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imme_van_gorp's Reviews (778)
Holy Hell, what an absolute trainwreck. Seriously, this was just completely terrible.
First things first, let's get the obvious out of the way: it's honestly embarrassing how badly this book was written. I am 100% convinced the author simply wrote this stuff down in one go, didn't glance at it again, and just send it off on its merry way.
The spelling mistakes, typos, grammatical errors, odd sentence structures; it was all too much and can genuinely be best described as headache inducing. It was non-stop.
I have no problem with a few mistakes here and there, but this was almost offensive, as it seemed no one had bothered to take a second look at the product before it was published. It's just weird, because really, how much effort does it even take to read a moderately short book again to fix all the glaring mistakes that have been made? Ugh. Annoying. If someone doesn't even respect their own work, then why should I?
In any case, it was seriously hard to follow what was even going on, but that was not only because of the weird and mistake riddled writing style. It was also because everything that was happening in this story, happened with a snap of a finger; you could read two sentences along and suddenly something monumental had happened. It genuinely gave me whiplash.
It was also absolutely impossible to connect with the characters or the story this way: everything was glossed over and was never explored in depth. It was all nothing more than superficial nonsense participating in some sort of confusing sprint to the finish line.
Now, with regards to the plotline, I must say that at first I thought I actually quite liked it. I liked the idea of both Scary and Tank being besotted with Elijah, and rather than one of them or even both of them being willing to let him go, they decide to share him so they can all be happy.
First things first, let's get the obvious out of the way: it's honestly embarrassing how badly this book was written. I am 100% convinced the author simply wrote this stuff down in one go, didn't glance at it again, and just send it off on its merry way.
The spelling mistakes, typos, grammatical errors, odd sentence structures; it was all too much and can genuinely be best described as headache inducing. It was non-stop.
I have no problem with a few mistakes here and there, but this was almost offensive, as it seemed no one had bothered to take a second look at the product before it was published. It's just weird, because really, how much effort does it even take to read a moderately short book again to fix all the glaring mistakes that have been made? Ugh. Annoying. If someone doesn't even respect their own work, then why should I?
In any case, it was seriously hard to follow what was even going on, but that was not only because of the weird and mistake riddled writing style. It was also because everything that was happening in this story, happened with a snap of a finger; you could read two sentences along and suddenly something monumental had happened. It genuinely gave me whiplash.
It was also absolutely impossible to connect with the characters or the story this way: everything was glossed over and was never explored in depth. It was all nothing more than superficial nonsense participating in some sort of confusing sprint to the finish line.
Now, with regards to the plotline, I must say that at first I thought I actually quite liked it. I liked the idea of both Scary and Tank being besotted with Elijah, and rather than one of them or even both of them being willing to let him go, they decide to share him so they can all be happy.
"We want you, and we're willing to share because neither of us is going to let the other have you alone."
Two big bad boy bikers falling for the shy and sweet Elijah? Yea, I kind of liked that. Although I must say that in my opinion Scary was totally redundant and Elijah and Tank would have been adorable together as a couple without him, but whatever.
Anyway, it doesn't matter, because eventually things were totally ruined for me regardless. When Scary suddenly (and completely out of nowhere) decided that he was also in love with his bestie Tank, it totally threw off the entire dynamic.
Instead of Tank and Scary both being Elijah's boyfriends, they were now also involved with each other, and it just didn't seem balanced to me anymore. It felt off and I didn't like the development.
Oh, and I was also absolutely bored out of my mind, so this whole thing wasn’t even ‘entertainingly’ bad, you know?
Long story short, it was all just kind of... awful.
This was okay. Pretty decent. Nothing to write home about, though.
I wouldn't say this book is very deep or got me emotionally invested, but it was somewhat entertaining and managed to keep me moderately interested throughout.
I liked the idea of a motorcycle club's president falling for his enemy's son, but it wasn't properly fleshed out. The climax of Blade finding out about Logan's identity happened almost at the end, and before that it was mostly just them dancing around each other, living a life still based on a lie. I wish Logan would have told Blake sooner, so we could have gotten more storyline actually based on them being 'enemies' and then accepting/trusting each other.
Now, when Blade did finally find out who Logan was, it honestly annoyed me to no end how he reacted. SPOILER: I cannot believe that he was willing to let Logan be killed because of his lie. I mean, seriously? He knew Logan was being abused by his dad, and that there was no way he was voluntarily with the bastard, but he decides to just walk away? What the hell.
The only reason Blake even gave Logan the time of day after this revelation was because Logan decided to take a bullet for him. Otherwise he would've just left Logan in the dirt. Not cool. And also, very much not romantic. Not even the rest of the club members thought what Blake did was okay; they still wanted to save Logan. Not Blake though. Pfft.
Unsurprisingly, I definitely preferred Logan over Blake. I didn't feel much of a connection to Blake to begin with, as he was kind of a blank character to me. With Logan I at least felt sorry for him about his past, but also respected him for his personality. I generally liked Logan; I just wish he wasn't so dumb about the secret identity thing.
The chemistry between Logan and Blake was average at best. They had a few cute moments, but never anything that captured me fully or made me feel weak in the knees. It was all very basic and cookie-cutter.
I thought the motorcycle club dynamics in the book were engaging, even if they were featured less than I was expecting. I could definitely see a found-family vibe here.
I liked a few of these side characters quite a bit, namely Coop, Raven and Priest. And I would be excited about the next book, which features Raven, if it weren't for the fact that Gunnar (his love interest) kind of annoys me, and I feel like he's not going to treat Raven right. Just a gut feeling, though; I hope I'm wrong.
The storyline surrounding club business was adequate, and luckily didn't take over the entire plot. The rivalry was fleshed out appropriately, and the rest didn't interest me much, but it didn't bother me either.
All in all, I can't say I loved this book, but I didn't have a big problem with it either. It's kind of whatever.
I wouldn't say this book is very deep or got me emotionally invested, but it was somewhat entertaining and managed to keep me moderately interested throughout.
I liked the idea of a motorcycle club's president falling for his enemy's son, but it wasn't properly fleshed out. The climax of Blade finding out about Logan's identity happened almost at the end, and before that it was mostly just them dancing around each other, living a life still based on a lie. I wish Logan would have told Blake sooner, so we could have gotten more storyline actually based on them being 'enemies' and then accepting/trusting each other.
Now, when Blade did finally find out who Logan was, it honestly annoyed me to no end how he reacted. SPOILER: I cannot believe that he was willing to let Logan be killed because of his lie. I mean, seriously? He knew Logan was being abused by his dad, and that there was no way he was voluntarily with the bastard, but he decides to just walk away? What the hell.
The only reason Blake even gave Logan the time of day after this revelation was because Logan decided to take a bullet for him. Otherwise he would've just left Logan in the dirt. Not cool. And also, very much not romantic. Not even the rest of the club members thought what Blake did was okay; they still wanted to save Logan. Not Blake though. Pfft.
Unsurprisingly, I definitely preferred Logan over Blake. I didn't feel much of a connection to Blake to begin with, as he was kind of a blank character to me. With Logan I at least felt sorry for him about his past, but also respected him for his personality. I generally liked Logan; I just wish he wasn't so dumb about the secret identity thing.
The chemistry between Logan and Blake was average at best. They had a few cute moments, but never anything that captured me fully or made me feel weak in the knees. It was all very basic and cookie-cutter.
I thought the motorcycle club dynamics in the book were engaging, even if they were featured less than I was expecting. I could definitely see a found-family vibe here.
I liked a few of these side characters quite a bit, namely Coop, Raven and Priest. And I would be excited about the next book, which features Raven, if it weren't for the fact that Gunnar (his love interest) kind of annoys me, and I feel like he's not going to treat Raven right. Just a gut feeling, though; I hope I'm wrong.
The storyline surrounding club business was adequate, and luckily didn't take over the entire plot. The rivalry was fleshed out appropriately, and the rest didn't interest me much, but it didn't bother me either.
All in all, I can't say I loved this book, but I didn't have a big problem with it either. It's kind of whatever.
This was a whole lot of smut. A bit too much for me personally, but I’m sure many others would appreciate it.
I was kind of disappointed with the amount of time that was spent on sex scenes, because I genuinely loved the dynamic between Tyson and Sean, and was curious and excited to see more of them outside of sex.
Tyson’s pure and utter adoration for Sean had me by the throat. After all, I am an absolute sucker for a dominant guy being completely gone for his sweet and shy boy, and this book definitely had that in spades.
Sean was the embodiment of innocence, and Tyson couldn’t get enough of him.
I did find it interesting, though, that it was very clear that Sean’s submissive nature was due to a brutal childhood filled with abuse and lack of love. He wanted to please so badly, and I always like it when we get to know the reason for someone needing that sort of thing.
Luckily, Tyson never took advantage of Sean’s submissiveness, though. I mean, sure, he loved bossing Sean around, but he wanted to take care of him more than anything else. Tyson was so soft for him.
They honestly seem kind of perfect for each other.
I also just have to say that I was so happy with the resolution we got with Sean’s mother from Hell. That bitch got put in her place so hard, and she got absolutely zero redemption. Tyson stood up for his man, and Sean eventually found a way to do it himself as well. It made me very happy to see.
Anyway, although I liked the dynamic of the romantic relationship a lot, I did get a bit bored at times, not only due to the abundance of sex, but also because everything was slightly repetitive. The things they said to each other or thought about each other was mostly the same thing over and over again. This book could have used a bit more originality and diversity in its dialogues and inner monologues.
I was kind of disappointed with the amount of time that was spent on sex scenes, because I genuinely loved the dynamic between Tyson and Sean, and was curious and excited to see more of them outside of sex.
Tyson’s pure and utter adoration for Sean had me by the throat. After all, I am an absolute sucker for a dominant guy being completely gone for his sweet and shy boy, and this book definitely had that in spades.
Sean was the embodiment of innocence, and Tyson couldn’t get enough of him.
I did find it interesting, though, that it was very clear that Sean’s submissive nature was due to a brutal childhood filled with abuse and lack of love. He wanted to please so badly, and I always like it when we get to know the reason for someone needing that sort of thing.
Luckily, Tyson never took advantage of Sean’s submissiveness, though. I mean, sure, he loved bossing Sean around, but he wanted to take care of him more than anything else. Tyson was so soft for him.
They honestly seem kind of perfect for each other.
I also just have to say that I was so happy with the resolution we got with Sean’s mother from Hell. That bitch got put in her place so hard, and she got absolutely zero redemption. Tyson stood up for his man, and Sean eventually found a way to do it himself as well. It made me very happy to see.
Anyway, although I liked the dynamic of the romantic relationship a lot, I did get a bit bored at times, not only due to the abundance of sex, but also because everything was slightly repetitive. The things they said to each other or thought about each other was mostly the same thing over and over again. This book could have used a bit more originality and diversity in its dialogues and inner monologues.
I'm sad to say I wasn't a big fan of this book. For some reason, it just didn't work for me at all.
The writing style was stand-offish and sometimes even disorienting.
The overall vibe felt superficial even though the book was clearly dealing with emotionally deep characters and themes.
The pacing was slightly off, and I had often trouble figuring out what was really going on.
The relationship between the two main characters seemed incredibly awkward and sometimes even forced.
Generally, I just couldn't quite connect with any of it.
I did like the premise of this book, though. I usually love a good story about two people meeting and falling in love online. In this case, however, I wasn't feeling their connection so much, and it more so felt like they just wanted someone to talk to. Anyone to talk to, didn't matter who it was, because they were both lonely and insecure. Their conversations often seemed stiff, stale and empty.
I also kind of hated that Jamie was basically emotionally cheating on Lev, because he was crushing hard on his barista (who he had no idea was the same person as Lev in real life). It kind of confirmed my theory that Jamie was just happy with anyone giving him attention or kindness, and he wasn't truly in love with Lev or anything like that.
When they finally meet each other for the first time when both of them actually know who the other person is, I can't describe it as anything other than awkward as fuck. I wasn't seeing any chemistry between them, and I honestly felt uncomfortable for them.
The ending was also super anticlimactic. No resolution to the relationship, and nothing truly interesting plot-wise.
Jamie's condition with 'facial blindness' was intriguing, though, and was probably the only thing that was developed pretty well in this book. I could feel his desperation, annoyance, insecurities and fears when it came to his inability to recognise people. It was easy to understand how isolating that must be for someone.
Lev, on the other hand, was a lot less developed and his issues or insecurities mostly stay surface level or even a complete mystery.
The writing style was stand-offish and sometimes even disorienting.
The overall vibe felt superficial even though the book was clearly dealing with emotionally deep characters and themes.
The pacing was slightly off, and I had often trouble figuring out what was really going on.
The relationship between the two main characters seemed incredibly awkward and sometimes even forced.
Generally, I just couldn't quite connect with any of it.
I did like the premise of this book, though. I usually love a good story about two people meeting and falling in love online. In this case, however, I wasn't feeling their connection so much, and it more so felt like they just wanted someone to talk to. Anyone to talk to, didn't matter who it was, because they were both lonely and insecure. Their conversations often seemed stiff, stale and empty.
I also kind of hated that Jamie was basically emotionally cheating on Lev, because he was crushing hard on his barista (who he had no idea was the same person as Lev in real life). It kind of confirmed my theory that Jamie was just happy with anyone giving him attention or kindness, and he wasn't truly in love with Lev or anything like that.
When they finally meet each other for the first time when both of them actually know who the other person is, I can't describe it as anything other than awkward as fuck. I wasn't seeing any chemistry between them, and I honestly felt uncomfortable for them.
The ending was also super anticlimactic. No resolution to the relationship, and nothing truly interesting plot-wise.
Jamie's condition with 'facial blindness' was intriguing, though, and was probably the only thing that was developed pretty well in this book. I could feel his desperation, annoyance, insecurities and fears when it came to his inability to recognise people. It was easy to understand how isolating that must be for someone.
Lev, on the other hand, was a lot less developed and his issues or insecurities mostly stay surface level or even a complete mystery.
I enjoyed this, although I can’t say I loved it. There were definitely a few things that just didn’t quite do it for me, eventhough I really liked the set-up and overall plotline of the book.
Sullivan is a hitman who has been searching to find the perfect boy who can help him lure men into his trap discreetly, so he can kill them without anyone finding out about it. When he meets the beautiful and charming hooker Kit, he decided this boy would be absolutely perfect for his goals. However, to his total surprise, Sullivan isn’t immune to Kit’s charisma and stunning looks either, and hence falls completely in love with the boy.
I thought the hitman and ‘bait’ dynamic was really fun, and I actually wish we got to see more of them going out on their missions and showing us just that. Unfortunately, these missions rarely happened on-page and we thus didn’t get to see as much of it as I had hoped. I thought this was a bit of a missed opportunity, but I’m thinking they might show these missions more in the future books. That’s what I’m hoping, at least.
I was quite a big fan of Kit overall. I thought he was witty, caring, loyal, sweet and entertainingly bratty. I usually love it when a character I love is also exceptionally beautiful and drooled over by every single person he meets, and this time was no exception. I loved how Kit had every single men twisted around his tiny little finger. Go him, honestly!
I have to be honest, though, and say that I didn’t quite understand why Kit was so infatuated with Sullivan from the get-go. Sure, he was a decent enough guy, but what was so special about him? On the contrary, I understood Sullivan’s inevitable passion for Kit much more; Kit was a delight!
So, yea, at the start I wasn’t really convinced of their dynamic, since Kit was already sort of pining over Sullivan before Sullivan finally decided to give him the time of day (after all, he was claiming to be straight at the beginning of all of this). Once he gave in, though, he was all in, and was probably even more into Kit than the other way around. I liked that.
Truly, this really was kind of a blast to read! The characters were fun, the plotline was engaging, the relationships were decently developed and diverse, the action was engrossing, and the writing was also rather good.
I do have to say that this book handles some pretty.. wild kinks. Nothing dark or anything like that, but they definitely have some pretty ’out there’ preferences.
The most prominent kink here would probably be the pet play, and I, personally, can’t say I was a fan of that. I just found it rather weird, if I’m being honest. That wasn’t because of the way it was written here, though, it’s just not my thing in general.
The book also explored voyeurism, and also a scene of non-consent role-play (which felt incredibly random, but whatever).
Anyway, I liked this novel even though it wasn’t anything earth-shatteringly amazing. It was simply very fun and quick to read! I definitely want to continue this series when the next book comes out!
Sullivan is a hitman who has been searching to find the perfect boy who can help him lure men into his trap discreetly, so he can kill them without anyone finding out about it. When he meets the beautiful and charming hooker Kit, he decided this boy would be absolutely perfect for his goals. However, to his total surprise, Sullivan isn’t immune to Kit’s charisma and stunning looks either, and hence falls completely in love with the boy.
I thought the hitman and ‘bait’ dynamic was really fun, and I actually wish we got to see more of them going out on their missions and showing us just that. Unfortunately, these missions rarely happened on-page and we thus didn’t get to see as much of it as I had hoped. I thought this was a bit of a missed opportunity, but I’m thinking they might show these missions more in the future books. That’s what I’m hoping, at least.
I was quite a big fan of Kit overall. I thought he was witty, caring, loyal, sweet and entertainingly bratty. I usually love it when a character I love is also exceptionally beautiful and drooled over by every single person he meets, and this time was no exception. I loved how Kit had every single men twisted around his tiny little finger. Go him, honestly!
I have to be honest, though, and say that I didn’t quite understand why Kit was so infatuated with Sullivan from the get-go. Sure, he was a decent enough guy, but what was so special about him? On the contrary, I understood Sullivan’s inevitable passion for Kit much more; Kit was a delight!
So, yea, at the start I wasn’t really convinced of their dynamic, since Kit was already sort of pining over Sullivan before Sullivan finally decided to give him the time of day (after all, he was claiming to be straight at the beginning of all of this). Once he gave in, though, he was all in, and was probably even more into Kit than the other way around. I liked that.
Truly, this really was kind of a blast to read! The characters were fun, the plotline was engaging, the relationships were decently developed and diverse, the action was engrossing, and the writing was also rather good.
I do have to say that this book handles some pretty.. wild kinks. Nothing dark or anything like that, but they definitely have some pretty ’out there’ preferences.
The most prominent kink here would probably be the pet play, and I, personally, can’t say I was a fan of that. I just found it rather weird, if I’m being honest. That wasn’t because of the way it was written here, though, it’s just not my thing in general.
The book also explored voyeurism, and also a scene of non-consent role-play (which felt incredibly random, but whatever).
Anyway, I liked this novel even though it wasn’t anything earth-shatteringly amazing. It was simply very fun and quick to read! I definitely want to continue this series when the next book comes out!
This was quite.. pretty.
It’s a story about a man coming to terms with himself and his past (including family issues, cheating exes, and something bordering on an existential crisis), who is now finally finding a way to truly be happy by means of forgiveness and love.
The whole thing was really rather romantic, and genuinely felt like a love story. Zeke and Benny had such unique and pure chemistry; they could banter like champs, but could also be entirely open and true with one another other about their fears, issues and emotions (well, about everything other than their feelings for each other, but you know how that goes).
I liked the opposites attract angle of their relationship and how they didn’t seem to like each other much at first, although I must say that Zeke could have pulled his head out of his ass a bit sooner. I didn’t quite understand what his reluctance was with claiming what him and Benny had was “real”, especially after all these months of them being together. It was slightly frustrating, but I suppose it was part of his path to self-discovery.
All in all, Zeke could frustrate me from time to time, but I loved the overall dynamic he had with Benny. Benny truly made him a happier and better person.
I simply loved Benny. He was unapologetically himself, and I adored his sass, witt, and kindness.
All in all, this was quite a beautiful book with some meaningful messages, and a well-developed love story.
I’m not even entirely sure why I didn’t like this book a bit more than I did; perhaps it was that I sometimes caught myself slightly drifting off, or noticed my disengagement with certain aspects. I think I appreciated this book more than enjoyed it.
It was mostly Benny and Zeke’s interactions with each other that I truly found very fun to read about. The rest of the story was okay, and sometimes even interesting, but nothing I could muster up a lot of enthusiasm or sentiment for.
It’s a story about a man coming to terms with himself and his past (including family issues, cheating exes, and something bordering on an existential crisis), who is now finally finding a way to truly be happy by means of forgiveness and love.
The whole thing was really rather romantic, and genuinely felt like a love story. Zeke and Benny had such unique and pure chemistry; they could banter like champs, but could also be entirely open and true with one another other about their fears, issues and emotions (well, about everything other than their feelings for each other, but you know how that goes).
I liked the opposites attract angle of their relationship and how they didn’t seem to like each other much at first, although I must say that Zeke could have pulled his head out of his ass a bit sooner. I didn’t quite understand what his reluctance was with claiming what him and Benny had was “real”, especially after all these months of them being together. It was slightly frustrating, but I suppose it was part of his path to self-discovery.
All in all, Zeke could frustrate me from time to time, but I loved the overall dynamic he had with Benny. Benny truly made him a happier and better person.
I simply loved Benny. He was unapologetically himself, and I adored his sass, witt, and kindness.
All in all, this was quite a beautiful book with some meaningful messages, and a well-developed love story.
I’m not even entirely sure why I didn’t like this book a bit more than I did; perhaps it was that I sometimes caught myself slightly drifting off, or noticed my disengagement with certain aspects. I think I appreciated this book more than enjoyed it.
It was mostly Benny and Zeke’s interactions with each other that I truly found very fun to read about. The rest of the story was okay, and sometimes even interesting, but nothing I could muster up a lot of enthusiasm or sentiment for.
Ugh. At the very beginning, I really thought this book might be good. I honestly quite liked it. But then, somehow, it all just took a big nosedive pretty early on, and it kept going more downhill the further along the story went. I often times found myself close to being bored to tears.
I honestly didn't care for Kai and Grant's relationship.
Although they apparently have some important emotional past growing up together in foster care, we never get to hear anything about it, and instead, their whole relationship seems to be mostly based on sex.
Kai simply didn't treat Grant with the respect he deserved, and Grant never held him accountable for it. It absolutely drove me mad.
I also thought their Sir/boy kink was so weird, and totally out of character for them. It didn't fit their dynamic at all.
I can honestly say I cared much more about Grant's relationship with his brother Aaron (otherwise known as King) than the romance. Aaron truly cared about Grant so much, and I adored the protectiveness he felt towards him and enacted with all the power he had as the president of a motorcycle club.
I wish more focus had been on their relationship. I would have enjoyed it far more than Kai's bullshit attitude.
This book is quite crime and action heavy. A lot of focus is on the motorcycle club and their operations. And let me tell you, these men are no softies. The club members are all cruel, vicious and murderous. It's pretty dark.
I found this aspect moderately interesting, but unfortunately couldn't get myself to care much for it either.
I honestly didn't care for Kai and Grant's relationship.
Although they apparently have some important emotional past growing up together in foster care, we never get to hear anything about it, and instead, their whole relationship seems to be mostly based on sex.
Kai simply didn't treat Grant with the respect he deserved, and Grant never held him accountable for it. It absolutely drove me mad.
I also thought their Sir/boy kink was so weird, and totally out of character for them. It didn't fit their dynamic at all.
I can honestly say I cared much more about Grant's relationship with his brother Aaron (otherwise known as King) than the romance. Aaron truly cared about Grant so much, and I adored the protectiveness he felt towards him and enacted with all the power he had as the president of a motorcycle club.
I wish more focus had been on their relationship. I would have enjoyed it far more than Kai's bullshit attitude.
This book is quite crime and action heavy. A lot of focus is on the motorcycle club and their operations. And let me tell you, these men are no softies. The club members are all cruel, vicious and murderous. It's pretty dark.
I found this aspect moderately interesting, but unfortunately couldn't get myself to care much for it either.
Although slightly better than the first book, this was still nowhere near where it needed to be, and I don't think I'm willing to give this series a third chance. Even if the ratings do suggest that the books become much better from here... I just don't have faith in it anymore.
One of my main complaints with these books is the over-abundance of sex. Emotional or generally important scenes are cut short, or even ignored entirely, in favour of more and more sex. Sex is basically the driving force of these books, which I'm personally just not a fan of.
Something I've also noticed is that the Motorcycle Club in these books is not very... brotherly. The loyalty, friendship and brotherhood, which are supposed to signalise these kind of clubs, are severely lacking here. The members all seem to either despise or fear each other. The only one who seems like a somewhat good friend to the other members is Tim (otherwise known as Undertaker), and he is literally a complete creep who enjoys hanging out with corpses. So, that should tell you all you need to know about that, really.
The main selling point of this book in particular is probably the stalking aspect.
Travis is a bouncer and motorcycle club member, who happens to rescue Mackenzie from sexual assault. Travis follows Mackenzie home afterwards, and just... keeps watching. Returns. Keeps watching. Until (in my opinion far too soon) he decides to approach him, and then they.. become involved, and things go from there.
Anyway, I liked the stalker plotline. I thought it was interesting, and I liked it. I wish it was explored a bit more though, as I would have liked to see more from it.
When it comes to the characters, I have to say that Travis really surprised me. He was much.. softer than I imagined. He was really gentle, and almost insecure. He was clearly lonely, and simply didn't quite know what to do with himself. He was a wholesome stalker, if that's a thing. He was also a bit simple, though. As in, he clearly wasn't the brightest bulb in the shed.
Mackenzie on the other hand kind of confused me. He appeared to undergo some sort of personality transplant throughout this novel. He went from sweet and innocent to bossy and confident. It was a bit weird, and made it difficult for me to get a good read on the guy.
All in all, this had a decent relationship with some good drama, that unfortunately does not really go deep at all, since most of their conversations turn into sex almost immediately. Their relationship was also a definite case of insta-lust/love.
There also wasn't much of an interesting plotline going on here outside of the relationship.
One of my main complaints with these books is the over-abundance of sex. Emotional or generally important scenes are cut short, or even ignored entirely, in favour of more and more sex. Sex is basically the driving force of these books, which I'm personally just not a fan of.
Something I've also noticed is that the Motorcycle Club in these books is not very... brotherly. The loyalty, friendship and brotherhood, which are supposed to signalise these kind of clubs, are severely lacking here. The members all seem to either despise or fear each other. The only one who seems like a somewhat good friend to the other members is Tim (otherwise known as Undertaker), and he is literally a complete creep who enjoys hanging out with corpses. So, that should tell you all you need to know about that, really.
The main selling point of this book in particular is probably the stalking aspect.
Travis is a bouncer and motorcycle club member, who happens to rescue Mackenzie from sexual assault. Travis follows Mackenzie home afterwards, and just... keeps watching. Returns. Keeps watching. Until (in my opinion far too soon) he decides to approach him, and then they.. become involved, and things go from there.
Anyway, I liked the stalker plotline. I thought it was interesting, and I liked it. I wish it was explored a bit more though, as I would have liked to see more from it.
When it comes to the characters, I have to say that Travis really surprised me. He was much.. softer than I imagined. He was really gentle, and almost insecure. He was clearly lonely, and simply didn't quite know what to do with himself. He was a wholesome stalker, if that's a thing. He was also a bit simple, though. As in, he clearly wasn't the brightest bulb in the shed.
Mackenzie on the other hand kind of confused me. He appeared to undergo some sort of personality transplant throughout this novel. He went from sweet and innocent to bossy and confident. It was a bit weird, and made it difficult for me to get a good read on the guy.
All in all, this had a decent relationship with some good drama, that unfortunately does not really go deep at all, since most of their conversations turn into sex almost immediately. Their relationship was also a definite case of insta-lust/love.
There also wasn't much of an interesting plotline going on here outside of the relationship.
Don't mind me, I've just been (not so discreetly) bawling my eyes out for the past two days.
Letting my heart get ripped out by this book? Yea sure, I guess I didn't need it that much anyway.
This book has:
A romance so epic with a love so pure, suffering a fate so unfair.
Hauntingly real characters with piercing character arcs, invoking a true connection and deep-rooted attachment.
A writing-style remarkably poignant featuring symbolism that will touch the soul.
A plot stunningly beautiful, yet devastatingly heart-breaking.
“Why does it take a life ending to learn how to cherish each day? Why must we wait until we run out of time to start to accomplish all that we dreamed, when once we had all the time in the world? Why don’t we look at the person we love the most like it’s the last time we will ever see them? Because if we did, life would be so vibrant. Life would be so truly and completely lived.”
Yup. I'll definitely be crying some more.
And then still some more.
And even more.
Letting my heart get ripped out by this book? Yea sure, I guess I didn't need it that much anyway.
This book has:
A romance so epic with a love so pure, suffering a fate so unfair.
Hauntingly real characters with piercing character arcs, invoking a true connection and deep-rooted attachment.
A writing-style remarkably poignant featuring symbolism that will touch the soul.
A plot stunningly beautiful, yet devastatingly heart-breaking.
“Why does it take a life ending to learn how to cherish each day? Why must we wait until we run out of time to start to accomplish all that we dreamed, when once we had all the time in the world? Why don’t we look at the person we love the most like it’s the last time we will ever see them? Because if we did, life would be so vibrant. Life would be so truly and completely lived.”
Yup. I'll definitely be crying some more.
And then still some more.
And even more.
Holy hell, this was a pretty fucked up rollercoaster of emotions.
This book is really god damn dark and deals with super interesting yet horrifying experiences.
The story follows three people, who are all caught up in a centuries old scheme of slavery in the form of gladiators and sexual servants:
Jiao is an undercover cop, who gets sent to this terrible organization when his cover gets blown. Once there, he and his fellow new captives discover the horrors of this place, and Jiao discovers them even further by getting to know the brainwashed and traumatized Kaspar. He vows to bring the whole place down and save its victims. But how does he do that when he himself is locked up as well? And how do you save victims who don't want to be saved? Furthermore, who even are the victims when the slavers were once taken too? It's a vicious cycle of abuse and terror.
Kaspar is the favoured slave of the organization's current leader Vladimir, and therefore has a certain amount of status. However, Kaspar's experiences (past as well as current) have left him utterly and completely terrorized. Although he is incredibly bright, he has gone absolutely mad after years and years of brainwashing and pain. He suffers from dissociative identity disorder (meaning that he has multiple personalities), which he sometimes only recognizes as 'the voices in his head he wants to silence'. Kaspar will go to great lengths to get some peace and quiet in his head, even if that means being mutilated physically. He is strong, so very strong, but just doesn't understand his reality anymore. What is wrong and what is right? Is serving truly his only purpose? Which voices should he listen to?
Vladimir is the organization's current leader and appears to be the 'villain' of the story. And, I mean, he is the villain of course, but seeing how he was once taken and put into servitude as well, it gives him more depth than your average villain. His intentions are not always vicious, as he sees some of his actions as things that simply ought to be done for the glory and survival of the organization. He desperately believes in the organization and in what it stands for. He thinks that he is making these 'slaves' the best version of themselves: gladiator or sex slave, trained to the utmost perfection. Just like he once was by the previous leader.
The plotline of this story was really well-done. It had plenty of suspense, and the action was thrilling. There's also a bit of a mystery element, as many things will be revealed throughout the story about the characters as well as the organization.
The characters were well-developed and displayed interesting characteristics. Especially Kaspar blew me away in this regard. His mental state and manipulated brain were so incredibly interesting to read about. I couldn't get enough of it. He was a great character, and my heart often broke for him.
This book really is super dark and intense, and I can imagine that it might be difficult for some people to read. There is a lot of on-page abuse and torture (mentally as well as physical).
I personally loved the book, though. I was just completely invested in the story, and I found all of it to be very intriguing.
This book is really god damn dark and deals with super interesting yet horrifying experiences.
The story follows three people, who are all caught up in a centuries old scheme of slavery in the form of gladiators and sexual servants:
Jiao is an undercover cop, who gets sent to this terrible organization when his cover gets blown. Once there, he and his fellow new captives discover the horrors of this place, and Jiao discovers them even further by getting to know the brainwashed and traumatized Kaspar. He vows to bring the whole place down and save its victims. But how does he do that when he himself is locked up as well? And how do you save victims who don't want to be saved? Furthermore, who even are the victims when the slavers were once taken too? It's a vicious cycle of abuse and terror.
Kaspar is the favoured slave of the organization's current leader Vladimir, and therefore has a certain amount of status. However, Kaspar's experiences (past as well as current) have left him utterly and completely terrorized. Although he is incredibly bright, he has gone absolutely mad after years and years of brainwashing and pain. He suffers from dissociative identity disorder (meaning that he has multiple personalities), which he sometimes only recognizes as 'the voices in his head he wants to silence'. Kaspar will go to great lengths to get some peace and quiet in his head, even if that means being mutilated physically. He is strong, so very strong, but just doesn't understand his reality anymore. What is wrong and what is right? Is serving truly his only purpose? Which voices should he listen to?
Vladimir is the organization's current leader and appears to be the 'villain' of the story. And, I mean, he is the villain of course, but seeing how he was once taken and put into servitude as well, it gives him more depth than your average villain. His intentions are not always vicious, as he sees some of his actions as things that simply ought to be done for the glory and survival of the organization. He desperately believes in the organization and in what it stands for. He thinks that he is making these 'slaves' the best version of themselves: gladiator or sex slave, trained to the utmost perfection. Just like he once was by the previous leader.
The plotline of this story was really well-done. It had plenty of suspense, and the action was thrilling. There's also a bit of a mystery element, as many things will be revealed throughout the story about the characters as well as the organization.
The characters were well-developed and displayed interesting characteristics. Especially Kaspar blew me away in this regard. His mental state and manipulated brain were so incredibly interesting to read about. I couldn't get enough of it. He was a great character, and my heart often broke for him.
This book really is super dark and intense, and I can imagine that it might be difficult for some people to read. There is a lot of on-page abuse and torture (mentally as well as physical).
I personally loved the book, though. I was just completely invested in the story, and I found all of it to be very intriguing.