaries of what I like and I am so glad I read this book! It may genuinely end up being one of my favorite books of the year. There are so many parts of this that verge on psychological thriller and I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed every step of the journey. Lora Darc has an incredible handle on pacing and relationship development.

The Romance
Eve and Emery's dynamic is incredibly compelling. The build of tension and anticipation as Eve slowly untangles the mystery of why Emery killed her family had me absolutely unable to put the book down. Emery has so much trauma and does so many awful things, but I found myself liking him and enjoying his banter with Eve before we even get the full context into why he is the way that he is. Also, though the smut doesn't kick off until fairly far into the plot, it is excellent and quite spicy. I have so much to say about these two, but I want to avoid spoiling anything so!!! Just go read it!

Final Thoughts
As always with dark romance, definitely mind the trigger warnings! Also, this book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger. I sometimes struggle with those, but this one didn't bother me and it so clearly perfectly sets up the second book in this duology. Thankfully, the second book comes out in just a few months and I am absolutely dying to get my hands on it. I can't wait to discover where the rest of Eve and Emery's journey leads, because I absolutely want them to have to have a happy ending no matter how unlikely it may seem.

I was given an ARC of this book in order to provide an honest review!

Content Warnings

caras_reviews's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The premise of this book is what drew me to it and boy what a thrilling read it was! I love a story that makes you think, that has a depth to it that the story comes alive across the pages.

I honestly felt all the fear Eve did in that first chapter. The absolute terror she must have felt!

She does not let this destroy her however, because she grows and studies forensic psychology in the hopes to understand what happened.

When Eve comes face-to-face with Emery, the monster that took everything from her, she expected to feel hate or something akin to that, but something different happens.

I loved Eve's resolve, she was determined to try find out why but instead she finds things more troubling than she expected.

The more time she spends with Emery, the more she's starts to realise he wasn't always a monster and the truths he spills are more heartbreaking than she can imagine. The dynamic between these two was well done, I loved the build-up of the relationship. The writing is fantastic, I felt like I was hanging off every word. It had a haunting type quality that I found really added to the story.

Both Eve and Emery were hurt by the same people in different ways and I really felt for them. I also can't understand Ethan, or even the Doctor. I honestly don't think I've ever wanted to unalive a character as much as Ethan, I don't even know what his plan was.

I feel like there is still so much more we don't know and judging by that cliffhanger, things are about to get interesting!

I'm so glad I picked this up, and I can't wait to see what happens next! January can't come quick enough!

Anyone that loves a good romance thriller will enjoy this book!