Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Caught Up: Into Darkness, Book 2 by Navessa Allen

202 reviews

kristenisreading's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional 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

Content Warnings

kimberlyyyreads's review against another edition

4.0

dark hopeful medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Wait y’all,

I truly enjoyed this book more than Lights out…🤭

Exhibition kink perhaps? I plead the fifth.

Lauren & Nico, HOT AF. I’m talking about sheet clenching, legs shaking, jaw on the floor kinda HOT.

I love a good book with a Camgirl FMC, Lauren has the kind of confidence that I need to unlock in my life 🙂‍↕️. I appreciated how this book talked about camming as a serious job. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of stereotypes that portray any kind of sex work as less than but Lauren always advocated for herself and her colleagues work which really made me enjoy this novel.

Nico, Eldest brother, and ex-boyfriend who’s apparently stalked his ex all along because he never stopped loving her, Jr? Catch me in line cause I want him too!

He knew it was her all along and was willing to wait as long as she needed to until she was ready. That’s HOT.

This book is definitely different than Lights Out but not in a bad way. At least in my opinion, it’s original and has some great content.

Thank you Navessa for such a great horny read, May your pillow always be cold and your coffee be made just right for the rest of your days ❤️

Content Warnings

sydcreads's review against another edition

2.5

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

mmayabug97's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The only thing I truly loved in this book was the twist. I enjoyed the found family aspect most of all. Good for them.

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

vicky_g12's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

kathrynjean97's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

While this was well written, sexy, and had a more linear plot than Lights Out, it just didn't live up to the expectations set by its predecessor.

VIBES

🔪 Dark-adjacent
🔪 Sex + kink positivity
🔪 Mafia ties
🔪 Second chance
🔪 Grumpy × sunshine
🔪 Morally grey MMC
🔪 Spicy

🗨️ Dual POV
🗨️ First-person, past tense

THOUGHTS (spoiler-lite™)

Where Lights Out was unique and interesting and genuinely funny, Caught Up felt more concerned with meeting BookTok romance tropes. Mafia? Check. Biker MMC? Check. Second-chance? Check. Miscommunication? Check. Third-act break-up? Check.

Even the 'dark' elements felt that way. Sex work? Check—but it's glamourised. Kink exploration? Check—but it's generic. Stalking scene? Check—but only once* and it's from Lauren's POV. Chase scene? Check—but Lauren knows it's Junior and it lasts all of two sentences. I was so ready for Junior to be obsessive and mysterious, but much like in LO, the reveal happened too early for it to amount to anything.

(*Once, like, IRL; I'm not counting him being a subscriber as stalking. And on that... how did Lauren not clue onto 'NT95' being Junior when that's literally his initials and birth year?)

Unfortunately, Lauren and Junior weren't complex enough to make this book stand out. Neither character had any distinct personality traits or quirks and, outside of their history (and sexual chemistry), I'm not even sure why they were into each other. This is such a stark contrast to Josh and Aly, who were well-rounded and relatable and funny and whose relationship developed naturally and on-page.

And, while the plot made a lot more sense than LO (read: it didn't feel like two entirely different books in one), there was a bit too much going on. There's Lauren and her housemates' ~~OnlyFans~~ Me4U work, the uncertain future of the kink club, Junior's work with the Mafia, Junior trying to leave the Mafia, Tommy's disappearance, Josh and Aly's engagement, Lauren and Junior's history, and then, for no reason other than to set up a third book, Tyler is shoehorned in!

PHEW. Okay. I feel like I'm being really negative here so let me rapid fire the good shit. It's written really well. It's paced really well. The plot-to-spice ratio is perfect. There's great non-binary rep. I actually really liked Junior's making-sure-she's-safe, taking-care-of-her-problems brand of loving-Lauren-from-afar. I liked that Lauren had a fucking backbone. And last but CERTAINLY not least, the sex scenes are sooo fucking hot. The stairwell? The photobooth?? The confessional??? My only complaint here is that we didn't get more once they were an established couple!

But yeah, it's not funny, it's not dark, and (much like LO) it dropped the ball on the masked-man kink... I just don't know what I was supposed to get out of this book.

4.0 🌶️
→ explicit
→ erotic
→ semi-frequent

Spicy Chapters:

3, 9-10, 11, 15, 18-19, 22, 26, 31, and 34.

Kinks:

Light chase play, voyeurism, exhibitionism, public sex.

5.0 🎙️
→ two narrators
→ duet

FAVOURITE QUOTES

But two things can be true simultaneously. It can be both fucked-up and deeply romantic.
_____

"What if I suffocate you?" I asked.
"You don't have to look so excited by the idea," he shot back.
_____

Content Warnings

angelstephaniea'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: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

don’t care what anyone says this was SO MUCH BETTER THAN LIGHTS OUT.
the characters were more enjoyable, the plot point was far more engaging, and the spice was even better! reading nic & lo’s story was so much fun. i never knew i could be such a fan of a second chance romance, but this was done quite nicely.

Content Warnings

vicki_v_sanders's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

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