A review by ashteroids
Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

dark sad 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

0.5

literally never trusting anything i see on tiktok ever again. i know this is a book, a story, but the main characters have the WORST main character syndrome i have ever seen. they’re all completely insufferable, nothing relatable to them at all. “addie” a self-absorbed indie author who’s personality is being insufferable and horny. the siberian husky man who’s the leader of a vigilante syndicate that targets sex traffickers

(and then goes on to r-word addie with a GUN. so admirable)

and then of course her super cool sexy bff Daiya™ who is a genius hacker leaking government secrets. oh my god i hate them all. and yes i get it, this is smut, but i feel like the most stimulating thing, or at least would better it, would be creating an immersive story surrounding the kinky sex right? right??? i have seen stories on ao3 written by preteen girls that are leagues better than this garbage. not to mention this felt like listening to slam poetry; the writing of this is so unnatural and cringey, i know the author whipped out that thesaurus and went to work on it. when DogMan saved the little girl named Sicily and she told him that her parents named her after their hometown bc they couldn’t go back so they named her Sicily so they could always be home<333 ???? just your average everyday interaction between Man and Child. after listening to that i wanted to shut my car headlights off and let fate decide how my own story ended that dark rainy night. jesus christ. not even judging people for THE gun scene (i am) but mostly judging those who decided this was a fantastic book, literally read the first chapter and you will be told otherwise.  feigned emotion. boring. gross author self-insert kink fantasy. i hate this book. i am so mad. girl what are we doing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

i listened to 2 1/2 hours of the audio book, i skipped ahead to the infamous gun part. i wanted to listen to all of it for the laughs but i like myself too much to do that