Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Caught Up: Into Darkness, Book 2

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Caught Up: Into Darkness, Book 2 by Navessa Allen

63 reviews

zozu8's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

Content Warnings

johnni_june's review against another edition

4.0

dark funny medium-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

Content Warnings

katharina90's review against another edition

2.0

dark medium-paced

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

What I liked about this book was how sex work positive it was. Everything else was meh.
The characters were pretty bland and lacked sexual tension which I think is a general problem with the Second Chance trope. The plot was boring.

Audiobook:
Well narrated overall but the female narrator's "Irish" accent was atrocious. Thankfully this was only used for a minor character but I can't for the life of me understand how this was allowed into the final cut.

Content Warnings

caitlinastrid's review against another edition

3.5

dark funny 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

Content Warnings

reward82's review against another edition

3.75

dark funny 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

These audiobook narrators were fantastic. This one definitely had a different tone than lights out, but continued the themes of sex worker positivity and combatting stigma, dark themes, and a dose of humor. While they made some appearances, I really missed the cat chaos from the first book. At least this time we got the pup named Walter!

Content Warnings

meggiejae2000's review against another edition

3.75

dark funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

micaelamariem's review against another edition

3.5

dark funny reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Caught Up by Navessa Allen is the second book in the Into Darkness trilogy and the sequel to Lights Out. I listened to the audiobook of Lights Out a few months ago and really enjoyed the humor of it, so I decided to give the audio for this one a shot too. It didn't hurt that a book club was also reading it.

Caught Upfollows the cousin of the FMC in the first book, Nico "Junior" Trochee, a son stuck in the mob, and his second chance romance with Lauren, a camgirl. Things aren't so easy when Junior's mobster father doesn't approve, however, or when Lauren won't easily forgive Junior for the past. The author, Navessa Allen, is a woman of many trades turned full-time romance author.

As a relatively short read, there isn't a lot of room for the characters to grow, and I'd argue only Junior provides significant character development despite the dual perspective. He learns he can be redeemed and can deserve love. Lauren, on the other hand, seemed nearly self-actualized from the beginning--proud of who she was. I still liked her as a character, but she was pretty static. I adored her friends, who added to the "found family" and provided comic relief. This read wasn't as humorous as the first book, so I appreciated Taylor and Ryan's antics.

While the characters in Caught Up were darker than those of Lights Out, the atmosphere wasn't--nor was it as funny. I think this was mainly where the narrative was liking. I still enjoyed the overall story, but I think it failed to live up to the balance of darkness and humor the first novel had.

I also thought the plot wasn't as thorough as the first book had been. It was very much a "can these two characters forgive each other (or rather forgive him) and move on from the past" type of ordeal, with low stakes. It was a fun read, but I was expecting more shock factor--though I suppose we get that with the play club.

Despite this, I still appreciate Allen's writing style that was accessible and conversational, yet still providing witty banter between characters. In addition, Allen portrayed sex work and kink as something that can be empowering which was a fresh take.

There wasn't much intrigue with the book, other than worrying if the characters will get together, if Junior's father will let them, and if the play club will continue. Which I guess in hindsight is a fair amount of intrigue, especially for a romance. I just didn't find myself glued, wondering what's going to happen because I accepted it all as a foregone conclusion. But again, that's just romance.

I do think the book was a lot more logical and cohesive than the first book. The events that played out, albeit a bit rushed at the end, made sense, and I couldn't see it going any other way.

I really overall enjoyed the book. It wasn't complex, but it was a fun time, and really, isn't that the most important thing?

I think I'd give this book 3.5 stars. I preferred Lights Out, but still had a fun time with Caught Up and the voice actors did a phenomenal job. I appreciated the fresh perspective and the witty side characters. I didn't as much like the stale plot and pacing. But overall, I had fun!

Now beware that the trigger warnings include organized crime, violence, child abuse, and portrays scenes that would need very explicit consent.

Content Warnings