Review by fanboyriot - Kiss the Villain

fanboyriot 's review for:

Kiss the Villain by Rina Kent

5.0

dark emotional lighthearted 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: Yes

Short story long, this book was a roller coaster and in full disclosure I wasn’t going to read this due to some reviews I’ve seen about SA (one of the lines I draw in books as a personal preference) and something this book definitely talks about. I had this preordered for a while and it was too late to cancel by the time I read some of these reviews; so I kept the book and read it with the intention to DNF it and put it up on PangoBooks or something. Honestly, I’m glad I read this book the beginning starts out questionable at best, and without spoilers the questionable stuff at the beginning makes so much more sense by the end, the backstory really paints the full picture. Having said that, it’s still a fucked up book, proceed with caution and read through the content warnings.

I loved this book. Yes, it’s a walking red flag but years of fanfiction as left me unfazed. This book is a dark romance that starts out strong with dubious consent and stalking the stalker moments, but then Gareth is eating strawberries in Kayden’s apartment, adopting a cat (technically the cat chose them), and meeting the parents. It’s dark with hints of wholesome and spicy moments. It also dealt with working through family issues, past trauma, and boundaries.

The characters were obsessive equally so, they seemed to mellow out when around one another though. I did have to laugh though at how monogamous these two were, what started as revenge turned into adopting a cat together real fast. The dinner with Kayden’s moms’ was amazing and then we got dinner with Gareth’s family which was hilarious.

Also, Simone was a total badass, I loved her so much.

A few comments I have would be that I think this book would have been better in third person but that’s more of a personal preference, it is kinda weird how both characters are straight but “gay” for each other, it’s mainly the way that it was done that gave me a bit of an ick, but I did appreciate the mentions of Gareth possibly being demisexual or on the asexual spectrum.

Read For
✓ Hate to Love

✓ Villain/Monster

✓ Stalker x Stalker
✓ Mutual Obsession
✓ Age Gap (22 & 33)

✓ Monogamy but Violently So

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Sad Level: 💧💧💧

Plot: 9/10

Pace: 9/10

Ending: 10/10

Characters: 10/10

Enjoyability: 9/10

Writing Style: 8/10

Would I Recommend? Maybe

Favorite Character(s): Gareth, Kayden, Moka

Favorite Quote: ❝"Because you love me and are possessive of me and can't live without me?" "Correct on all accounts."❞

POV: Duel, First Person

Pages: 512

Format: Paperback

Language: English

Release Date: 18, March 2025

Rep/Extras: Non Labeling MC, Bisexual SC, LGBTQIA+ characters

Content Warnings