I can’t say I enjoyed this book, but it is all on me. I simply don’t like the topic this book is based on, and because of that I realize I should haveI can’t say I enjoyed this book, but it is all on me. I simply don’t like the topic this book is based on, and because of that I realize I should have never started it. The first installment has a perfect closed HEA and there really was no need for more. To be fair, I didn't know what this book was about, if I had known I would have passed immediately. This is not the kind of story I want to read, not because any lack on the plot or storytelling but due to personal preferences alone. I intensely dislike everything related to illness, sickness, or any kind of medical condition and this book is all based on that. That is why it was hard for me to finish it and why I didn’t actually like it. I just feel it wound’t be fair to give it less stars because of that, and thus my 3 star rating. I truly feel that this book was unnecessary, and although I see that many people would love it and want more of this couple, to me it is painful and ruins somewhat the previos HEA. I could have been perfectly ok with an actually Happy Ever After instead of Happy For A While, then having this unhappy experience in their way and finally back to HEA. I read romance and fiction to escape reality, I don’t need extra suffering on a romance. But that is just me…
P.S: I am kind of annoyed by Richard (A.K.A. the Author) saying that he wants a boy so he can talk about cars, sports and girls to him. He can do all those things with girls too and having a boy doesn’t guarantee that his son will actually like any of those things. There are many other reasons you can give to want a boy that doesn’t have to do with gender roles. Consequently, I found the comment pretty sexist, antiquated and sad....more
I like to read romances because I like to see how two people fall in love, I love that journey. The development of that intimacy anMeh, it's passable.
I like to read romances because I like to see how two people fall in love, I love that journey. The development of that intimacy and relationship makes me establish an emotional connection with the characters, thus I can be invested in their story and I feel with them. In this case however, what we have is instant-love, so there is no growth of emotions, there is no falling in love part, they are just madly in love immediately and the rest is just plot, problems and complications. I couldn't feel their love, and as such I couldn't believe it. That is why it was imposible for me to establish that emotional connection to the characters and why I couldn't care about what was happening to them. I was so detached, that I couldn't even trouble myself with having an opinion about anything else here. I just didn't care.
P.S: Jarret reads older than he is supposed to be, no way is his age believable....more
I read Kristen Ashley because she is a good storyteller. I usually become very engaged in her stories and writing style. I might like what I am readinI read Kristen Ashley because she is a good storyteller. I usually become very engaged in her stories and writing style. I might like what I am reading more or less, but for the most part, she keeps me interested. It is no different with this book. However, I keep reading books of this author knowing that many of the ideals and morals she exposes on her narrations are very opposed to mine. By now I expect them and I know they will make me angry or frustrated, still I read her, specially after I have become bored by other books. Like I said, she is a good storyteller and so it is a safe bet.
Having say that, I enjoyed the book, it is a nice story, however, I can't bring myself to give a higher rating because I just can't condone such sexist and toxic ideals of men and women, 3 stars is as hight as I can go. In the same way, I am not giving this book a lower rating because I already knew the things I wouldn't like about it before I started reading, and so it wouldn't feel fair, not this time anyways.
If like I do, you decide to read her books, you will be entertained, still, be warned that you'll find them heavily filled with toxic masculinity and conservative gender roles ideals.
P.S: I recommend the audiobook edition.
Colorado Mountain Series: Book 1: The Gamble - 4 stars. Book 2: Sweet Dreams - 2 stars. Book 3: Lady Luck - 2 stars. Book 4: Breath - 2 stars. Book 5: Jagged - 3 stars....more
This book should have been categorized as fantasy, sci-fi or at least as paranormal romance, because only in those genres can you explain eDELUSIONAL.
This book should have been categorized as fantasy, sci-fi or at least as paranormal romance, because only in those genres can you explain everything that goes on Mallory’s brain. There has to be supernatural elements at play here, otherwise I can’t find anything romantic in her (and his) insane, toxic and extremely dangerous ideals, or better yet, DELUSIONS OF LOVE. Oz is simply sick. He is a stoker, jealous, obsessive, compulsive, absorbing, insulating, possessive, manipulative and controlling to the highest levels, and much more. None of this is romantic or desirable, non of it is ok for a healthy relationship. None of this will function in real life, ONLY IN FANTASY. Thus, this book has to be a paranormal romance book, otherwise is just plane INSANITY.
Would you imagine what that man would do if Mallory ever wanted out of that toxic relationship? What life could she have? Would she have options? Would she have people to support here? Her entire world depends on him, from money and housing, to the people in her life. Outside of him, she has nothing and no one, no options, no choices. This is the epitome of dangerous, a prison without bars. This is ABUSE.
SHE HAS NO OPTIONS BUT HIM. Perhaps, the real explanation of what we are seeing here is a demonstration of our brain’s subconscious coping mechanisms disguised as romantic love. When Mallory finds out the truth about Oz, her brain goes into survival mode, seeing that she has no other option but him, it goes all in into STOCKHOLM SYNDROME on her. To love him is the only way to ensure her safety, and thus the delusion that this story is, began.
In my opinion, the types of topics, or fetiches (like stalking, bare sex or better yet, wanting to be impregnated by a man you have known for 5 minutes on your very first time) treated here are more suitable for a purely erotic and smut kind of short story, than an actually fully length romance book. In the former you can see it clearly as a fantasy to get off, in the latter it is just revolting. Or again, they are better suited for supernatural stuff.
The only reason I am not giving this book 1 star, is because despite all its issues, it is ENTERTAINING. It is also, however, UNFINISHED. You get a hint of a background plot outside of the “romantic” relationship, that is never really properly resolved, so at the end of the book you are left with a feeling of incompleteness. I am guessing it will continue in the next installments. And I confess, that I might be tempted to give the next one a try…life is cruel.
P.S.: Please, PLEASE! romance writers, STOP with the same old fashion tropes already: - Being someone’s entire world is not something good or desirable for anyone. It is something to change. We need more things and people in our lives. This doesn’t mean we love or are loved less. Instead, lets try building SUPPORT SYSTEMS so when something goes wrong in our lives, we still have other things to held us. In my opinion, it would be great to see this in a romance. - Jealousy, Possession and Controlling behavior are not good things. These are not a show of love. What they are is insecurity and doubt. It is fear. Love is trust. Love is wanting someones happiness and joy, it is trusting they can make their own decisions. It is being proud of someone, showing them off, not hiding them from the world, not covering them up so only you can see them, not keeping them from other people. Instead, lets try seeing more COMPERSION in people’s relationship. That, would be great to see in a romance. - Unprotected sex with virtual strangers because you know, loooove. I think this is self explanatory. It is great that the two main characters will end up together with their HEA. But that does not excuse unprotected sex between them when they just met, come on, some common sense and self preservation. Romance books are fiction, not fantasy, lets have some degree of feasibility in their relationship. - Obsessive love is not healthy. It keeps being romanticized even though we know very well the potentially devastating consequences of this kind of behavior. Being compelled and addicted to someone leads to being out of control, it leads to violence. It is not healthy. Lets try HARMONIOUS PASSION for a change in our romances, shall we?
Times have changed, society has evolved, we know better now. Let’s show a different kind of love, a healthy romantic love, or am I asking too much?...more
I couldn’t make myself finish this book for several reasons:
1 - After the first 30% or so, the book became out of Actual Rating: 1.5 stars.
DNF at 75%.
I couldn’t make myself finish this book for several reasons:
1 - After the first 30% or so, the book became out of this world boring. The story changed directions and suddenly stalled. There were long tedios bits of repeatedly meeting people with excessive amounts of unnecessary information given each time. Imposible to remember or care about. I can’t believe it wasn’t edited down. I lost interest.
2 - The female protagonist is insane. There is not an ounce of rational thinking or self-preservation in her choice making.
3 - There is way too much use of foreign language. Am I supposed to remember what everything means? Are you kidding me? No way. A little can be exotic and make things more interesting — when used well. This much however, was simply annoying.
On a more positive note, the cover is very interesting, I like it. I admit, it was what mainly attracted me to this book....more
DNF This is really bad. Listening to this book has been literally painful. This is all stereotypes after stereotypes. After 75% of the book I couldn’t DNF This is really bad. Listening to this book has been literally painful. This is all stereotypes after stereotypes. After 75% of the book I couldn’t take any more, I had to stop.
The romance is cliché, too ridiculous to stand and over the top silly and cheese. But my biggest problem is that it is superficial. We have here not only instant-attraction, but instant-love too. There are no evidenced justifications for the characters to fell in love, their love is based on fantasy and preset destiny, there was no way I could connect to that.
The portrayal of the teenager girls here is incredibly disrespectful and annoying. Their behavior is a one-sided caricature of vapid girls whose only care in the world is obsessing about boys. Their conversations are all painfully trivial, and their personalities have no complexities or deepness. There is much more to teenage girls than being obsessed with boys, like for example the very basic need of getting more independence and control over their lives and figuring out who they are. Reducing all those possibilities to chasing boys is constricting, unrealistic and demeaning. I would have never being able to relate to these characters as a 17 year old girl, now, as a woman, I find them offensive, and vexing.
The portrayal of the teenage boy's mentality is very toxic. Fane, a 17 year old boy sees Jacque as his possession. He feels entitled to her, to her body and what she can show of it. This is not what love looks like. He is also, often and from the very beginning, jealous. I have a big problem with that because here that jealousy is glamorized as a form of love. When in reality, jealousy has nothing to do with love, it is actually emotional insecurity when we feel that something we consider ours is being threaten, is the feeling that someone might try to take what is yours. It is not love and it is not the show of someone's love for you. It is anti-productive in any relationship and I am passionately opposed to making it look as something desirable. It comes from possessiveness and insecurity, not love. The foundation of any healthy and happy relationship is trust and respect. A person struggling with jealousy is unable to trust the person they are with or show respect for them as an individual or their boundaries. It does not mean that some loves you, not even close. Furthermore, Fane is said to be and Alpha and as such he is dominant and aggressive. Once again, here we have another writer that confuses aspects of the toxic-masculinity culture with being dominant. Well, the thing is that to be dominant does not mean you have to be aggressive. In fact, studies have shown that dominance sustained without aggressive behaviors is more stable than dominance formed on the basis of aggressive displays. One can establish dominance through many other methods like confidence, experienced, argumentation, respect, persuasion, age, etc., aggression is not necessary and this idea comes from the regressive idea of how a man should behave to be a real manly “man”. The funny thing is that despite Fane describing himself as aggressive, he never shows it (at least not on the part of the book I have read), it is all talk for the sake of this misguided toxic ideal.
Story-wise: Most of the conversations between the characters are absurd and everything that happens is cliché. Nevertheless, the biggest miss is that the conflict presented in the plot is driven by a weak and unreasonable motivation, which makes it not plausible enough to be relevant and sustainable.
The Audiobook: I have listen to several other audiobooks read by this narrator and generally, I like her. However, in this case, the voices that she makes for the teenager girls are very annoying, which only serves to make the girls even more aggravating that they already are. Jacque sounds like a brat most of the time, while Sally (Jacque’s friend) sounds like a 10 year old. But the worst is reserved for Jen (Jacque’s other friend) who sounds like a hag that smokes a thousand cigarettes a day, just HORRENDOUS.
To conclude I’ll just say that regarding romantic relationships between teenagers, I think this book is a terrible example, and could influence negatively and create unrealistic expectations on the minds of some impresionable teens that could lead to unhealthy relationships. Regarding everything else, this book is just plain bad, cheese and cliché. It is not worth reading, there are many other books out there about werewolves for young adults that are, go read those and stay away from this....more
I did like this book. I enjoyed the story in general. It is very long, yet I was never bored and I wanted to know more so I listen to the whole audiobI did like this book. I enjoyed the story in general. It is very long, yet I was never bored and I wanted to know more so I listen to the whole audiobook fairly quickly. I also liked the audiobook narration. My reason for not giving it more stars is that despite enjoying the plot and the story overall, there are somethings here that bothered me immensely and I found unacceptable. Here are some of the set of values shown in this book that are deeply troubling and unhealthy, specially towards women: sexism, weight-stigma, slut-shaming, fat-shaming, gender stereotyping, toxic masculinity, sexual objectification, Patriarchy.
Tate behavior is appalling (and so is Lauren’s). He has a few sweet moments but the rest of the time he is a big NO, NO. I like alpha-males, but he is controlling and domineering in an unhealthy and discriminatory way. His chauvinism and manipulations are all over the place and Lauren accepts it all readily. Tate, as a men, helds the power. He sets a division between himself and Lauren were the traditional gender roles are very clear. For example, she is not to touch anything that involves tools because that is a “man’s job”. Furthermore, Tate puts himself on the position of being in financial control in their relationship, despite the fact that she has a lot of money. He makes the decisions, not her. She doesn’t have the freedom of spending large amounts of money, she has to consult Tate before spending money on him and she is not to use her money. There is a clear doble standard here since he can buy her whatever he wants. Lauren again doesn’t see anything wrong with this and there in no questioning it. Tate treats Lauren as a possession he is entitled to. He interrupts her constantly and his needs and opinions always supersede hers, he tells her how things are and again, she just accept it. He also threatens her not to disobey him and she is ok with it. Here are some examples of this unhealthy behavior: (view spoiler)[ He buys her the car of his choosing without consulting her because he wants to get rid of the Lexus her ex bought her. She can only call her ex-boyfriend (and friend) from university if Tate listens to the conversation. He doesn’t call her in a month because he needs to concentrate and she distracts him so she has to deal. He renovates his own kitchen for her as her birthday present. She can't install venetian blinds because he won't allow her to use her own money and he can't afford them. (hide spoiler)] Tate is way out of line. Many of his traits are red flag regarding psychological abuse. Lauren is a nice person, but she is a doormat and sets women's rights back 100 years. It is also very difficult to believe that she used to work as a VP, she lets Tate manipulate, controlled and order her in every way and she never really imposes herself or takes charge. Also, there is a big lack of communication in their relationship that is based on his given governance over all and her subsequent submission. She doesnt't have to understand a situation (which is shockingly repeatedly difficult for her to achieve), she just have to obey him, is the implied message behind their relationship. I just can’t deal with all that patriarcal bullshit.
There is a great amount of dedication to physical appearance and it all indicates a weight bias mentality. This focus on the female body has an apparent good aspect in the book where Tate seems to show some body-confidence to Lauren. However, this is quickly undermined by the fact that she has actually lost a lot of weight and “even” her asshole ex-husband finds her hot again, and of course, lets not forget that at the beginning of the book, prior to that weight lose, she is called old and fat by Tate. So in actuality, the message sent here is that in order to be desirable you need to loose weight. Beside all this, there is more time dedicated to physical traits, shown often through male comments, as well as Lauren’s own thoughts regarding herself and other women specially. All this attention dedicated to the physical appearance is done in a way that can appear to be positive towards women bodies, but in really is saying the oposite. The general view here is very unhealthy and hurtful for people, specially for women. All that time spend on physical appearance could have being done in a body-positive way. Instead the focus here is on being hot, and attractive. There is even a moment of slut-shaming and fat-shaming when Lauren criticizes some women for what they are wearing and she specially focus in one of them that is overweight and showing a lot of skin calling it “wrong”. Which is a clear demonstration of weight discrimination, and THAT is what is WRONG.
As is expected after all that, there is obviously an over-objectification of women in this book. Even through the words of a 10 year old we can see that sexual objectification of women, which really puts me off. The kid calls Lauren a “Milf” repeatedly, and this is taken as something good by all the characters involved, which are a lot. This doesn’t come from a biker at the bar, it comes from a 10 year old boy, and Tate seems proud about it. A 10 year old already! Unbelievable. I see serios red flags in the education of this child coming from many directions. Possible future trama involving all the male toxicity coming from Tate and seeing women as sexual possessions who make him food. Also, I need to add that as characters development goes, the kid is badly portrait, he sounds and feels older, so he is not plausible as a 10 year old. It also seem very much like fantasy that he hasn't being influenced negatively by his alcoholic and selfish mother and stepdad, whom he lives with, and instead he is all his father, who he sees very little. The magic of the God Tate has no limits.
These are the sets of values we get here. Very hurtful to women and sad for the outlook of the future.
Colorado Mountain Series: Book 1: The Gamble - 4 stars. Book 2: Sweet Dreams - 2 stars. Book 3: Lady Luck - 2 stars. Book 4:Breath - 2 stars. Book 5: Jagged - 3 stars....more
I have no idea how to rate this book. Do I hate it, or do I love it. What I know for sure is that it didn't leave me indifferent. I am hesitating betwI have no idea how to rate this book. Do I hate it, or do I love it. What I know for sure is that it didn't leave me indifferent. I am hesitating between giving it 1 star or 4 stars, it is so confusing...
This is a very slow story, specially the first half. I was a little bored and almost quit it, but I continued, and towards the last 20% percent or so it started to get more intense and emotional, which I always love to feel. Basically, almost the entire book is a build up. Nothing really happened and yet the whole thing was overly dramatic. I could say I only actually enjoyed a small part of the book, although it was an intense part. It ended leaving me full of feelings, that is for sure. That end...I don't know. I feel anger and understanding. I think I hate it, but I also believe the book would have been weaker and more mediocre without that end, so, although it angers me, I think it needs it.
Audiobook: The way the audiobook is narrated gives you an underlying sense of tragedy. It is kind of preparing you (from the very moment you start listening) for the end. I wound't know if this is a good thing or a bad one.
P.S.: I truly dislike the cover. I would have never picked this book up if it wasn't because of several recommendations. The cover puts me off completely....more
I really liked this book, I think is one of the best of the series so far, for me. I had so much fun reading the story of these two, there was so muchI really liked this book, I think is one of the best of the series so far, for me. I had so much fun reading the story of these two, there was so much tension between them, that I couldn't help being hooked in their adventurous drama. I do admit that here, I had to consciously heavily apply willing suspension of disbelieve, otherwise my logic wouldn't have let me believe the driving obstacle between the couple and I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the story. Luckily, I was able to put my critical thinking aside for a bit and enjoy this romance.
I see how this book can be liked by so many people. However, for me it wasn’t there. The whole thing was too silly and irrationActual Rating 2.5 stars
I see how this book can be liked by so many people. However, for me it wasn’t there. The whole thing was too silly and irrational for my taste.
Olivia’s struggles were ridiculous. She was fighting something with reasons that had no fundaments and were illogical. She had no idea of anything and refused to inform herself on anything but she felt justified on her behavior. Since her reasoning lacked sense, I couldn’t care much for her or what was happening to her. She became annoying and absurd to me so, the whole time I had a feeling of randomness and thus, of pointlessness.
Baird has an incredible lack of character development. The whole book is filled with general and unimportant details and yet we get no depth on what actually matters, the main characters. I have no problem with all that extra information because it makes the world a bit richer, but is worthless with empty characters.
The conflict at the end seems like an afterthought. Not well though or develop at all, just put there as a completely random breaking point so Olivia could have a radical change of mind. Just absurd.
The romance was not romantic, meaningful or justified. It is an instant-love situation that has no explanation. He loves her just because she is her mate even though he doesn’t really know her (the shared dreaming is not enough), and she suddenly realizes she loves him, but I don’t know why or how that happened. So the romance was also a fail for me.
Then, I have to say that I found the sex scenes very mediocre, so...
The parts I enjoyed the most were the world building aspects, and although it seems promising for future installments of this series , it is not enough to sustain this book. Since I didn’t care much for the characters and their story, the book ended up being too long for me and yet, almost empty.
To conclude, I’ll admit that I am curious about the Twins situation. I might read another installment with Twin Kindreds as main characters.
I do like the premise and idea of the book, however I have problems with the execution of it all. I liked the romance just fine, but I think 3.5 stars
I do like the premise and idea of the book, however I have problems with the execution of it all. I liked the romance just fine, but I think that the story could have worked just the same with a longer period of time for things to transpire in. Which would have made the love story more plausible to me, rather than having everything happening in only three days. Such short insta-love situation don't work as well as it used to a few years back. People are evolving, mentalities are changing, so why are romance books still stuck on the past? The action parts were too long or unnecessary detailed and not engaging enough for me. The plot could have been more developed and tense, more exiting and intriguing. It definitely had the potencial to be those things. However, the way it is, feels weak, basic, amateurish and vague. I expected more from J.R. Ward. Also, I don't get why Peter the pretrans' age was never given, is he a child, a teenager, an adult man? It was unnecessarily confusing to me. Rhage's side of things was also a bit disappointing. I do like Rhage as a character, and the scene with his daughter was beautiful, however some parts of his POV in the past were pointless and uninteresting. What's more, I miss the other characters in the series. I feel like we have had enough of Rhage, Vicious, Wrath and specially Butch for a while now, it is time to let other characters have some prominence. Overall, I think the book could have been way more interesting than it actually is.
I have to add that the story is very reminiscent to the short story Prisoner of Night (BDB, #16.5), specially some scenes towards the end. Also, the character Janelle has similarities with female charaters in Rehvenge's and Zhadist's books. I would say that lately, there is a lack of originality in the last few books of the BDB world.
I do love this series, but I miss what it was or what it could be.
The (view spoiler)[end of the war was very disappointing anActual Rating: 3.5 stars.
I do love this series, but I miss what it was or what it could be.
The (view spoiler)[end of the war was very disappointing and anticlimactic. After so many books, I can't believe it ended (hide spoiler)] so lamely. I am shocked and underwhelmed.
Very little romance time. I liked both main characters, Jo and Syn, but their relationship was kind of instant-love like and underdeveloped. Syn's change was unwarranted, or at least not deep or substantiated enough. His backstory had potencial (although it felt a bit too reminiscent of past characters), but in the end his trauma was basically pointless regarding its effect on how their romantic relationship "evolved". Syn's character had previously hinted to darkness to come, perhaps more so than past characters' dark arcs, however that promised was left unfulfilled here, which to me, is a failure. More so since it was put together with Jo, a character that has appear several times in previos books, and as such, had unavoidable expectations build up for her future story. After so many books waiting to see what's her deal, we finally get her story, her own book, and yet Jo's arc tuns out being very plane and unremarkable, more like a line really, no arch whatsoever. In my opinion, as characters in the series go, she is going to be diluted in the whole, just like some other female characters that had no real oomph or notability had been. Also, since the time she was introduced many books back, I had trouble understanding the BDB general behavior towards her in comparison to how John's similar situation was handled (or even Butch's and Manello's). It seems not coherent to me, if not discriminatory. Overall, the love story was nice enough but very superficial, brief and tame. Definitely, not enough time was put on the romance or main characters development, which was very disappointing.
Too many descriptions and other people's POVs. I liked V's and Butch's relationship bits, but Butch's screen-time took up way too much of the story, more than the main characters and romance, and after the last few books with so much Butch (I am including the BD Legacy series too), it has gotten tiresome. There are so many other characters in this universe that I miss and would love to hear more of, yet we seem to be circulating between the same few ones over and over again.
The Lesser's POV was pointless and boring. I get that it was the last ever, but the meat in it was not good or interesting enough to justify his prominence in the story, it was like an annoying filler to me, I admit I ended up skipping some of it. As good-byes go, it was a lackluster.
I never liked the Fallen Angel series, so I am worried about how this new Devina tie-in is going to work for the BDB series. Specially after seeing how she has being portrait in this book. I admit, in previos installments, as an entity within a magical dark book, she was really mysterious, intriguing and potentially exciting. Now, she feels unremarkable as the new main antagonist in the series. Lets hope it recovers some forcefulness in the future.
I am exited about the "wolven" word being thrown in there. Are we going to get a new series with werewolf in this universe at some point? Yes, please!
Overall, this book didn't quite work for me as a whole, however I am still a fan of this series, I do enjoy reading about the BDB characters, so I will continue to look forward to every new installment that comes out, only with less enthusiasm than before.
P.S: This series has to be read in order.
BDB #1: Dark Lover - 4.5 stars BDB #2: Lover Eternal - 4 stars BDB #3: Lover Awakened - 5 stars BDB #4: Lover Revealed - 4 stars BDB #5: Lover Unbound - 4 stars BDB #6: Lover Enshrined - 4 stars BDB #6.5: Father Mine - 3 stars BDB #7: Lover Avenged - 4 stars BDB #8: Lover Mine - 5 stars BDB #9: Lover Unleashed - 3 stars BDB #10: Lover Reborn - 4 stars BDB #11: Lover at Last - 5 stars BDB #12: The King - 3 stars BDB #13: The Shadows - 4.5 stars BDB #14: The Beast - 4.5 stars BDB #15: The Chosen - 4 stars BDB #15.5: Dearest Ivie - 2 stars BDB #16: The Thief - 3 stars. BDB #16.5: Prisoner of Night - 3 stars BDB #17: The Savior - 4 stars BDB #17.5: Where Winter Finds You - 3 stars BDB #18: The Sinner - 3.5 stars BDB #18.5: A Warm Heart in Winter - 3 Stars BDB #19: Lover Unveiled - 2 Stars
A GUIDE FOR ABUSE, SEXISM AND TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS.
These books romanticize an abusive relationship, which horrifies me. It is basically a step by stepA GUIDE FOR ABUSE, SEXISM AND TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS.
These books romanticize an abusive relationship, which horrifies me. It is basically a step by step manual to emotional abuse and toxic behavior.
Here are some of the most common sings to identify an abusive relationship, according to experts: Whirlwind Romance Control/Dominance Rage Episodes Isolating you from friends and family. Extreme and Unreasonable Jealousy Refusing to communicate. Withdrawal of affection. Double Standards Idealization/Devaluation Lack of Accountability Verbal Abuse Humiliating or embarrassing you. Ignoring or excluding you. Emotional Blackmail Extreme moodiness. Financial control.
This “romance” covers EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. of them. The male character in this series, Harden, exhibits all of them, repeatedly, towards Tessa. It horrifies me that this can pass as a romantic book. I worry about every single person that might be influenced by this and think it is ok, romantic or even desirable. The relationship between these characters is an unacceptable one, and it should only be an example of HOW NOT TO be, WHAT NOT TO do.
A GUIDE FOR ABUSE, SEXISM AND TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS.
These books romanticize an abusive relationship, which horrifies me. It is basically a step by stepA GUIDE FOR ABUSE, SEXISM AND TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS.
These books romanticize an abusive relationship, which horrifies me. It is basically a step by step manual to emotional abuse and toxic behavior.
Here are some of the most common sings to identify an abusive relationship, according to experts: Whirlwind Romance Control/Dominance Rage Episodes Isolating you from friends and family. Extreme and Unreasonable Jealousy Refusing to communicate. Withdrawal of affection. Double Standards Idealization/Devaluation Lack of Accountability Verbal Abuse Humiliating or embarrassing you. Ignoring or excluding you. Emotional Blackmail Extreme moodiness. Financial control.
This “romance” covers EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. of them. The male character in this series, Harden, exhibits all of them, repeatedly, towards Tessa. It horrifies me that this can pass as a romantic book. I worry about every single person that might be influenced by this and think it is ok, romantic or even desirable. The relationship between this characters is an unacceptable one, and it should only be an example of HOW NOT TO be, WHAT NOT TO do.
I can honestly say I quite enjoyed this story. It is OTT right from the very second but I didn’t mind it. It was fun.
The one thing that I couldn’t stI can honestly say I quite enjoyed this story. It is OTT right from the very second but I didn’t mind it. It was fun.
The one thing that I couldn’t stand was the daddy/daughter dynamic, it went way too far out my comfort zone. I expected some of it since I have seen it before with this two authors, and I was prepared to ignore it as much as I could and don’t think about it so I wouldn’t be too disgusted, but this time was almost impossible to ignore because after a while, it was there all the time. It grosses me out, but if you can put it aside like I mostly do when I read this kind of books — this is fantasy after all — then you might enjoy this story and have fun, just be prepared to roll your eyes a thousand times along the way.
P.S.: There is no way (view spoiler)[ a 34 year old man can be confused with an 18 years old’s dad (hide spoiler)]. That scene was too much of a reach in my opinion....more
I quite enjoyed the fist half of the story, it was sweet and a little bit angst ridden, just what I like. But from chapter 8 oActual rating: 3.5 stars
I quite enjoyed the fist half of the story, it was sweet and a little bit angst ridden, just what I like. But from chapter 8 or so forwards things changed drastically and the story jumped into over the top territory fast. I knew it was going to happen eventually, in fact, that was what I though I would find right from the get go. However, up to that point, until the 55% or so, the story had shockingly developed in a very believable and tentative way. That is why the jump into OTT was too abrupt for me, thus, I would have preferred a smoother transition. From then on, what happened was more or less what you would expect of this kind of book. All the characters (not just the protagonist) actions switched into ridiculous mode. I guess that ridiculousness and lavishness is part of the appeal of this kind of story, but I just wish it could have been done with a less preposterous approach, maybe that way I would have connected more to it. Or maybe the problem is that my believes and principles are so separate from what is portrayed here that it is hard for me to enjoy it as much, even though I take it as complete and utter fantasy .
I admit that I feel guilty giving this book such a high rating. This book represents many ideas I consider unhealthy, but again, I knew I would find that here before picking it up, and I was willing to put it aside, to let it go so that I could enjoy the smutty and kinky aspects of the story, which ultimately, was precisely what I came looking for in here. I did find what I primordially came looking for, and for that I am staying firm in my rating. Nevertheless, I do feel like I need to add that the attitudes and behaviors depicted here are based on tradicional stereotypes of sexual roles, thus it discriminates women as well as it perpetuates toxic masculinity. Hence, personally, I do feel aggrieved by it.
P.S.: If anyone knows of any book or story where I can find this silly smutty and kinky content but with forward thinking ideals regarding gender and relationships, please, PLEASE recommend them to me, I would love to read them....more
I enjoyed this book quite a lot, specially because of what it made me feel and think. Thrillers are not the kind of genre I usually readWow, just wow.
I enjoyed this book quite a lot, specially because of what it made me feel and think. Thrillers are not the kind of genre I usually read, so for a while I was sceptic I would be interesting in the story. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was, big time. The narration style is everything here. The way this story is told, the first person narration, being in Joe's mind, knowing his thoughts and wit, the way he sees the world and the people in it, that is what this is all about, is what makes the book.
THIS IS SOPHISM AT ITS FINEST.
I don’t want to give much away, but to give you some context, this is a story about a guy, Joe, that is obsessed with a girl, Beck. This is not a love story, this is a story about that obsession. Joe made me laugh, made me sympathize with him, made me not despise him as much as I should. Since we are seeing everything through Joe's eyes, we are already in a position that situates us with him, so that makes you want to sort of root for him although you know you shouldn't. Another reason you might find yourself at times cheering him on, or wanting him to not be caught, is just plain morbid fascination, this disturbing interest humans have for things that are “bad”, just like when there is an accident on the road and some people find themselves wanting to see the state of the people that got hurt, the blood, the glass, the chaos. Morbid Curiosity. Then, there is the fact that the more we know about Beck, the less we like her. Little by little we find out more things about her, her personality, her character, traits that are not usually seen with good eyes by society, (although many people might actually be more or less like that) or are unlikable. So, we start to loose sympathy for Beck, we start to not like her, and all the time, our complicity with Joe rises the more we are with him, and we are, all the time, his path is our path. But Beck, the innocent, the one who can not be fault by Joe's twisted machinations, starts to appear more and more unlikable, which can make us not care as much about her wellbeing as we should. And this not only happens with Beck, it also happens with all the other characters surrounding this story, surrounding Beck. They all appear as not likable or not good people. We loose sympathy for the victim while we have it for the perpetrator. As a result, your thoughts and feelings are all a mess, this book tricks us. It is hard to remember that the reason we see those characters that way, is because Joe sees them that way. It is not how we feel about them, is how he does and what he is making us believe. But we get immerse in the story and forget ourselves, because our eyes are Joe’s. Everything in the book is taking you in a direction, a direction that goes against our minds and believes, and you find yourself having to fight against that current the book has taken you into. Some succeed, some let themselves go with Joe, maybe some both at the same time. I want to believe I succeed in the end, but I confess that at the beginning, morbid curiosity was riding my wagon, it was what kept me interested in the story, in Joe. So as I said, Sophism at its best.
I highly recommend to get this book in audiobook. Santino Fontana does an excellent job as Joe, and I don’t think that actually reading could have been a better experience. Listening to Joe out loud was part of what made the narration so great. So, get the audiobook!
Although this book works perfectly as a stand alone, I can't wait to start the next installment.
Now, just look how funny this is: “In my defense, I love the book in a postmodern kind of way where I've always sensed that it contains something that I relate to. I think it's the kind of book that echoes my beliefs and my sentiments and I've always related well to people who have read the book and I've written about the book. You know, I majored in comp lit and it's possible, it's very possible to read a book without reading it in the traditional straightforward manner. You can read about a book, Joe. Do you know what I mean? Do you understand?” ― Caroline Kepnes, You...more
I cannot say I enjoyed this story. It bored me, which I found shocking since this author has always kept me entertained before. Moreover, this book haI cannot say I enjoyed this story. It bored me, which I found shocking since this author has always kept me entertained before. Moreover, this book had the opportunity (through the library storyline) for the author to take risks and talk about things that actually matter, instead, she chose the safe and conservative rout, which I found very disappointing and unexciting, as well as plane ridiculous (banning Harry Potter, seriously, what an absurdity).
I'll just add, so you are aware of what you are getting into, that as expected with Kristen Ashley, the characters and storylines found here perpetuate and reinforce gender roles mentality, which I personally don't support. I'll also clarify that in this instance, my rating is not affected by this disparity, since I already knew before stating to read this book that my morals and the author's do not align.
Colorado Mountain Series: Book 1: The Gamble - 4 stars. Book 2: Sweet Dreams - 2 stars. Book 3: Lady Luck - 2 stars. Book 4: Breath - 2 stars. Book 5: Jagged - 3 stars....more
I can see the appeal for this story. I can see why so many people loved this book. But I didn't feel it.
This book has many difActual rating: 2.5 stars
I can see the appeal for this story. I can see why so many people loved this book. But I didn't feel it.
This book has many different characters perspectives being told. We have the two main characters from whom we get the romance (Rain and Valerius), we have another main-ish character that seems to be an important one (Sophia), and then we have many others. Sometimes, I can find this technique interesting and productive, like I do with the Black Dagger Brotherhood books. However in this case, I found this way of narrating to be very distracting, and it prevented me from being able to get attached to the story and its characters. I felt some lack of interest towards most of these secondary character, specially due to the fact that I didn't feel connected to them. Maybe these characters weren't powerful enough to keep me intrigued, or maybe their presentation weren't developed enough so it made me see them from a distant; but over all, I wasn't into them, I wasn't connected to them or what was happening to and around them. Another reason might be because with the exception of one character, the rest of their POVs where told in 3rd person omniscient, and I might have felt more involved if their points of view had also been told in first person like Shopia's. Furthermore, it took me a while to get into the two main characters’ love story. I believe that the main reason was that we start the book with Shopia's 1st person POV to then change to the main characters 3rd person and then to the secondary characters'. Thus, at the beginning I though I was reading Sophia’s story, I was ready to get invested in her to immediately having the story change towards Valerius and Rain, so my main focus of interest had to change, and right when I was getting into this new main characters, we are cut to get other characters POV, and thus my focus got changed again before getting immerse into any of them or their stories.
The world this book revolves in is not really made clear. We get information without really being explained. So we have to form our own ideas of how it relates. I suppose that this world will become more rounded and justified as we keep reading the next installments, but as it is right now, it leaves me with too many questions since I get a little frustrated at not knowing how it all works and I want to make sense of it.
The sex. I read a few reviews from friends and most of them say that the sex scenes are very hot. I get that, I really do. Unfortunately, it is not so for me. I am pretty sure that the reason why it isn't that hot for me is because of my personal preferences and not because any fault of the narration. I like alpha and dominant men, take charge kind of personalities, specially sexually speaking. Valerius, on the other hand, is a sexually submissive kind of guy, basically the opposite of what I find sexy or attractive. Perhaps, here is another reason why this book failed to engage me.
Anyways, to summarize, and as I said before, I found this book distracting.
P.S.: I am interested to know more about Sophia. Maybe it is so because we get her in first person, or maybe because I want to read about a threesome....more
Actual rating: 2.5 stars It's ok, I kind of liked it.
It is definitely a very sweet and cute book. However, it is not exactly the kind of romance I wantActual rating: 2.5 stars It's ok, I kind of liked it.
It is definitely a very sweet and cute book. However, it is not exactly the kind of romance I want to read.
The first 50% of the book is mostly detail after detail about the 2 protagonists' lives, about their families, them being teachers at their high-school, about their students, futbol practice, theatre classes, and such. Personally, that is not the kind of story I am looking for. I wanted more about their relationship, their romance. There is basically non of that until maybe the las 25% of the book. There is no getting in love first part, because the characters are already in love from the past, and what they do is rekindle that love. I really like to read about the falling in love part, but I didn’t get to here. The same with emotional conflicts. Not until that last part, do we get any emotional aspects, ant it is not really related to their actual romance and relationship, but to other aspects of their lives, except for a short conversation that we get about their past and that is in no way sufficient enough. There is no angst or drama, and I am a deep level emotional junkie, so I couldn’t get my fix in this book.
Because of all of the above, I can't say this is my kind of novel, and thus I wound't really recommend it. I struggled with the first half of the book and I almost DNF it. All through that first 50% of the story there was too much information I wasn't interested in.
Then there is the resolution. The book ends with a very textbook, sweet HEA. The whole book is very ideal, the characters are very nice people, their love is very smooth, the guy is super sweet and perfect, and the end is idilic. It is all very cute.
I think many readers would find this story comforting, light and sweet. Personally, I need my darkness and juicy bits to fully be satisfied with a book. This was way too seemly for me.
P.S: I don’t think the cover fits this story or genre. It is way off....more
Penny Well Reads
>
Books:
likereviews
(77)
Loading...
