Reviews

Perfection of Suffering by M. Sinclair

ewatson0328's review

slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

the_bookish_coven's review

3.0

I really enjoyed the dynamic between the FMC and her guys but there was so much internal chatter. The length of this book could have easily been cut down by 100 pages. It was just too much internal dialogue and I ended up skimming a lot of it. I’m not sure if I’m invested enough to read book 2 or not, tbh.

theraunchyreader's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

nikkieliz13's review

3.0

Rating: 3 Stars

➸ There was too much inner dialogue. In fact, this entire book largely consisted of inner dialogue—at least that’s what it felt like. Barely anything happened, and when it did it was brief. Even worse was the repetition of the characters’ thoughts; they said the same thing over and over and over and over and over—you get the point—again.


➸ How is it that the same men that the FBI depend on to gather information, are also the same guys struggling to figure out the extent of the bullying Dahlia is keeping a secret? I don’t buy the whole “respecting her privacy” excuse.


➸ I find the fact that Dahlia managed to keep her guys from finding out about the attack in the bathroom during the charity lunch unbelievable. Abby had yanked Dahlia’s head back by her hair causing her to fall and slam her head on the ground, grabbed her by the throat and drew blood using her nails, and kicked her in the ribs. I can overlook the fact that her sore scalp went unnoticed if I take her word that she managed not to wince when Sterling massaged her head. What I can’t overlook?

1. The nail marks on her throat—she hid them with makeup on one occasion, but there were later occasions where one of the guys would nuzzle against or kiss her on her neck; I find it unlikely that they didn’t notice markings that were only a few inches from their faces.

2.a. I assumed that a “sharp kick” to the ribs would have left Dahlia with a bruise, but Kingston saw her completely naked in the shower without seeing one; this can be inferred because he didn’t get angry and demand answers about how she got it.

2.b. Even if a “sharp kick” didn’t leave a bruise, Dahlia’s ribs would have been sore—I’m talking wincing at sudden movements or painful breathing—which is why I find it hard to believe that six men completely obsessed with her didn’t notice anything.

Title:[b: Perfection of Suffering
(The Shadows of Wildberry Lane #1)]
POV(s): Multiple—First Person
Interconnected Series: Yes—Book #1 of 3
Standalone: No
Cliffhanger: No
HEA:

Spoiler

TBD

Relationship: Reverse Harem
Genre(s): Contemporary Romance, New Adult
Triggers:

Spoiler

Bullying, FMC with Eating Disorder, Violence

Tags/Tropes:
❖ Adopted-FMC
❖ Best-Friends-to-Lovers
❖ From-Rich-Families
❖ Grew-Up-Together
❖ Naive-FMC
❖ Neighbors
❖ Possessive-Obsessive-MMCs
❖ Rich-Powerful-Dangerous
❖ Sheltered-FMC
❖ Slow/Medium-Burn

greek_myth5's review

5.0

How bad is it I want to move to Wildberry Lane???

So I'm starting to think that I have a serious problem here - I absolutely adore psychos and their obsessive, crazy love and M. Sinclair, she loves feeding my addiction beautifully. Yates, Stratton, Lincoln, Kingston, Sterling and Dermot make Dahlia one very lucky, lucky girl. These crazy men are her besties and her entire world and they all love her to the point of insanity. (Book character envy is real people!) Anyway they're all hiding their darkness from Dahlia but she has her own secret, one that has her on a downward spiral. Her stubbornness to ask for help will cost her but we're about to find out what lengths her men will go for her - I can't wait!!!

val_reads93's review

5.0

To all the psycho protectors

This made me want to be a Southern Bell surrounded by sexy, Psycho, protective, domineering, teddy

andreathereader's review

2.0

This series reads like a 15-year old wrote her own fantasy novel. It's about 80% exposition and description versus 20% dialogue. You know the old saying, "show, don't tell?" Nobody told M. Sinclair that. This series is chock full of telling.

These five guys and one girl have lived in the same cul-de-sac all their lives. She's starting to realize she may like them as more than friends, they of course have been in love with her since they were little. The guys have already discussed their situation and agreed they will all marry her and live together in a house in the same little cul-de-sac. Then one of the guys brings home his cousin and he of course falls instantly in love with her as well, and they easily slide him into their reverse harem.

Some of the situations are so silly as to be unbelievable. For example,

Spoiler

the FBI contacted these 5 high school seniors and asked them to work for them. The kids have all of this information on people in the town, and the FBI asked the kids to review the information for who they think might be a drug dealer. Instead of taking the documents and reviewing them in the FBI, the federally-trained agents ask kids to do the legwork.

Also, five of the guys are virgins (they're saving themselves for her, natch) and they are magically amazing in bed right out of the gate, giving her multiple orgasms every time. And the idea that six guys would be willing and ready to settle down with one woman at 18 defies belief.

Basically, here's the series, in summary:

Spoiler

Book 1 - girl likes six guys, they all love her and want to be together forever. She gets put in a dangerous situation, they rescue her, she has sex with one of the guys, then another one. Book 2 - she gets put in another dangerous situation, the guys rescue her and get real mad that she was in danger. She has sex with a few of the guys, one at a time. She gets in another dangerous situation. Cliffhanger. Book 3 - the guys rescue her, she has sex with a few of them, one at a time. She gets put in, you guessed it, another dangerous situation. Luckily, she gets rescued. Sex ensues.

The characters are one-dimensional and I didn't care about them in the least. The parents are mostly absent, until needed to explain something. There were several instances of misused words. The girl kept saying "am I crazy for wanting all six of these guys?" over and over again in different ways. It was repetitive and annoying. This is just a poorly written story that went nowhere and did nothing.

riahlynn66's review

5.0

M. Sinclair is one of my absolute favorite authors. She writes amazing PNR and her first contemporary series was just as amazing! She writes such possessive male characters that are definitely crazy in the most endearing way. I loved that she wrote about a tough topic on the FMC and how the guys will do anything for her. Cannot wait until book 2

bookwormbetty's review

4.0

warmed up quick

At first when I was reading this I was like, I don’t know if this is for me. But I stuck with it, and I’m glad. I love these characters. Every single male is a deranged whack job in some form or another, which plays well with Dahlia being a delicate flower. The contrast is great, the world building is good, the pace does kind of lag off here and there, but overall I enjoyed the story.

acourtoffantasies's review

5.0

What a way to kick off the new year!! Perfection of Suffering is a dark, dangerous, and oh so sexy kickstart to this new contemporary RH series! If you adore strong and possessive men (with a dash of psycho) then you will not be disappointed with this book or any of M. Sinclair’s work for that matter. I honestly could not put this book down, the story starts off fast and continues to build in suspense as each character’s background is revealed. Not only is this book intoxicating but each character has their own battles that anyone can relate to in real life ~ definitely recommend!!