Review by thereadingzombie - Lights Out

thereadingzombie 's review for:

Lights Out by Navessa Allen

3.5

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

First off, I really enjoyed the audiobook, mostly thanks to the male narrator—he absolutely nailed it. I went into this book knowing absolutely nothing except that it was labeled "dark romance." A bit of a shift from my last audiobook (zombies in the 1800s—LOL), but I was down for the ride.

Now, let’s talk about these characters. They are so dumb. Like, truly questionable decision-making all around. And I’m not even talking about the mask fetish/stalking situation. Ally constantly makes choices that make no sense, and Josh just goes along with it because, well, insta-love. My favorite character? Fred, the cat. No notes.

The writing was solid overall—fast-paced and easy to follow. Some scenes definitely leaned into the cringe, but the banter was fun, and I loved how much the cat was treated like their child. Priorities!

The first half had me wondering, what plot? Then suddenly—bam! Murder. The mob. Absolute whiplash. It was entertaining, but also made zero sense.

That said, I had a blast listening to it. I laughed, I yelled at the characters for being idiots, and I weirdly want to know more about Ally’s crime family now. Flawed? Absolutely. Entertaining? 100%.

Final verdict: Messy, ridiculous, but undeniably fun.

Content Warnings