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

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Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Caught Up: Into Darkness, Book 2 by Navessa Allen

34 reviews

anxiousadventurer_'s review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional funny mysterious fast-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

Content Warnings

lost_between_the_pages's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

Round up to 4.5 - and that's simply because it wasn't Aly & Josh's story... I just have a soft spot for them both and Navessa spoiled me with their love story. That said, I really enjoyed Lauren and Nics story, too! I'm really not sure why people are rating it so low and saying they hated it? Maybe because of Laurens profession and it makes them feel uncomfortable? I'm not sure... but people expecting another Aly & Josh have their expectations set too high... there can only be ONE Aly & Josh. I really loved their cameos in this story as well. Josh being an actual teddy bear and Aly being her strong, sassy self - I loved it so much that I'm going to go back and reread Lights Out (and I hardly EVER do re-reads). I also really loved the the whole players club aspect and while I'll be outing myself, I'm not ashamed of my sexuality and never will be so reading about others who also enjoy voyeurism and slight BDSM was super hot! The friendship between Lauren, Ryan and Taylor were super sweet and I wish I had a friend group like that - supportive through everything and absolutely hilarious .. ready to ride at dawn! At first I thought the next book would 100% be about Taylor because she is one of my favorite side characters in a dark romance so far but because of the epilogue, I'm pretty positive the next book is going to be about Tyler and Stella which I'm ok with.. should be good! I really love that Navessa doesn't hold back in her stories and she makes the characters seem REAL -- probably why Lauren drove me absolutely nuts at certain parts of the book and why I took .5 stars away because my gosh girl... communication is important, just assuming... well you know what that means. IDK... although yes, I did enjoy Aly and Josh's story so very much and I'm pretty sure they will ALWAYS be my favorite couple in this series... I really did love Lauren and Nics story too. It helped us understand the mob perspective we got in Lights Out and how Aly was involved in her family. It's become one of my favorite series and I can't wait to see what the next book holds and where the couples will be when we get to it. I am hoping that Navessa will make sure to hold space for a book that shows us where all the couples are later in their relationship as I think it would be fun to see where they are in a couple years, especially after the fun details we got in Caught Up. All in all -- this story was sexy, hilarious, impowering, motivating, and it felt like something that two real people could and would go through. I'm thankful I didn't listen to others and read it myself because I would have missed out had I not. In my opinion, it's a fun read with a really cute obsessed couple who's went through all the hard things and have a hard time trusting but find their way back to one another. I'm a sucker for second chances, what can I say?

Content Warnings

oddlystormy's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing tense fast-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

Content Warnings

katie_cope's review against another edition

3.0

dark funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

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

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