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A review by isabelle_emily
Hunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

If you're looking for a dark romance, this isn't it, and please take the content warnings for this book seriously because I would say although this is a story about Zade and Addie, it is primarily a book about human trafficking, surviving sexual assualt, and coping with trauma. It is not a fun, spicy dark romance, even if the romance in it is "dark and spicy", with Carlton taking very great care to distinguish boundaries and consent in these scenes, which was very very necessary.
 
There are parts of this book that are really interesting regarding how Carlton wrote trauma, and although very triggering, it was in some ways cathartic to see messy, self-destructive portrayals of survival which we don't often see written about. Other parts are of course gratuitous which is sort of expected, but nonetheless difficult.

This book was one I felt uncomfortable reading from start to finish (which I think... you should feel uncomfortable reading like 65% of this book?), and I don't think I could ever in good faith recommend it, but I'm glad I read it, not for the plot or "spice" which again... read a different book for a fun spicy read..., but for a narrative of survival I didn't know I needed. 
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