Meredith's Reviews > The Five
The Five
by
by
I accidently removed this book from my shelves and the review disappeared 😭 I'm devastated and deflated because this may not have been one of my favorite reviews I've left but I had so many notes about crime noir that are now gone. I can't remember the last time I backed up my GR reviews either 😥
Oddly, status updates apparently show back up even if you remove a book from your shelves, thank god I put notes in there.
Oddly, status updates apparently show back up even if you remove a book from your shelves, thank god I put notes in there.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
March 24, 2022
–
49.0%
"“I’m bad, Doc. I’m a horrible person. And there’s not a damn thing I can ever do to make it stop.”
One reason this is a favorite is this character more than any other I've read in a dark romance is such a femme fatale. This entire book has a neo noir vibe that I want more of."
page
171
One reason this is a favorite is this character more than any other I've read in a dark romance is such a femme fatale. This entire book has a neo noir vibe that I want more of."
March 24, 2022
–
52.15%
"“I’ve missed you,” he whispered.
I was crying again, but for a new reason. “I’ve missed you, too.”
“Hey, hey, hey,” he wiped a tear from my face. “What are these for? I’ve never seen a man make you cry.”"
page
182
I was crying again, but for a new reason. “I’ve missed you, too.”
“Hey, hey, hey,” he wiped a tear from my face. “What are these for? I’ve never seen a man make you cry.”"
March 24, 2022
–
52.15%
"This man loved me. With every bit of his body, his heart and his soul. He would do anything for me, be anything for me. He would keep every promise he made to me because that’s who Rowan was"
page
182
March 24, 2022
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54.44%
"Shaking my head, I continued staring at the dry erase board. I needed to add another five:
Five years in the neighborhood.
Five older men that abused her as a kid.
Five neighbors.
Five victims at the party.
Five times she slept with Rowan."
page
190
Five years in the neighborhood.
Five older men that abused her as a kid.
Five neighbors.
Five victims at the party.
Five times she slept with Rowan."
March 24, 2022
–
58.74%
"One day you’ll see yourself the same way I do, and you’ll be so mad at yourself for letting people treat you the way you have. It ends. Tonight.”
Shaking my head, my lips quivered. “I won’t stop using my body for drugs, Rowan. I don’t mind it.”"
page
205
Shaking my head, my lips quivered. “I won’t stop using my body for drugs, Rowan. I don’t mind it.”"
March 24, 2022
–
63.32%
"My mind had checked out apparently. My willpower dissolving. Rainey Day had reeled me in just like every other man who knew her."
page
221
March 24, 2022
–
63.32%
"“I’ll keep your secret as long as you can promise me I won’t hear of any other murders you took part in for the rest of this story.”
Her eyes darkened, shadows chasing across her face. With a soft voice, she answered, “I don’t make promises, Justin. I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because Rowan made me promises he couldn’t keep. When he died, he broke all of them.”"
page
221
Her eyes darkened, shadows chasing across her face. With a soft voice, she answered, “I don’t make promises, Justin. I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because Rowan made me promises he couldn’t keep. When he died, he broke all of them.”"
March 24, 2022
–
63.32%
"Her provocative posture folded over itself. Gone was the Rainey attempting to seduce, and in her place was a woman shattering apart, her arms holding her body, tears streaming down her face. She bent over as her shoulders shook with silent sobs"
page
221
March 24, 2022
–
63.0%
""If you ask me, Rowan is stupid for falling in love. We all knew what you were the minute we met you.”
A cloud rolled over his lips and he passed it back. “Not saying that like it’s a bad thing. It’s just the truth, you know?”
Oddly, I found it kind of sweet that Joel had followed me out here to talk.
...lol this girl."
A cloud rolled over his lips and he passed it back. “Not saying that like it’s a bad thing. It’s just the truth, you know?”
Oddly, I found it kind of sweet that Joel had followed me out here to talk.
...lol this girl."
March 24, 2022
–
80.23%
"Broken...
There was no other way to describe what I'd done to him. Like a bull in a china shop, I'd run him through, my horns stabbing his heart while my hoves stomped every bit of strength and goodness in him. And here I was doing it again, my stampede not quite through."
page
280
There was no other way to describe what I'd done to him. Like a bull in a china shop, I'd run him through, my horns stabbing his heart while my hoves stomped every bit of strength and goodness in him. And here I was doing it again, my stampede not quite through."
March 24, 2022
–
80.23%
"It was like taming a wild animal. You know it has the ability to tear you to shreds with sharp claws and gnashing teeth, but it makes you feel powerful for its love and obedience.
Rowan made me feel powerful. He made me believe I was worth more than what I'd become."
page
280
Rowan made me feel powerful. He made me believe I was worth more than what I'd become."
March 24, 2022
–
80.52%
"It was too bad that my story would never be worth the paper it was written on. Nobody cares about girls like me. We're lost to the shadows, tossed aside and forgotten about by a world that only wishes to see beauty, intelligence, and fortune."
page
281
March 24, 2022
–
84.53%
"It was in that moment that I understood the mask Rainey was wearing. To meet her for the first time, you would believe her weak, would pity her lack of intelligence, would want to shelter her under your wing because surely a woman as victimized as her would only be swept away by the cruelties of this world if somebody wasn’t there to save her."
page
295
March 24, 2022
–
84.53%
"Yet, listening to her tell her tale, watching her body language as she recounted every horrifying detail, you could see beneath the delicate surface to the steel residing just beneath her skin.
She was beautiful. Utterly and terrifyingly so. Beguiling, so damn circuitous that Rainey spoke circles around me, her consciousness wandering over meandering trails, leading to where, I wasn’t sure"
page
295
She was beautiful. Utterly and terrifyingly so. Beguiling, so damn circuitous that Rainey spoke circles around me, her consciousness wandering over meandering trails, leading to where, I wasn’t sure"
March 24, 2022
–
84.53%
"Her fingers traced down her neck, her eyes catching mine as her lips pulled up at the corners. "I guess I have to think that things can't get worse than they already have been. Rock bottom is the lowest a person can go, right? Well, I was born there." Softly, she added, "There's no where to go but up.""
page
295
March 24, 2022
–
86.25%
"“We shouldn’t be doing this.”
Mouth against my ear. “I shouldn’t have done a lot of things.” Pure wickedness, that sound. Breathless, husky, raw."
page
301
Mouth against my ear. “I shouldn’t have done a lot of things.” Pure wickedness, that sound. Breathless, husky, raw."
March 24, 2022
–
93.12%
"Why do the good people always die young? I didn’t understand why this world seemed to punish the shining lights while allowing the shadows to linger eternally. I wondered if perhaps the soul of the good burned as brightly as stars, the world unable to contain such fire, so it devised different ways to extinguish them."
page
325
March 24, 2022
–
93.12%
"All our lives we’re told to go high. Reach for the sky. Climb those ladders. Scale those walls. Jump over hurdles.
The theme is on every poster I saw in school. In every inspirational movie, or even uplifting commercials which didn’t have much to do with the product being sold. Like we’re supposed to sprout wings or something. As if it’s easy..."
page
325
The theme is on every poster I saw in school. In every inspirational movie, or even uplifting commercials which didn’t have much to do with the product being sold. Like we’re supposed to sprout wings or something. As if it’s easy..."
March 24, 2022
–
93.12%
"...As if, with just a little bit of faith, strength, a stroke of luck, we all can lift ourselves up and become something.
What about those who can’t? Those weighed down by circumstance? Those who have been beaten by misfortune, chained by poverty, stomped by the pounding feet of everybody else who’s trying to achieve, or simply buried beneath the muck of the fortunate who have no problem in taking advantage?"
page
325
What about those who can’t? Those weighed down by circumstance? Those who have been beaten by misfortune, chained by poverty, stomped by the pounding feet of everybody else who’s trying to achieve, or simply buried beneath the muck of the fortunate who have no problem in taking advantage?"
March 24, 2022
–
93.12%
"We can’t fly, our wings are too shredded. We can’t climb, every rung on our ladder has been split in two. We can’t scale those walls because the ropes we’ve been given are frayed or severed. We can’t jump hurdles when there’s not enough distance in front of us to run...."
page
325
March 24, 2022
–
93.12%
"..What we can do is go low, find new ways to keep going, even the odds a little bit by figuring out how to sneak around barriers, and I’ll be damned to listen to anyone judging me for the choices I made to survive...."
page
325
March 24, 2022
–
93.12%
"Instead of flying, I’ll crawl.
Instead of climbing the ladder, I’ll squeeze through the lowest rungs.
Instead of scaling walls, you better believe I’ll dig a tunnel under them.
And instead of jumping a hurdle, I’ll just knock the damn thing down.
That was the only means to continue on, because those were the only options given to me when I’d been born scraping the bottom."
page
325
Instead of climbing the ladder, I’ll squeeze through the lowest rungs.
Instead of scaling walls, you better believe I’ll dig a tunnel under them.
And instead of jumping a hurdle, I’ll just knock the damn thing down.
That was the only means to continue on, because those were the only options given to me when I’d been born scraping the bottom."
March 25, 2022
–
93.12%
"I'm thinking about the review I want to write about this -- and I was going to say this book is feminist. But there's a gray area. The femme fatale trope is rooted in sexism. The heroine's motivations aren't always for monetary gain though (typical of femme fatales from the 50s'). She does always have the help of her man, but I don't think this is necessarily sexist? That he's willing to help her is a result..."
page
325
March 25, 2022
–
93.12%
"...Of her corrupting him. There's toxic codependence in their relationship. Idk rereading this book I'm noticing more layers. Seriously so impressed with Lily White."
page
325
March 25, 2022
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93.12%
"crime noir elements:
class divisions
fear of the future
no nostalgia for the past here
homicide
subversive,transgressive behavior (sex & substance abuse)
low brow nature of dark erotica similar to crime noir pulp
hard boiled-detective f
use of sexuality for liberation
scopophilia
agency through crime
seduction of detective
ff forces the men to assert their masculinity
battle of the sexes
f deceitfulness
p.16"
page
325
class divisions
fear of the future
no nostalgia for the past here
homicide
subversive,transgressive behavior (sex & substance abuse)
low brow nature of dark erotica similar to crime noir pulp
hard boiled-detective f
use of sexuality for liberation
scopophilia
agency through crime
seduction of detective
ff forces the men to assert their masculinity
battle of the sexes
f deceitfulness
p.16"
March 25, 2022
–
93.12%
"What causes male fear and anxiety of the femme fatale, however, does not come from her ability to be sexual, but from her masquerade of domesticity. The image of the wife is supposed to be safe because it is equated with the home. The femme fatale creates paranoia because she has integrated violence into the home
-From 'She Had to Be Bad'"
page
325
-From 'She Had to Be Bad'"
March 25, 2022
–
93.12%
"Everything she's done. Over the years. All the lies and tears and blood and
death and still I can't take my eyes off her
- From I, the Jury"
page
325
death and still I can't take my eyes off her
- From I, the Jury"
March 25, 2022
–
93.12%
"This is crime noir through and through. Another theme in this book similar to crime noir is emphasis on interiors. Relates both to class divisions and the role of the female in the home. Safety and security is a large theme. Gawd I could write a five page paper analyzing this book and I don't think I've come across any dark erotica book in my life layered enough for me to do that."
page
325
March 25, 2022
–
93.12%
"Comment on Miller's portrayal of femme fatales p.70 of She Had to be Bad...
Miller assumes that the femme fatale's most important asset is her body,
rather than her careful planning and deliberate action by which sexuality in turn can be wielded.
Fiction from the femme fatale's pov allows for this redemption of the femme fatale Jennings talks about."
page
325
Miller assumes that the femme fatale's most important asset is her body,
rather than her careful planning and deliberate action by which sexuality in turn can be wielded.
Fiction from the femme fatale's pov allows for this redemption of the femme fatale Jennings talks about."
March 25, 2022
–
93.12%
"This is why I like the dark erotica genre. It gives authors the opportunity to play w/ the femme fatale trope that's otherwise unseen in literature and film. This is one of the most sympathetic portrayals of a femme fatale I've ever read. It also allows authors to be free with the explicit, subversive nature that's part of crime noir. I wish more authors in DE used these themes in their writing."
page
325
March 25, 2022
–
97.42%
"Who the hell was I kidding? If they knew the truth, most people would cringe away in disgust, would shout from the rooftops that I deserve to rot. I was one big, living, breathing secret, the thoughts in me festering, the knowledge in my heart horrifying."
page
340
March 25, 2022
–
97.42%
"Sex for drugs. Sex for money. Sex for favors, or handouts or both. It’s what I’d learned to do in life to get by. I wasn’t born with a genius brain, hadn’t been gifted with much talent, but what I was given was a body that drew the eye and the knowledge of how to use it."
page
340
March 25, 2022
–
97.42%
"He would never give me the absolution I sought, would never understand that to live a life in the gutters, you had to ensure your teeth were always sharp."
page
340
March 25, 2022
–
97.42%
"It was over now. My life was no longer sinking beneath deep waters until I was choking on the losses I’d suffered. Retribution has cleared a path, the embers of the fires finally drifting off into the night to twinkle like stars. I knew where I’d been and where I was going, my heart beating a steady rhythm because life could begin again."
page
340
March 25, 2022
–
97.42%
"He paced away from me, his hand stabbing through his hair as he scoured his thoughts for any possible reasons or excuses for why I’d jumped from one bed to another.
What he didn’t understand is that I would always jump into another bed. He wasn’t the type of man who could demand my loyalty. He wasn’t the man who owned my heart."
page
340
What he didn’t understand is that I would always jump into another bed. He wasn’t the type of man who could demand my loyalty. He wasn’t the man who owned my heart."
March 25, 2022
–
97.42%
"p.397. The characterization in this book is amazing. Rereading it I'm seeing Rainey in a different light. My first read I was sympathetic, but I didn't catch just how exactly Rainey views sex (likely b/c it is diff. than my personal views which made me biased). Ugh this depiction of a femme fatale is soo good props to Lily."
page
340
March 25, 2022
–
97.42%
"I guess what makes this unique in crime noir and commentary on femme fatales is how the author explored casual sex and meaningful sex. But casual sex might be wrong? For Rainey it's sex as a tool vs. meaningful, loving sex. She will never give up sex as a tool, even for the man she loves. She considers it a survival skill. I didn't catch this the first time."
page
340
March 25, 2022
–
97.42%
"“We meet again,” he said, hands dangling between his spread knees, lips kicking up into a grin at the corners. Shaking his head slightly, he met my stare. “I tried to tell you, man. Rainey’s taken. But you just wouldn’t listen, would you?”
A burst of laughter. “Ah, hell, it’s not like I can blame you. She’s like a drug, my girl. Always calling you back into her orbit no matter what fucked up thing she does.”"
page
340
A burst of laughter. “Ah, hell, it’s not like I can blame you. She’s like a drug, my girl. Always calling you back into her orbit no matter what fucked up thing she does.”"
March 25, 2022
–
97.42%
"Apparently, Frankie never changed, still as rough as I remembered him. I wasn’t willing to go there, though. The pot wasn’t worth it, the escape any drugs could give not enough to make me risk abusing my body in order to have it. That doesn’t mean I didn’t crave the high. I just didn’t know where to get it."
page
340
March 26, 2022
–
97.71%
"The memories were coming on too strong, images of a beautiful boy with big blue eyes and a smile that lit me up from the inside as if I somehow swallowed the sun.
My brightest star. He was above my head, his twinkle concealed by smoke, his light erased by what remained of his home rising up into the cosmos as embers and dust."
page
341
My brightest star. He was above my head, his twinkle concealed by smoke, his light erased by what remained of his home rising up into the cosmos as embers and dust."
March 19, 2023
– Shelved
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Aug 19, 2023 04:35AM
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Yes! You'll love it! One of the rare dark romances that I can reread and I like just as much each time ❤️
I know. The worst is when the comments disappear b/c you can back up reviews, but not comments. I actually remember accidentally deleting this one myself 😭 I had clumsy thumbs on my phone.
🖤🖤🖤