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

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

4.25

This book, whew. Before you read anything, even the first page, CHECK THE WARNINGS, there are very graphic depictions of rape and assault in this book, among various other warnings. This book is dark, far darker than the first. The first half is more into the horror category with how graphic, traumatizing, and gruesome it is. Turning from this, the second half the book focuses more on healing from trauma and has (in my experience) a fairly good depiction of what that can be like for some. 

I devoured this book, darkness and all. 

When it came to the plot, there were some characters I was far more invested in (story wise) than others. And as with all books, there were moments I didn't care for. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed reading it through to the end. 

I honestly felt like Francesca's story was far better than Claire's. I didn't have any real drive at the end to see Claire die. I get it, she's supposed to be some big mastermind, but it just fell flat because while she might have been the one pulling strings, she didn't really physically harm Addie. She just kind of randomly showed up periodically and then vanished again so while I reveled in reading about the revenge against Fran, I just kind of went "cool, she's dead now" when Claire died. Also, I really loved Rio's note at the end, it just felt like a super cute touch and gave us some closure on if he realized what Addie had done for him.
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