love how the disclaimer for this book really says:
"Sebastian Garcia is not the 'sweet kind of guy'. If you are not into strong-willed
1.5 stars ✩⋆
love how the disclaimer for this book really says:
"Sebastian Garcia is not the 'sweet kind of guy'. If you are not into strong-willed men, you will be by the end of this book."
and you're probably wondering, is this Sebastian Garcia dude really not the 'sweet kind of guy'? weeelll lemme show you what Sebastian (H) says the third time he meets the heroine // WARNING for all the poor, unfortunate innocent souls out there this quote ⤵ is NSFW //
"Get on your knees and suck my dick, you dirty whore."
sooo, you be the judge of whether or not this Sebastian Garcia dude is the "sweet kind of guy" while i go bleach my eyes please and thx.
honestly, i'm glad the disclaimer was there in the beginning because holy shit. the annoyance? the anger? the infuriation? the annoyance (had to repeat this twice)? it was UN-fucking-PARALLELED. i just wanted to slap both Sebastian Garcia (H) and April Bennett (h) with my slippers the whole entire time and i'm not even exaggerating.
『 P L O T (??) 』
and as for the plot? well, as the wise words of the almighty withcindy said, BITCH, WHAT FUCKING PLOT?! WHERE IS IT?? WHERE'S THE FUCKING PLOT?!? YOU LOOK ME IN THE EYES RIGHT NOW AND YOU TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF PLOT THERE WAS! just know that 1 horny idiot + another horny idiot = this whole book. okay? okay.
but ughhh fine if you wanna know,
↳ all that ever happened was April has a crush on Sebastian when he goes to the cafe she works at and visits only a couple of times, she accepts a job from a "gentleman's club" (y'all know what this means) then the manager for that place was like nuh uh honey you're gonna be one of our Escape Girls (don't pretend you don't know what this means), her first and only client is - surprise, surprise - horny idiot #1: Sebastian Garcia. they have sex for 7 days, miscommunication happens and then BOOM- a six-year time jump occurs.
and what do they do when they meet again? THEY FIGHT AND HAVE SEX. that's it. i'm not even joking this is all they ever do for the entire book it was exhausting oh my god.
『 C H A R A C T E R S 』
but moving on, let's talk about April Bennett (h) shall we? first of all, can we just take a moment and acknowledge the fact that she really said this about Sebastian: "He looks like he may be European or something." and i genuinely got confused because wait a damn minute-
[image]
you're in London... London is in Europe... Europe = European... ... of-fuckin'-course he's gonna look "European" you dumbass ?!?
but this isn't the only quote where i questioned my sanity because y'all look at these:
↳ “This is true. Speak tomoz. xoxo."
seriously. who the f says toMoZ? tell me one person who says this right now. i'm waiting.
↳ "I have an alias now. How gangster."
sounds about ʸᵗ
↳ "He looks like he may be European or something."
yes, i'm repeating this because if i suffer, y'all need to as well ...more
im sorry but this is literally the off brand version of Motorcycle Man frfr.
listen, listen. i liked the beginning of this especially sinc1.5 stars ✩⋆
im sorry but this is literally the off brand version of Motorcycle Man frfr.
listen, listen. i liked the beginning of this especially since it reminded me of Motorcyle Man because Buck (H) is the leader of an MC, he and Clara (h) slept the same night they met, Buck also has 2 kids, etc. BUT the only difference is that Buck didn't sleep with another woman the next day, forgetting Clara (yes, i'm still salty Tack did that).
KA wrote some of my all-time favorite comfort reads and there's so many things i love in KA books like the side characters, ridiculous rock chick situations, and yes, i even like the overly macho man behavior (most of the time not all the time) but this was just... problematic and a little concerning. there's just SO many situations here where i just go
[image]
so anyways, i'm just gonna rant and talk about the things that irked me here cuz i gotta let my feelings and frustrations out so
《 SPOILERS AHEAD 》
⇢ worst girl friends i've ever read in a book
what the fuck.. no seriously. what the fuck. these "friends" of Clara are quite literally the worst girl friends i've ever read. i- IM SO SALTY right now because seriously?? are y'all dumb?
ok so for context, ⤷ after Clara and her "biker babes" went shopping for the day, they went back to the MC compound where Clara sees Nails (OW) and Buck look comfy because he has his hands on her waist and it looks like they're kissing from her view so she thinks he's cheating on her because basically they're "together" since she lives with him (yes Buck pulled a typical KA H move where he forces the h to live with him because she's in danger).
and then after she sees this horrible scene, do you guys think her girl friends aka biker babes helped her and told her to leave him? told her that he's not worth it and she doesn't deserve this especially when she just divorced her cheating husband of 10 years?? huh? HUHHHH? nope. this is what they said instead:
"They do what they wanna do when they wanna do it with who they wanna do it. You're his woman, babe, you gotta know that's the way and you gotta keep your mouth shut and put up with it. You do not give him shit, even if he comes home smellin' of her. You just keep your mouth shut."
i- ma'am,,, come again?
[image]
i've come across some very stupid advice from KA heroine's friends
↳ Exhibit A:The Golden Dynasty Circe's friends told her that she should sleep with Lahn the whole night before they pillage a town so he's all "sexed up" and wouldn't be tempted to r*pe someone during the pillage because god forbid they can't control themselves.
↳ Exhibit B:At Peace Violet's friend, Cheryl, told her she should use Mike (OM) and string him along even though he recently divorced his wife who also used him but i guess it's alright to use and string this poor man along because she's "innocent" and "naive"
see? those are some headscratchers right? well the advice here was just plain stupid.
i swear if my friends gave me this advice, i will give them the nastiest side-eye ever and never talk to them again. they just lost my trust if they said this to me because seriously? COME ON. these biker babes are really excusing the "cheating" and is basically on the cheater's side because that is their "way of life" and she should just smile and stfu about it and just let the men do whatever tf they want.
"Babe, you gotta know you can do this. I know it sucks, and it does. It sucks. But it is the way it is. You ask no questions, they tell no lies. They need to be free and you gotta let them be that way."
i WAS warned. i really was. but did i listen? [image] .... ha ah ha no
before i get into things let me just tell y'all, ohhhh myyy GOD. i fucking h1 star
i WAS warned. i really was. but did i listen? [image] .... ha ah ha no
before i get into things let me just tell y'all, ohhhh myyy GOD. i fucking hated this. im sorry i know that's harsh but seriously?? a cheating book with no grovelling? what- i... i am baffled. perplexed. BEWILDERED.
so a little backstory before i rant because i AM going to rant so SPOILERS AHEAD, Vaughn (H) and Tyra (h) have been a couple but labelling it as friends with benefits since book 1 (so that's 9 months). Vaughn was the popular jock that's best friends with the main H's in the previous books and Tyra was the "nerd" and she's the main best friend of Four. in the last book we found out that Vaughn cheated on Tyra with Selena (her sister!!!) at the party. this book starts with that scene. there are 2 parts of this book, part 1 is a month before the cheating and part 2 is 5-8 months after the cheating.
OKAY now that that's out of the way let's get started shall we?
« P A R T I » first of all, lets start with the fact Vaughn's inner monologue about Selena is just weird.
"I knew that had it not been for Tyra, I would have gamed and cornered Selena inside one of these secluded corners by now."
aww wow. he's so thoughtful. thinking about his girl's sister like that. it's flattering really. here's another one when he goes over to Tyra's house and instead finds Selena with only a towel on
"It wasn't like the sight bothered me, and that was the number one problem. Having a half-naked girl sitting so close next to me wreaked havoc on my baser instincts. My hands were just itching to peel away that towel."
aww he is just SO considerate?? like wow. wanting to see his girl's sister naked is super swoony. and here's another inner monologue about what he would do if she wasn't Tyra's sister
"I might have slapped Selena for coming on to me. If she hadn't been Tyra's sister, I might have even bent her over the goddamn couch."
omg yesss he's TOTALLY book boyfriend material right??
and then a little push and pull happened and Tyra "broke up" with Vaughn cuz he was like YOU are my girlfriend but i am NOT your boyfriend, insinuating that she can't date anyone while he sees other people but obviously he's lying. anyways a week later the gang goes on a road trip to a cabin and because Vaughn is angry with Tyra for breaking things off, he made out with Selena while Tyra was sleeping a few feet away from them in the van. she kissed him first but he let her and this is what he has to say about it
"We were never in a relationship, which meant it didn't matter who kissed who or why I didn't stop her sister from sticking her tongue down my throat. I hadn't done anything wrong."
wow. i feel SO bad for him cuz he feels SO bad for kissing the sister of the girl he "loves". poor baby.
oh and that's not even the worst part. literally a day after, he never told Tyra about the kiss until the very end of the book and proceeded to then take her virginity while letting the sister watch them have sex all because Selena threatened to tell Tyra about their little make-out session so he went along with this disturbing shit. imma give y'all a little sneak peek of what i went through:
"Her nipples," my sister whispered. "I want you to suck them."
[image] did i just read that right? i mean... what. the. fuck.
and now let's get on with the most romantic part in the book where Vaughn planned for Tyra to walk in on him getting a blowjob from her sister. i mean *swooon* am i right? after this she left and didn't talk to anyone for 5-8 months cuz... SHE IS PREGNANT.
« P A R T II » before we get into the clusterfuck of this half of the book, the reason why Vaughn cheated on Tyra is to "protect" her cuz her father told him he will kill her but then instead of walking away or i don't know, breaking up with her like a normal person instead of permanently traumatizing his soulmate with the visual of him getting a bj from her sister, he said he was too weak to walk away so he has to do something so that she'll never forgive him for.
fine. whatever. his cheating was apparently "noble" (Lou's words). ok?? but my main problem here is his nonchalant attitude while also victimizing himself and did not grovel at all. not even once. when heroine walks away? he lets her and waits for HER to come back to him. he never tried to get in her good graces, he never fought for her and instead treated her like shit. literal shit. i've seen puppies treated better than how Tyra was treated. and just because he paid for all their hospital bills and forcefully moved them into his place where Tyra walked in on him cheating, he suddenly goes all "y'all better treat me like a king and if you dont? well sucks to be you". and HE is the one who always walks away from her by the way. i mean THE AUDACITY ...more
some might ask, "mel, why the f do you keep reading these books?" well folks, i have this little monster inside of me called curiosity and, well1 star
some might ask, "mel, why the f do you keep reading these books?" well folks, i have this little monster inside of me called curiosity and, well, it always, ALWAYS wins. and if i don't satiate it? uhh let's just say i become even more obsessive than Joe Goldberg. so alas, here i am again reading these so that y'all won't suffer.
anyways, i hate this now more than ever and im one step away from turning into the Hulk. why?
1. H sugarcoating his cheating to the h:
"How long? How many times?" "I don't even remember. I stopped keeping track. I never counted. It wasn't just once, but... that's all that matters. There's no way in hell I'll tell you details."
HA ha ha. oh lord. she just has to read the second book to know all the details. "I dOn'T eVeN rEmEmBeR" pfft yeah right. well I DO, you jerk.
2. h forgiving so damn easily and was the one who had to BEG the H to stay with her and to keep loving her and she was even glad it was her sister he cheated on her with and not some rando??
"But the fact it was Eden? That's harder. It makes it better in some ways, honestly. It's strange, but...it would hurt more if it had been some random girl, someone who meant nothing to you. I don't know, maybe that's messed up a little, but it's my truth.”
lmaooo who in their right minds would react like this after finding out your twin sister and your husband had the best sex of their lives and did almost everything except anal.
3. H acting like the victim, moping around while the h fights for their marriage. 4. H never getting a pov when there's an intimate scene between him and h so now i'll forever think about how hard he "orgasmed" all the damn time with the OW, how he "never fucked anyone harder in his life" until the OW, or how whenever there's a sex scene with h and H i always go, "you ain't special sweetie, he did that to your twin sister in the last book." 5. OH and did i mention H and OW had a kid?! 6. OH oh or the fact that OW and H never had karma and OW ended up with a nice man while H is forgiven faster than Thanos snapping his fingers? damn. karma is, in fact, not a bitch to them huh?
anyways, speaking of Thanos, i would rather be snapped off this universe than reread these books ever again....more
one of my most hated tropes is when an h is a virgin then pines over her man ho “best friend” while he dates her roommate knowing that said1.75 stars
one of my most hated tropes is when an h is a virgin then pines over her man ho “best friend” while he dates her roommate knowing that said roommate is a bitch to her.
did i just summarize the first half of this book? yes.
this book just made me feel annoyed with both MCs, i rolled my eyes so many times i lost count.
anyways, did i like it when h was pining over H while being jealous of the OW (this OW was h's roommate btw)?
“Honestly, I spend an embarrassing amount of time thinking about Dylan having sex. Does he tease her as they start to kiss? Is he smiley, laughing Dylan? Or is he just so hungry for it that he’s too busy stripping her clothes off to talk or smile?”
nope.
did i like it when we find out the reason why H was dating the OW knowing that she was a bitch to the h, his best friend?
Kaitlyn is always horny, just like I am. That’s why I broke my No Dating rule to be with her. The sex is fantastic. Also, she’d insisted. We’re exclusive, or we don’t fuck, she’d said the first time I got her naked. Then? She’d swallowed my entire cock to the back of her throat and sucked me dry.
nope. very nice to read about H and OW's fantastic sex life by the way. i really wanted to know that.
what about when h heard H and the OW having sex right next to her room wishing she was the OW?
“I break out in a sweat. He grunts, and I shiver. Every little noise he makes is gold. I close my eyes, and I could almost be the one underneath him. My heartbeat syncs to his rhythm. Inside. Straining. More. Yes. “Please,” she moans. “Please.” Her begging is the soundtrack of my life. Please, Dylan. For once she and I are in perfect agreement. I clench my legs together against the ache. And then I do it again.”
ha ha ha. nope.
oh OH! and what about when H and OW broke up, did i like it when he hooked up and planned to hook up with other OW?
“The last thing I remember was Pink Panties leaning over me in bed, taking my cock into her mouth. At that, I let out a groan. Because I can't believe I fell asleep in the middle of a perfectly good blowjob. What kind of loser does that?”
nope. at least he knows he's a loser tho.
___________________________________
anyways, i was waiting for the MC's to have any redeeming qualities but it never happened. h was pathetically pining over H (like have some self-respect girl jeeZUS) and H was thinking with his D.
this book just gave me With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men #4) vibes and y’all know i hated that book with a passion (love the series tho). and the tropes that happened there are very similar to what happened here.
i’ve only read Brooklynaire by this author and loved it but this was a just big NO for me.
if there’s gonna be future books with tropes that are similar, at least make the heroine have more self-respect and GET OVER the man ho H who puts her in the friend zone because he’s a martyr and thinks h deserves better but doesn’t stop them from sleeping with tons of OW and implicitly/explicitly rubs it in h’s face.
this was me the entire book: [image] i've read so many bully romance that i've lost count. all of them fall into these categories: good, bad, and ugly. this was me the entire book: [image] i've read so many bully romance that i've lost count. all of them fall into these categories: good, bad, and ugly. but this one? this falls into nothing because i. felt. nothing.
i was just so bored with both characters because Thayer was your typical "bully/asshole" but with no substance, whereas Shayne was your typical heroine in NA books where they say they're tough but when the H shows off his abs or touches them, they suddenly turn into a 14-year-old fangirl meeting Harry Styles or Timothee Chalamet. i hate this trope with my entire being. please don't do this trope anymore. please for the love of god.
if a boy makes me think he's going to hook up with another girl by making me witness it after telling him i love him, doesn't talk to me for a year KNOWING he's been with other girls, and when i show up he suddenly bullies me without explaining why, i would NOT do what the h here did so frankly, this is kind of a lesson on what not to do.
↠ h had the audacity to be friends with the wife and act all trustworthy when she never apologized about sleeping **spoiler alert** update: 1.75 stars
↠ h had the audacity to be friends with the wife and act all trustworthy when she never apologized about sleeping with her husband and never told her the truth about carrying her husband's baby. so yes, she's also fake. ↠ h acted all bratty and selfish whenever H told her they can't be together because of the situation. again, she had the audacity to want to be with the H without even feeling remorseful about her actions. ↠ *trigger warning* there was a horrendous rape scene at the end where h gets sexually assaulted by the married man. ↠ H always stood up for the h and i hated him for that because i felt more sympathy towards his sister (the wife of the married man). ↠ the H's behavior was also so horrendous. i can't believe he agreed to kidnapped the h and planned to kill her. that's really fucked up. i mean, the h is a teenage girl and the fact that he took his brother in law's side rather than tell his SISTER the truth?? that's just wrong.
overall, i just couldn't like this because what the h did and how she handled/felt towards her affair with the married man dampened any enjoyment i could've ever felt and the H was just toxic.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
dnf 8%
aight i just read the first couple of chapters and i already hate the heroine. im sorry but i just can’t sympathize with a heroine who willingly slept with a married man. she said "it just happened" and "it was an accident" but she slept with him multiple times, suggested to do anal with him (they ended up doing it), and even made a "video" of her for him (while knowing this man was out on a wedding anniversary date with the wife btw).
right... "it just happened." "there was no malicious intent." uh, sleeping with a married man IS malicious intent but ok whatever.
but you know what bugs me the most? the fact that she never planned to tell the wife of their affair. so, she's not only selfish, horny, and an idiot, but she's also a coward and i don't fuck with that.
and in my opinion, she doesn't feel any remorse at all because if that little "fall out" at the end of their affair didn't happen, she would've continued sleeping with the married man and she even admitted that she would've gone into birth control if they continued. ugh.
i think i hate this heroine more than my most hated heroines: Olivia (Waking Olivia) and Violet (At Peace) and that's saying a lot.
this married man is the H’s brother in law by the way. ... and she's pregnant with his baby because, oh, right, they did it without condom.
this honestly wasn't that bad but oh boy i rolled my eyes to the heavens so many times, i lost count.
usually, i judge the H more than the h2.75 stars
this honestly wasn't that bad but oh boy i rolled my eyes to the heavens so many times, i lost count.
usually, i judge the H more than the h because from the books i've read so far, their dumbassery is just in a whole other level but the main reason for my eyerolls was definitely because of the h in this one.
this has the H is hung up on ex and said ex is getting married to the dude H saw his ex sleeping with when he walked in on them a millenia ago and now h and H schemes to make the ex jealous so cue all the fake relationship tropes i love...
that said, all the things that drew me in fell flat and anticlimactic, and the whole fake relationsip/make H's ex jealous, only happened once which is a huge disappointment.
❥ what i liked: — the MCs were actually really cute when they were together but it was just meh. — Nolan. this kid was so cute!! oh lord, Ms. Daniels is really good when writing child characters because she makes them 1000x cuter than kids in real life.
❥what i disliked: — the dynamic between the MCs. this is the number one reason why i eye-rolled so many times. i really dislike when h is sweet and innocent and makes it easy for the H all the while H is a self-proclaimed man ho. it's just not a good mix.
don't worry, h wasn't a virgin but the way she acted almost seemed like she was.
anyways, i just hate it when h just made it so... easy? like, she didn't play hard to get, ya know? H is used to getting girls he wants since he's the man ho of the town, so why make the h NOT play hard to get? i've read books with the h being all innocent while H is the complete opposite and it worked for me because the h made H work for it but here? nope. H didn't even do anything to be honest.
— the h doing all the work, meaning she was the one doing all the chasing. H literally didn't do anything until the end. he didn't do the chasing, he didn't do the wooing, he didn't do ANYTHING.
h was the one who kissed him first, who planned the whole fake relationship, asked to hang out first, made the first moves, and was the one who said "i love you" first.
again, the H is the MAN HO. he's used to getting girls easily and the fact that the h made it so easy for him?? arrrggghhhh it was so annoying. like, can i get a little chase from the H?
even when they were fighting, H was all like yeah... i'm not gonna talk to her right now, she needs space blah blah blah. uh, nope. that's like the most common error every boyfriend in the world makes. and the h is the one who talks to him first after a fight. ugh.
— the h's unrealistic trust towards the H. listen, the h just got out of a fucked up relationship before meeting the H and she literally didn't know anyone. so the fact that she was so trusting towards the H when he was a near-stranger was just one of the biggest wtf moments in this book, considering how she met her ex.
so, ex was basically a wolf in sheep's clothing. he met h when he saw her sleeping in her car and he charmed his way through her and she ended up staying with him because of said charm. throughout their "relationship" she realized how much of a manipulative sociopath he was.
so, AGAIN, why the f did she trust the H so easily?! she literally kissed him the first time they met.
and the fact that she knew he was a man ho and the first time they were intimate, she let him go bare!!! mind you, H was so drunk their first time together (he didn't even remember their sexathon by the way) and h knew he was drunk as hell, so why would she trust anything he would say while in this state?! jee-ZUS.
the dumbassery !!!
and the fact that the first time they hang out, h sees him full-on flirting with this employee from Verizon while waiting for her and she still makes it so easy for him after that? damn girl, i would've made him work for it.
— the OW or any kind of drama resolved unsatisfyingly. after H forgot their first night together, h was embarrassed (rightfully so) and agreed to a date when she was asked by this OM. H felt rejected then went to the bar the next day to pick up a woman. he succeeded and when they almost exited the bar, he was like oops never mind. don't want this. and when he sees the h (h works at this bar) he went into this weird trance where he remembers some of the things that happened the night they were together and he was so deep in thought that he didn't even realize that the OW was whipping out his thing and almost gave him a bj.
so anyways, h saw H being dragged by this OW and she didn't talk to him for 6 days. this is what she said that made me like her for a moment:
It's Reed's turn to grab my face and kiss me without giving me a choice in it. It's his turn to reach for my hand, to touch me first. He's miserable? He's jealous? Let me see it. The only thing he's shown me is how easily he can be dragged out of my work.
and i was like f YES. fina-fuckin'-lly. but then, literally the next page she texts him first!!! and the H apologizes for the whole OW thing through TEXT! the fuuuu??
[image]
this is another example as to how h doesn’t make the H work for it. i hate heroines who are like this. honest to god.
and let's not start with the h running away AND going back to the sociopathic ex just because the H didn't tell her "i love you" back. like, i get it. her father didn't show up and her emotions were at an all time high but damn... she could've wait just A DAY but nope. she had to be so dramatic about the whole thing *eyeroll 100x*. ______________________________
anyways, i read this because i thought this was going to be like Bad for You or Down Too Deep. those books were filled with so many things i want from romance (character development, family relationships, cute and genuine and relatable moments). but here? the inner monologue was just 95% horny thoughts and i absolutely LOATHE that. i need more substance you know?
it's so incredibly annoying when the MCs just talk about how hot their love interest is or how much they turn them on. truly an eye-roll moment for me.
again, main reason why i was annoyed with this was because of my personal preferences so some might find this quite enjoyable and it was! but i just can't get over the dumbassery !!!...more
no book has ever made me more confused than this one did. it truly was a complete mindfuck.
im soooorrryyy guys. i really did try to like th2.5 stars ✧
no book has ever made me more confused than this one did. it truly was a complete mindfuck.
im soooorrryyy guys. i really did try to like this cuz of the hype but i just couldn't. the concept of this book is SO interesting and the edits on ig are so beautiful that i just wanted to read this but honestly? i loved the edits more than this book. i don't know if it's the hype that made me have high expectations or just the whole dark/circus romance thing but i probably should've had no expectations whatsoever because i don't think this book was all that. again, SORRY.
i have no idea why but the main thing that annoyed me was Dove's reaction to the whole thing.
to summarize on how Dove (h) reacted when she was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, forced to live in a rated R circus where there are orgies and leave her whole entire life behind, live with guys that she knows wants to kill her, and finally, falls "in love" with a guy that she knows hates her, and again, wants to kill her, this was her reaction: [image] i mean, issa mood but still. she was just super chill about everything and that annoyed me to no end. like girl, freak out for once!! have some realistic emotions!!
i've read some books with kidnapping and a whole lot of YA fantasy/dystopian books and the heroines there ALWAYS freak out and tries to escape, as you should when you're being kidnapped and forced to live another life. did the heroine react how any person would react? noo. she literally just went through everything and was like this is my new life? k cool. she wasn't even asking questions, she wasn't curious, she wasn't trying to escape, and it was just so unrealistic. listen, listen. i know this whole book is unrealistic but emotions/reactions, no matter the genre, should at least be realistic.
anywho rant is done and i just wanted to get that off my chest so let's move on as to why this book didn't work for me so SPOILERS AHEAD:
➳ romance King and Dove's "romance" was just a whole cycle with no development. it goes like this:
1. boy says he hates girl and wants to kill her. 2. girl ignores. 3. boy says "you're mine" and shows off his abs. 4. girl thinks he's hot and lets him touch and kiss her forgetting he hates her and wants to kill her. 5. boy says forget that happened i hate you. 6. girl ignores. 7. repeat.
so basically King gives her crumbs and Dove eats them up because betraying body syndrome, and continues to let him treat her like shit giving in easily because she's horny. yeah, no thanks. oh, and let's not forget when (major spoilers!) the whole time King thought the h was her sister, meaning he thought he was fucking his soulmate's sister because he didn't know the h was actually his soulmate this whole time until the 70% mark (!). you see how there's no development here? and let's not get started with the orgy scene...
➳ OW/OM drama (spoilers) speaking of the orgy scene, for those who want to be warned, the h gives one of the bros of kiznitch a bj in front of the H to show she's not jealous or something. there's no scene of H here with OW but it was implied they probably did something. few chapters later, h sees OW leave H's room the same day they hooked up but they didn't do anything.
"I'm worked up and under fucked thanks to Kingston. But apparently, Val was good enough for his royal penis."
this bugged me because thinking that H slept with OW, h still let him touch her and they even had sex for the first time after this. that's annoying.
➳ writing going back to my rant at the beginning, the emotions of the characters didn't seem right especially when it comes to the afterthoughts after important events. the inner monologue of Dove was like "going through the motions" kind of inner monologue as she just brushes things off easily that it made the character feel unrelatable and almost apathetic about EVERYTHING. honestly, Dove has the most nonchalant thought process i've ever read.
when she got hurt or jealous when he saw King and OW? didn't feel her jealousy. when she had a flashback about possibly having a sister? didn't feel the shock and curiosity. when she found out who her true mom is? didn't feel anything. why? because of how the writing conveys Dove's emotions. i just didn't feel anything.
➳ characters because of the writing style, i couldn't connect with the characters at all. if the emotions and reactions aren't shown properly, how can i be emotionally attached to the characters? so basically the book is like this:
character development < smut
the only characters i liked were Killian, Keaton, Rose, Kohen (love a psychopath), and Delila. they made me not want to dnf this book.
➳ what i liked the aesthetics reminded me of that carnival episode in euphoria and i fucking love that show and the makeups of the bros of kiznitch reminded me of the joker from the dark knight and that's my favorite movie of all time. everything that i wanted to happen happened in the last 30% of the book. i FINALLY connected with the characters, i finally see a development between the MCs and the plot finally moved forward but it was too little too late so.
* * *
am i still gonna continue with this series? uhh... [image] ...yeah. i still like the whole aesthetic and concept and the next book is about Killian and apparently this dude is like professor x so im all for that.
here's me hoping the next books will be better *fingers crossed*
H emotionally abuses her, bullied her for 10 years, manhandles her, threatening to kill her every chapter even during sex while 1.5 stars
So basically,
H emotionally abuses her, bullied her for 10 years, manhandles her, threatening to kill her every chapter even during sex while he has knife on her throat, basically treats her as a sex slave (she even admitted to this nonchalantly like oh omg ya I was his sex slave, moving on), forces a bj on her, and spanks and belts her when she’s begging and screaming for H to stop.
Does our heroine fight back after all this? Nahhh, why do you think I’m giving this a 1 star?
Listen, bully romance only works for me if the heroine has backbone and not a horny pushover/doormat, and essentially fights back. So is the heroine here the opposite of a horny pushover/doormat? HELL NO. All the horrible things I listed out at the top, you know what her reaction to all that? Weeeelll of course she becomes horny and thinks how handsome the hero is even when he’s threatening to kill her. Dear lord, imma need to pray for this woman to have some common sense and self-respect....more
The .5 is for the grovelling cuz it was actually pretty good but the H’s actions were unforgivable (calling her a slut, manhandling her, usin2.5 stars
The .5 is for the grovelling cuz it was actually pretty good but the H’s actions were unforgivable (calling her a slut, manhandling her, using OW for bj cuz he wants h blah blah blah, you know the usual) and the h was just... ughhh, well, she was a doormat who forgives too easily, cries a lot, gives in too easily cuz duh she’s horny, and doesn’t really fight back and I really hate that. Buuut she was aight at the end, though, can’t really forget how much of a dumbass she was for the first half of the book.
Gotta admit, I'm intrigued with the whole bullying (or hate-to-love, whatever) trope because my favorite part is when the H redeems himself and, well, I guess I have a thing for assholes redeeming themselves because duh Damon Salvatore and Jamie Lannister. In my opinion the H definitely did not redeem himself. It was little too late for that since he started grovelling around 74% ish and the rest of the time, he was just straight up emotionally abusing the h and I ain't down with that.
And the fact that h's mom and H's dad don't even care they're together even though they are step-siblings is just wild as hell. And can we talk about how their parents didn't even get suffer through karma?? I would've given this book higher rating if the parents got what they deserved since they were having an affair in the past and they ended up happy while their significant others either became an addicted to alcohol or became poor?...more
Sorry but Hound is definitely a consolation prize and will forever be second best to heroine’s dead husband. I really hate that. And there's2.75 stars
Sorry but Hound is definitely a consolation prize and will forever be second best to heroine’s dead husband. I really hate that. And there's too much filler sex scenes here and I read KA books cuz she writes more character moments than sex scenes and I'm kinda disappointed that's not the case here. Only thing I liked were Dutch and Jag, and Bev and Tad....more
❥ cheating. the drama with the boyfriend wasn’t solved satisfyingly for me and same goes this was just problematic as hell.
i mean, come on.
(SPOILERS)
❥ cheating. the drama with the boyfriend wasn’t solved satisfyingly for me and same goes for that married woman H had an affair with. (ps. H said he's not a cheater and he hates it but i consider sleeping with married women cheating sooo hypocrite much?) and h's lack of remorse or compassion towards her boyfriend... made me hate her to be honest.
❥ the rape of H by h's half-sister and how that was swept under the rug??
❥ making the rapist “good” at the end. even naming their kid after said rapist? the fuuu-?
❥ lying and hiding H's secret kid with the half-sister.
❥ OW/OM drama. double dipping and such (yuck). and that whole threesome spin the bottle scene was weird. i really disliked the h in that scene. and let's not start with the H having sex with OW so that h can hear it AND the whole half-sister situation.
❥ miscommunication. the dumbassery of the H in this one *eyeroll*.
❥ neglecting Ashton. he was more interesting than both MCs to be honest. and i felt more sympathy towards him than Mal and Rory.
❥ lack of character and romantic development (more telling instead of showing). like the wedding? their first time together after 8 years of separation?? i thought those scenes would be epic but they felt so emotionless.
❥ weird reactions of MCs to things like the h masturbating to the sound of H having sex with a married woman next room. and the fact that the H literally told h he was practically raped by her half-sister and ya know what her reaction was? absolutely nothing.
❥ and that chocolate bar scene... eeeewwww !!!
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anyways, i’m just really disappointed with this one because this had sooo much potential but the angsty drama was just too problematic which eventually made the romance feel so bland and emotionless.
how can i root for the MCs to be together when they were so vile and remorseless about their actions? they say they feel guilty but their actions show otherwise (literally marrying the day after h's boyfriend found out she cheated on him).
though, silver lining for me is that this book got me out of a book slump so yay....more