A review by aaronyeslove
Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

i usually love forbidden romance but this feels a lot like cheating LOL. i literally couldn’t stand the immature miscommunications & did not feel the chemistry between cora and dean at all. yes, i saw it gross that cora fucked her sister’s fiancé, but i also got the vibes that these two would be better as siblings, which makes everything worse. considering their shared experience in that basement, maybe i could’ve tolerated when dean said “i was soul-searching in there” but the way he broke it off with cora’s sister without her saying anything about it was messed up ??? as a dark romance reader, he definitely wasn’t the kind of dark romance guy i’d even consider. i couldn’t help thinking “in here, we normalize cheating!” because if i were cora’s sister i would destroy her tbh. imagine being with someone for 15 years just for her sister to take away that someone, plus the revelation that they deep down always have some sort of connection WHEN YOU WERE TOGETHER. dean be like “the only person i’ve been with is your sister… before you” FUCKING GROSS STOP IT. of course in the end cora’s sister find her person and got married but i still couldn’t fathom how she ever forgave her sister, because this forbidden romance should’ve kept forbidden.