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jelkebooks 's review for:
Haunting Adeline
by H.D. Carlton
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Now, what can I say here? This is absolutely not my type of read, and despite the high rating I don't know if I would ever recommend this one to people (unless I knew this fit their very specific tastes). This book just really took me by surprise.
I found myself immediately pulled into this book. I just thought H.D. Carlton is just incredible at building atmosphere. I could just feel the creepy vibes, and the tension overall. The story set up was immediately very interesting, and I quite loved Adeline. She is just a really compelling main character. This feeling never really wained either. Despite this book being nearly 600 pages I found myself just really sucked in for the entirety of it. Zade's POV wasn't my favourite at the start, but his storyline also ended up being extremely compelling by the end. This book also ends on a massive cliffhanger and I'm already desperately itching to get to the second book so I can learn what is going to happen next.
However, I wasn't a big fan of the romance. It just really isn't my thing. I don't think it could ever be. It is a shame though because I do think there is something there in the dynamic between Adeline and Zade. I also thought that Adeline's conflict over getting feelings for Zade was interesting as well. However, I just couldn't get behind them as a couple fully. I just think Zade is just a bit too controlling for this to work. On top of that I thought the sex scenes/dirty talk was cringy at best, and vomit inducing at worst. Like come on, that is the one thing you are supposed to have going for you. That didn't even work. It doesn't help that the consent on the earlier sex scenes are murky at best. So yeah, if I can ignore the romance I honestly thought this was great, but nothing about the romance worked for me personally. So don't hold this against me when I end up reading book 2 in the near future (hopefully).
I found myself immediately pulled into this book. I just thought H.D. Carlton is just incredible at building atmosphere. I could just feel the creepy vibes, and the tension overall. The story set up was immediately very interesting, and I quite loved Adeline. She is just a really compelling main character. This feeling never really wained either. Despite this book being nearly 600 pages I found myself just really sucked in for the entirety of it. Zade's POV wasn't my favourite at the start, but his storyline also ended up being extremely compelling by the end. This book also ends on a massive cliffhanger and I'm already desperately itching to get to the second book so I can learn what is going to happen next.
However, I wasn't a big fan of the romance. It just really isn't my thing. I don't think it could ever be. It is a shame though because I do think there is something there in the dynamic between Adeline and Zade. I also thought that Adeline's conflict over getting feelings for Zade was interesting as well. However, I just couldn't get behind them as a couple fully. I just think Zade is just a bit too controlling for this to work. On top of that I thought the sex scenes/dirty talk was cringy at best, and vomit inducing at worst. Like come on, that is the one thing you are supposed to have going for you. That didn't even work. It doesn't help that the consent on the earlier sex scenes are murky at best. So yeah, if I can ignore the romance I honestly thought this was great, but nothing about the romance worked for me personally. So don't hold this against me when I end up reading book 2 in the near future (hopefully).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking
Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Trafficking
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Grief