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

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Caught Up: Into Darkness, Book 2 by Navessa Allen

92 reviews

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

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

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

mayalberg_'s review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional funny mysterious 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

I’ve seen a lot of people’s thoughts about this book and many of them seem to be split right down the middle of “I hated it” to “I loved it”.

Personally, I really enjoyed it. I’d seen some people say that they thought it would be funnier and wittier given how the first book went, and they were right because this wasn’t as funny as Lights Out. But I think knowing that going into it helped me enjoy it that much more. There were some funny moments, but Junior isn’t Josh so i also kind of anticipated a different vibe.

The spice?? Super. Fricken. Spicy. Lauren is a camgirl and spends a lot of time at a play club so the spicy scenes were sweltering, so to speak.

This book included LGBTQ+ representation, which didn’t bother me, especially given how many of the scenes took place in the play club. I will say, one of the characters used they/them pronouns though, which was kind of confusing from a reading standpoint.

Overall, this was so entertaining and I didn’t expect to read it as quickly as I had. The LGBTQ+ representation got a little confusing and there was some politics put into play that I didn’t feel were necessary. I also think the plot to smut ratio was a solid 30:70 because there was a general plot but the smut was definitely a majority of the book.

Content Warnings

maggieparedesauthor's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective tense medium-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: Yes

Content Warnings

kimmytanzone's review against another edition

2.0

dark emotional tense slow-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

Content Warnings

the_wistful_word_witch's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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: Yes

I love how sex positive this book was! And how pro-sex worker it is. Also, the storyline is sort of minimal with with a whole lotta spice. Definite PWP. 😉 But if you're looking for story that's similar to Lights Out, this is not it. It's much darker, as it partly follows Nico's journey to escape the mob.

Lauren and Nico are a couple of dummies. Their big fight just made me wanna bang my head on my desk, lol. Okay, they're obviously wrapped up in the heat of the moment, but COME ON! 😂 Like, she knew he was dangerous and still decided to try to get the drop on him.... And then Nico just letting those words tumble out of his mouth in anger. But the make-up sex was definitely good. 😏

Kasi Hollowell and Teddy Hamilton did a great job on the narration.

I'm hoping we get Tyler's story next, and then the rest of the Trocci brothers' stories. And maybe even a lil flashback novella for Moira and Nico Sr. 😉

Content Warnings