This was one of the most in comprehensive, narrative-weak, hypocritical and inconsistent character development I had ever read. I hated EVERY single cThis was one of the most in comprehensive, narrative-weak, hypocritical and inconsistent character development I had ever read. I hated EVERY single character in this book, including the cameos from the parents.
Plot, Writing, Structure Everything was so consistently weak. The structure of the book was strung together by thoughts and prayers. The “plot� for this book was just random scenes next to one another, and a half-assed attempt at giving a plot by using Creighton’s background story. It was also a lot of telling, not showing, and the glimpses of character development are told in the passing rather than experienced. Tonally, it was just bizarre. You got heirs to mafia empires paired with aristocrats who believed they were God’s gift to humanity and it didn’t work. Fine, you could had paired them together in a setting, but it just went and became more ridiculous as the story progressed. It went to these rival schools � Royal Elites University and King’s U � who were against each other and all they did was set fires to their base and fight in an underground fight club. Are you serious? Then, then, to make it more ridiculous, you got the Elites kidnapping Nikolai to satisfy some half-baked revenge. Throughout the story, you were told these characters are intelligent, cunning, clever, manipulative, power, but they come up with the same ideas I could had came up with in middle school. I didn’t trust the narrative (RK’s writing) about whether a character was smart or not, or a specific character trait or not. I wanted it shown—and none of it was shown. When Annika shot Creighton and then everyone was threatening everyone, it felt ridiculous to pair a powerful and violent Adrian Volkov—a mafia man—against Adrian King—British royalty—against one another and made it seem like they were on equal playing fields. They were not. Then, when Annika got kidnapped on the island as a last-minute attempt to mend Creighton and Annika’s relationship, I was up in arms. I was checking the page lengths for each character because I truly had enough. Everything was so half-assed, barely edited, barely checked for plot holes, that I couldn’t handle it. Yes, RK had done this before with her previous stories but it felt so much more noticeable here. I saw that she published the entire LOG series in a month of release of each other? Yeah� I noticed. Also, lastly, too much fucking social media mentioned. I already had to deal with my share of social media nowadays, I didn’t need to relived that in my fictional stories too.
Side Characters I hated everyone. I genuinely did. Mostly, I hated the girl groups and how they abandoned Annika after she shot Creighton. It truly felt that Annika had no one and her friendships were conditional. They all dropped her. You could argue that she shot their family and childhood friend, but I could argue back that he put her in that position. He kidnapped her brother, had a knife to his throat, planned on killing Jeremy (mind you, that was his entire thought process) and when Annika shot Creighton to protect Jeremy, everyone rioted? And conveniently left out the part that Jeremy was held hostage? That Creighton was the one who started this whole problem? He got a slap on the wrist while Annika was fully ostracized. It was truly telling of how RK treated her women and how it felt so ridiculous because rich kids truly got to escape everything but god forbid you protect your family. Also, it showed her that she didn’t have any true friends. If Creighton and Annika were to ever break up, they would choose his side, regardless of fault. Annika was in a socially abusive environment where she had no support system. If it wasn’t for her brother, she would have no one.
But specific characters had pissed me off was Ava, Cecily, Aiden, Lia and Jeremy (and Killian). I hated everyone but these people really made the list. Let me explain:
* Ava’s consistent use of “bitch� as a greeting was annoying. All she talked about was shopping and partying. When Creighton was shot, she slapped Annika without letting her talk. Afterwards, as a half-assed mentioned, Ava cried when she got drunk and said she missed Annika.
* Cecily was also just� flat. She didn’t have any big issues, but when she just left Annika and then drew her away so Creighton could kidnapped her? Truly no loyalty in friendship. In fact, none of the GIRL friend groups were. It was only the men who could claim loyalty.
* Aiden—this white man pissed me off. He treated his wife like she was delicate and fragile, he told Annika to stay away from his son, even told her father to stay away, but encouraged Creighton to go after Annika? It wasn’t even inconsistency, it was blatant entitlement. And I hated it. He refused to look at situations outside of his own experiences and only advocated for things that would benefit him and by extension his family. Everyone else be damned.
* Lia, Miss Girl. WHAT DO YOU MEAN LET YOUR ONLY DAUGHTER, THE MAFIA PRINCESS, WALK AROUND THE STREETS OF NYC WITHOUT PROTECTION? JUST TO SEE HER FRIENDS? You knew damn well it was only so Creighton could kidnap her. It was oddly in character for Lia (she wanted her own freedom in her own series), but plainly stupid. Lastly, she forbid Annika from seeing Creighton pre-shooting and kidnapping, and post- she accepted him into the family. What? What?
* Lastly, Jeremy. I respected him for standing up to Annika even against his LI, but I was sick of him making decisions for her and then at the end, being like, “Oh, it’s time for her to make her own decisions, Dad.� WHERE WERE YOU THIS ENTIRE TIME? Also, the narrative kept pushing that Jeremy was this highly calculative, intelligent and observant character when that wasn’t true. Just because the narrative said it didn’t mean that it was true? Nikolai kept pointing out that Jeremy knew about Annika and Creighton before they got caught at the grocery store, and kept tabs on them, but why didn’t he do anything? It was flimsy explained, but he reacted and snatched Annika away at the grocery store like it was his first-time discovery. DPMO. Let characters have misguiding and wrong foresight. You didn’t need to explain every gap in their understanding. Sometimes, you missed things and that was fine.
* Actually, I just remembered something, I also hate Killian. His entire personality in this book was about his girlfriend, and whenever he saw Annika, to glare at her because she made his girlfriend cry. BFFR. Get a life!
Main Characters Annika acted like a teenager. She was seventeen, and she truly was her age. She also kept pointing it out to the narrative but, just because you knew you were “illogical and emotional� did not make you more pleasurable to read. Sometimes, it was a slob to get through her story.
She was simply narrative weak and bent to the will of the plot. We got told that Annika was intelligent—that was how she got into college early—but her actions disproved that statement. Every choice she made was weak-willed and ill-advised. On the island, she was told not to go into the beach to swim away, and she did that and almost drowned. Then, we got told that she was a sharpshooter and “never missed� but she was in the room with Creighton, she shot at point-blank range and missed. She was like “I wanted to miss,� no, you actually missed. If you had done it right, we would not have a plot right now nor would Creighton be alive. And, her entire character was wrapped around loving purple. It was her entire thing. She was purple, Ava was pink. It went on too long.
Lastly, she was so hypocritical. When she was initially kidnapped on the island, she wanted to escape. Then, she fell into the domesticated spell of being with Creighton alone, then she jumped back to being upset about being trapped on the island without her family. RK just MADE her feel whatever was necessary to move the plot. It was never consistently written.
This didn’t ever cover when she threatened the kill herself. She shot Creighton, but her internal monologue was saying how she wouldn’t have done it again and she would’ve shot herself instead. Also at the hospital, she begged him to wake up, and if he did, she would let him kill her. This was not an exaggeration of the moment, she verbatim said: ““I’m sorry…so sorry� Please wake up� If you do…if you do, I don’t mind if you kill me. I’m so sorry, Creigh…so sorry.� Why would you let a man do that to you? When it got to the arc where her father found her on the island, and threatened to kill Creighton, she took a gun and put it to her head and threatened to kill herself so that she didn’t live in a world where her man hated her family. I was just so sick of female characters being reduced to losing their autonomy as a source of power. Like that was the only leverage they had over the entire conversation.
Creighton? I had no thoughts for this man. I thought he was mediocre. He was not anything new from the mold that RK often write her stories from. He was angry, he was possessive, obsessive, and he really liked anal. He had a spider tattoo, but that was the only thing I remember about him. And he loved to sleep and fight. I understood his motive when he wanted revenge not for his parents, but for himself, but the way he went about it was so childish, and he refused to accept responsibility on the fact that he dug this hole for himself and losing his girlfriend in the process.
Romance I won’t even touch the fact that Annika was 17, and Creighton was 20. It wasn’t treated as a priority in the story and that didn’t make it right, but I just simply didn’t have the capacity to talk about that.
I loved some aspects of the story, especially in the beginning, I did enjoy them as a couple and how they navigated that space and tried to make it their own. They would plan dates, they would talk to each other. It was also this thing thematically about rain that I liked. But when he found out about his birth parents, and her parents didn’t let her be with him, it went down the hill from there. It was especially ridiculous for Annika because she was freshly 18. She was so convinced that this man was the love of her life, her soulmate, that she was willing to die for this man. And I knew the story was dark romance, and it wasn’t meant to represent a healthy or aspirational relationship that people wanted, but I still left a bad taste in my mouth because of the fact that she was 18 and he was 20 and she was so convinced that she would die without him. Girlypop, you should be at the club. You should had more respect for yourself. The fact that she didn’t frustrated me. but I digress. I thought their relationship was very similar to Adrian and Lia’s relationship. The whole masochist to sadist thing, that was a direct line from this book, but also from her parents� book. RK was just recycling her own plots.
Conclusion I didn’t like the pairing. I didn’t like how the story paired Annika and Creighton. I didn’t like that she was a mafia princess paired with just a rich boy. There was so much potential there. I read another review where they had hoped Annika’s story was about him, kidnapping her from her marriage and that would’ve been a great plot. I think RK was so focused on tying Creighton’s backstory back to her parents� story, that we ended up with this trash. I think Annika should’ve had a bodyguard romance, or forbidden romance, where it was her childhood crush, and suddenly she was put in an arranged marriage. This arranged marriage idea was dangled over her head the entire time of this book, but it never went off. It was a Chekov’s gun that never fulfilled its destiny. and the ironic thing was that was Russian too.
10% Annika talks about acting older, but she acts like a high schooler. * “Annika: OMT! Did you actually reply? Say the secret words or I’m reporting you for kidnapping Creighton.�
19% Creighton fucking Annika when she’s 17? Creighton thinking he owns Annika when he’s been pushing her away? He has a good backstory to explore, but the exploration feels off. Also, why do all the girls call each other bitches so often? Why do they act like millennial white girls? Why is Remington corny with the way he keeps pushing that “lordship� energy? And the commentaries about big dick energy and the TikTok slang?
24% I fuck with the fact HEAVY that Annika went searching for Jeremy during the fire. Yes, the Volkov siblings, let’s go!!!!
50% I’m liking Annika and Creighton, I guess. Ava is lowkey annoying with calling everyone a “bitch,� and not even because I don’t like the word, but because it comes off so unnatural in the story. Glyndon is barely mentioned and if she is, she’s always mentioned being off with Killian. Remi is overdramatic and theatrical, and I understand why RK refuses to write him. Not because he’s dramatic, but because he is used as a comedic relief character and she doesn’t know how to write men outside of the brooding, mysterious and silent type.
55% Annika saying she’ll pick and choose Creighton reminds me of Ariel from The Little Mermaid. This relationship cannot be that serious.
57% Why is RK making Adrian and Lia sooooo unlikeable in this book?
60% “Nikolai was kidnapped and the kidnapper is asking for me.� What?? Is anyone going to class?
70% This is the most ridiculous plot I’ve ever read and I read SHITTY stories. You’re telling me that everyone is worried about Creighton but not Annika? Everyone is on her ass for shooting Creighton when he got himself in that position? Annika is going into a depressive spiral? My one ire with this story is how the tone and atmosphere does not feel cohesive. You have a college setting, with college students dialogues, and mafia princes and princesses and aristocrats. Okay, that’s a tough line to navigate but feasible. Then, you got Heathens and Elites and rivalry against each other for FIGHTS. Okay, fine, whatever. You got people threatening each other and KIDNAPPING, but your one issue is that there’s a murder? That Annika shot Creighton for her brother? Really. ...more
Look, I had fun. Was it the pinnacle of literatu3.5 Stars �
“I’m keeping you,�
“You always had me, Rook. Always.�
It’s so silly. Everything is so silly.
Look, I had fun. Was it the pinnacle of literature? Absolutely not. Was I nauseated and rolling my eyes at the religious metaphors about Lucifer and Lilith? Yes. Were there inconsistencies and typos? Hell yes. But I had fun and I would read again.
Starting off, let’s do a quick rundown of the negatives. There were so many typos and grammatical errors. The atmosphere and the tone were consistently inconsistent (how do you have a scene about wanting to avenge your dead sister and the next be about playing Capture the Flag?) and there were so many unnecessary quotes, moments and metaphors that I’ve complained about before. This was just the writing of Monty Jay, I didn’t think that was going to change and it was unfair for me to hold it against them—especially if I said I was going to continue the series. So, I’m not—I rated it based on everything else. But, I gotta tell y’all. The metaphors were so over the top. The narrative was omnipotent—how would Sage know that Rosemary would want Silas to move on and find love again? How do these people keep coming up with the same assumptions? It was lazy writing, but, I understood this was part of the writer’s style.
Doesn’t mean I won’t call it out, though.
Regardless, it was a fun time. I kept going back to their story, I kept reading on. That accounted for something.
First thing first, I liked Sage. I absolutely adored her. She was refreshing from Briar in so many ways—she was multifaceted, she had her own goals and ambitions and you could see a clearer picture of her motives and morales. I loved the scene where she was being a mean girl, I loved the scene where she hit Rook back. I also loved when she was with Silas� brothers and she was kinder and soft with them. There were different layers to Sage, which I appreciated. She wasn’t just a mean girl—she was insecure, she cried, she was kind, and she had grief. I appreciated that.
Secondly, I enjoyed Rook. Again, breath of fresh air compared to Alistair. He was full of whimsical metaphors and preached about wanting to remove the poison from his veins (Sage) which was overdramatic, but still. I liked his character. He was emotional, and he kept consistent with that trait. He was also downbad for Sage, which I liked. The way he was protective of Silas and his friends was prominent in his narration but purposeful. I didn’t necessarily understand why he kept everything in his head so much, especially about taking the blame for everything and faulting himself for Silas, but at least it was consistent in his storytelling.
But what I truly enjoyed was their romance. You got to experience two sides of their stories—the one before, then the one after. Admittedly, their initial relationship was a fast burn. Sage got sprung on about her engagement to Easton and she wanted to escape—finding solace in Rook. It went on from there. It was a physical but as emotional relationship. I believed this is what lacked in Alistair and Briar’s story—their intimacy. Rook was caught up in Sage’s truths and he demanded it, but it opened up a side of her that allowed her to trust him. Otherwise, they would’ve stayed away. However, I thought their high school relationship was too short. I understood it was for the length of the story, but 13 chapters was not enough for the payoff. When Sage told Rook that she didn’t love him and didn’t care for him in their breakup, I found it unrealistic that Rook wouldn’t clock her ass for lying. I mean, he was doing it the entire time and suddenly, he believed this lie? It was made for angst and tension, I understand, but I wished he realized it. Anyways, after that, in college, I appreciated when she did tell him. The miscommunication was not stretched out longer than necessary and I fucking loved the fact that Rook didn’t want to hear it but Sage persisted and kept going—forcing him to hear her truth. A lot of books would use that as a gateway to extend the miscommunication but MJ did not. I appreciated that heavily. Afterwards, everything fell into place, Rook killed Cain, they got together, and then the whole incident with Silas happened, blah blah blah. He branded her and they were finally a couple.
But I gotta say, I am very excited for Thatcher and Lyra. She killed to protect him? He was being obtuse and emotionless when the cop held a gun to his head? My favorite psychopath, let’s go!!!...more
My main issue with this is that it’s boring. It’s loose in structure. The plot is thin, and the romance lacked chemistry. I still had fun, but it’s onMy main issue with this is that it’s boring. It’s loose in structure. The plot is thin, and the romance lacked chemistry. I still had fun, but it’s only because I had to encourage myself to keep going for the characters. But truthfully, the characters are only good in concept.
Writing, Plot, & Structure Structurally, this was awful. You had this potential of building upon the richness of Ponderosa Springs but you didn’t take advantage of it. It was only reduced to a background that had no character nor richness. You had these places—The Graveyard, the Mausoleum, the Labyrinth, Tilly’s Diner—but you reduced them to just settings. I had seen these type of settings in most of the dark romance fictional town stories I had read. It had so much potential, but it was wasted. Every plot point and scenes were loosely strung together. You went from Point A to Point B with little interference from external factors that changed the course of the plot. That kept readers on their toes. It was predictable, plotless, and lacked the necessary structure to have a satisfying payoff. Plots were thrown together on whims and this truly felt like a first draft. It had grammar errors and typos, it kept ending off their chapters very poetically—for what? It reminded me of Wattpad cliffhangers. You truly cruised by this story and the setting of Hollow Heights felt more like a high school than a university. One day, Briar mentioned she had her first test, and the next, she mentioned final season was upon them. They had campus curfew? It was odd. It lacked proper support to be fleshed out. You had these traditions—maze runs, carnivals, the dance—and it felt like a convenient setting rather than real traditions. Maybe I’m harsh because I just came off an incredible story and this was subpar. Lastly, for writing, it was dense. So much could’ve been cut out. It felt like a first draft, submitted for publication. There were so many metaphors, so many “edgy� quotes and dialogues, and so many ways to reword the same sentiment. They kept repeating themselves over and over again, just in synonyms. You could skip most of the internal monologue and still be caught up to what was going on. Also, there was hella telling not showing. So much things were told to us about certain characters and dynamics instead of letting the readers decipher that themselves. Especially near the end with Dorian, Alistair started spewing this bullshit about how Dorian cracked under pressure and got into drugs. How did you conclude that? Why did you not show that? It was conveniently cleared up.
Characters We followed Briar Lowell and Alistair Caldwell. They were the main couple. It also mentioned the Hollow Boys—Silas, Thatcher and Rook—and Lyra, with distinct mentions to Sage and Coraline. That was our primary ensemble.
Briar started off interesting. She was a criminal, her father was a criminal, and she knew how to lie, cheat and steal. She presented herself with street smarts but she sharply declined and became one-dimensional and hypocritical. She called Alastair for being a trust fund—but when Easton did that, she had a problem with him calling Alistair names. Then, she came back and snapped back at him about family problems. It felt like I didn’t know Briar. I didn’t know her goals, her morales, her purpose. She was meandering through the story, being casted by the direction the plot took her—she felt very passive. She did do some things of note—when she sneaked bugs in Alistair’s car and snapped back—but they were dimmed by the potential she could’ve had. Truly, she felt like another girlboss with a sharp mouth, too wrapped up in her head, spewed feisty words but did not try to challenge the Hollow Boys or Alistair in any capacity. She fell under their influence easily. She was strong, but not strong enough, and she was smart but stupid. Her characterization was paper-thin and malleable, changing in the direction the plot took her for tension, angst, and whatnot.
Alistair was just angry. He was directionless and angry and was always in his head. He viewed himself as this predator and this monster, but he gave off annoying. He kept mentioned about how he hated being referred as spare parts, he hated his life, and he was just so angry. But it got to a point where I had enough. He positioned himself as the leader, but there was nothing he did that was leadership worthy. I felt like he was bland. Stale crackers. Unseasoned white chicken. His personality boiled down to being angry, fighting, tattoos, and wanting revenge for Rosemary. That was it. He wanted to leave, but he didn’t because of Rosemary’s death. He hated his brother. It felt very linear with him, everything he wanted laid out on the table. Therefore, he became just another bland, one-dimensional character. But what I was mostly pissed about was� let him be a morally-grey character. Stop explaining his actions. Stop presenting him better than he needs to be. When he killed what we assumed with Briar’s rat, let it be dead. Let him fuck up and do that shit and having it weight on their relationship. Let his actions have echos and consequences—stop excusing him by presenting him as this better-than-what-meets-the-eye man.
Romance Insta-lust. Physical connections, little intimacy. Enemies to lovers? More like one/two scenes of hate and then they’re fucking each other. Alistair had all the power in his hands; their dynamic was weird and off-putting but it tried to push on this narrative that both of them have equal playing field. Briar and Alistair liked being pushed to the limits, but it was mainly Alistair taking control. They were mirrored souls because they were blacklisted from society, but again, that was told, not shown. They were partially annoying. They had no chemistry nor connection. All their emotional aspect literally came at the last two chapters. All the connections and reasons why they would like each other came then too. It was mainly a physical and sexual relationship built on pure attraction and imagination of what one could be for the other. Was not rooting for them. Skipped through their sex scenes. Yawnfest.
Conclusion Great concept, terrible execution. Villains were superficial and one-dimensional. Dorian literally gave a villainous monologue. Dorian was obsessed with Briar for what? She wasn’t even special. She was a dime a dozen, you could find any other girl like her. Despite this, will continue to read the rest so I can figure out what was all the hype about.
Commentaries Throughout Book 4% Rosemary died. She was friends with the Hollow Boys. They stayed behind to get revenge. Thatcher is the foil to Alistair (cold versus hot; indifference versus emotional). Rook is the son of an attorney. Rosemary is the daughter of a mayor. Alistair is acting hella edgy. I’m guessing they’re supposed to be in college?
16% So, let me get this straight. Silas is the muted one, diagnosed with schizophrenia, and heir to a tech empire. Alistair is the leader. (And spare parts?) Thatcher is cold-blooded and doesn’t feel anything. Rook is the son of a DA and an anarchist who likes to watch things burn. Lyra likes bugs. Briar is a thief. I’m not really attached to any of the characters right now—the only one I’m intrigued by right now is Lyra and Thatcher. Other than that, the writing relies strongly on prose and sometimes, it tries too hard to be deep.
18% I’m getting boooooooored.
20% PAUSE “They are not scared of me because of my money, they fear me because I could, and would kill them if they crossed me. You should think about that before opening those cock sucking lips again.” �
30% So much could be cut out.
53% The thing about this book is that there’s long internal monologues that repeats the same sentiment said in past chapters. Additionally, there’s no structure. No payoff about what a scene could mean. We get loose scenes tied together to move the story along. We get Briar and Lyra going to the mausoleum, to the labyrinth, only to never be mentioned again. Even the graveyard mentioned at the beginning of the book doesn’t make a second appearance. It’s disjointed. You have this rich lore with Ponderosa Springs but you don’t explain it. Also, there’s relationship with Alistair and Briar is lackluster. There’s no chemistry. They’re both bland. They’re always in their heads, boasting about how edgy and different they are, and it’s a drag to read through. MJ keeps trying to end each chapter with a commentary, or a strong narration but all I get is an eye roll. Alistair is also so boring as a character. Why is he the leader of the group? It seems the Hollow Boys gave it to him as pity for being the spare parts. What does spare parts even mean? He mentioned that it’s because if anything happens to Dorian, he’ll be the heir, but why not explore that? You have a half-asses reason for his backstory and just culled it to a stop. It’s almost pointless to mention. What if his brother actually dies? What happens then? Let’s change the projection of the story. Let’s twist it in a way you didn’t expect. Hollow Boys are close, but their interactions are lackluster to me. Lyra—as much as I love her in concept—with Briar is also superficial. Yeah, they discussed their trauma but there’s nothing intimate about their relationship that makes you root for them. Additionally with the Hollow Boys—but they get more screen time so you do see their intimacy through their playfulness. Also, Alistair—why are you so angry? You’re the spare part, I get it, Rosemary died, I get that. But being in your head reminds me of being a emo middle schooler who screams at the world “not understanding them.� His semi-smut scene with Briar also gave nothing. If you had low expectations for this book, lower it. I just wanna get to thatcherlyra.
65% I think my struggle with this story is how it has no hard-determined traits of any character so I can accurately assess whether a character is acting in their morals or not. It’s very loose and based chapter by chapter. This scene: “I didn’t know much about Alistair in the family department, but I also didn’t think it was Easton’s place to be judging other people. He has no idea what goes on behind the closed door of the Caldwell home.� Is absolutely laughable because Briar’s been spilling the entire time about how Alistair is a trust fund kid who’ve been served life on a silver platter and suddenly, when someone else says it, it’s wrong? The issue isn’t that she’s a hypocrite, but rather than the narrative is trying to convince us that the readers are stupid. You’re trying to pair these two characters as love interests and the only way you seem to be able to do that is through little acts like this. But go hard on your decisions and keep them. They are supposed to hate each other, Briar is supposed to fear Alistair, but it’s coming out so loose and unreliable that I don’t believe anything going on.
having a feminization kink in a mm romance is a weird direction� and if ur argument is that a lot of mm romances have this, then i’m calling you out thaving a feminization kink in a mm romance is a weird direction� and if ur argument is that a lot of mm romances have this, then i’m calling you out too� why r presumably straight women writing mm romance and putting in feminization kink? why r u reducing gay couples to heteronormative roles? and if your OTHER argument is that real-life gay people have feminization kink, okay, it’s different? that’s their life. ur a woman getting sexual gratification off of a feminization kink of gay people and u don’t see yourself� complicit in it? my take �...more
i’m so irritated by this story it makes no sense, everything has plot holes, it’s unrealistic and dumb, the miscommunication was a DRAG, and they act i’m so irritated by this story it makes no sense, everything has plot holes, it’s unrealistic and dumb, the miscommunication was a DRAG, and they act like children
- the writing is incredibly repetitive; LR keeps writing the same thing over and over as an internal monologues, especially regarding their relationship and why they can’t be together. kade keeps going: “i hate her, she’s a snake, she’s a cheater, i don’t deserve her� every fucking chapter and that’s not an exaggeration. on top of that, it went from “i don’t deserve her� to -> “i need to save her�
- there’s no clear motives. i don’t understand what the mcs wants whatsoever. the plot was directionless, the scenes were fillers, and they were strung together by a thread. no consistency whatsoever.
- stacey had no personality. outside of being a dancer, what does she even want? to escape her abusive step brother? half of the book was spent away from her brother and without that plot and just casually reminded by the near end of the book
- kade also had no personality. he’s so wishy-washy.
- they act like children. they keep repeating that they hate each other but they keep fucking each other. and they keep doing this stupid push and pull for no reason. and they kept saying that can never be together but they can’t stand being apart. and when he told her not to mess with the club owners and said he was dangerous and she went to said club owner and got hurt and was surprised??? bitch are u dumb???
- their romance is FULL of angst with no chemistry. they like each other? i don’t even know why. she’s just pretty. she’s pretty and caught his eye. she had NO personality for him to be so invested in her like this?
- also TRAUMA FUCKING PORN BTW on top of cringey dialogues and trying to act wayyyyyy more mature than they are, their background story are fucking plot devices to keep them apart rather than have depth and agency for their characters. why the fuck is chris, stacey’s stepbrother, controlling her and abusing her and she’s afraid of telling ANYONE? yes, her father didn’t believe her—but she doesn’t tell her friends, her stepmom, her nice stepbrother, OR kade. she’s scared KADE is getting get hurt by chris? are u serious? his dad is a psychopath and he KILLED people and u think chris can touch him? the logic and reality that kept them apart when u push this agenda that made is a killer, is an assassin/hitman and she thinks CHRIS is gonna hurt said man?
- also SIDE NOTE motives are SOOO wish washy like one minute stacey is like “i hate u� because kade left her, but another minute, she’s trying to tell him why they broke up (but doesn’t???) and then another minute she’s saying she hates him because he’s a whore/asshole/whatever. girl?????????
- also, his background? outrageous. he became a contracted killer at 19, (he’s 21 now btw), he murdered over 100+ people (his dad only killed 4 ppl), he is also a sex worker. he’s being blackmailed by his handler and sexually assaulted by his handler too. and he can’t leave because they’ll threaten his family and friends. my thing is� ur dad is a psychopath. and u don’t tell ur dad whatsoever� and your dad said he can escape the mental asylum he’s in� just give him the word�
- kade’s motives r also dumb too?? one minute he said he hates her bc she cheated on him, the other minute he said he doesn’t deserve her because he’s fucked up. PICK WHICH ONE?? it’s like LR tried to pull all the stops and logic why they can’t be together and it doesn’t WORK!!!!
listen. that’s from a reader’s perspective, but from someone who’ve read many dark romances and also WRITES, let me truly say what’s wrong from an author perspective.
- the sexual assault plot are just plot devices; I hate when dark romance authors use sexual assault as some sort of plot for the character to have a traumatic backstory. There’s no expansion of characterization, the impact of said sexual assault on their psyche, or any depth. It’s used simply as a way to keep them apart, and to give them a tragic backstory so you will root for them but that doesn’t work.
- another issue is that LR doesn’t know how to build the world building where the system inside the story makes sense. I am completely fine with the idea of psychopaths, organized crime, murders, and assassins. But it doesn’t make sense because you’re mixing these rough and mature themes with childish ones. it reduces them to plot holes. the illusion shatters. explain to me why kade has a psychopathic father, whom he confined in regarding his own emotions, but he got trapped in a line of assassin work because of threats to his family? explain to me why he couldn’t talk to his father about this? Explain to me why his father is supposedly this big bad scary man, and everyone around them is telling them to, and even his handler is afraid of him, yet they can still blackmail his son? explain to me how Stacy’s stepbrother is simultaneously afraid of kade but can also beat him up (from her pov & monologues)? That Stacy is afraid that chris is going to hurt kade yet despite the fact that kade is an assassin? explain to me how he’s 21 years old, and he was trained internationally in all over the world, all in two years, and became one of the best assassins of his league? And explain to me why the reasons why they couldn’t be together in the first place (the past) was because of her best friend/his twin sister?????? also the friendships in here absolutely stupid. All they do is literally party drink, and just keep repeating the same conversations over and over again, especially about how his twin sister doesn’t want his friends and her friends to date. The world building just simply doesn’t make sense. All it seems to add was just another layer of gratuitous violence, and a theme of dark mature concepts, just so that you can claim itself to be a dark romance.
- also why do all these guys who are assassins and in organized crime, they all work with sex trafficking in some capacity, about how to dismantle that system and save the girls. It’s like these characters cannot be redeemed through other means and the only way authors can redeemed the heroes is by saving them through them saving sexually exploited girls....more
i don’t think BK knows how to write a steady and slowburn romance nor does she know how to write friends to lovers and ykw! maybe she should stick to i don’t think BK knows how to write a steady and slowburn romance nor does she know how to write friends to lovers and ykw! maybe she should stick to enemies to lovers and call it a day
on top of how slow this story feels and the plot is lackluster and nonexistent, it’s the dynamic of the characters, the characterization, and the romance that doesn’t make sense!
sage is supposed to be this independent girl who took care of her younger brother and the references to that i get� but girly is soooooo invested in being hyper independent that she comes off bratty and annoyed rather than anything else. what do u mean u got mad at eli for paying for your brother’s medicine? i think BK could’ve used this as an opportunity to showcase she was grateful but felt insecure because she couldn’t take care of herself or her brother. but she came off ungrateful.
eli is also flat too� normally i like shy and soft spoken men in books but he just came off as a background character. from reading collide to this� maybe he should’ve stayed.
also their dynamic? weirddddd the way sage did the auction thing for aiden and then called eli off for it. then agreed to go on a date w him—only for him to have given her his agent’s number? also, when they’re on their date and sage is like “no small talk! here’s my trauma� im like girlypop� what r u doing
it felt like BK didn’t know how to write a friends to lovers dynamic in a fake dating scenario. because that’s what it’s supposed to be. but she added this unnecessary conflicts where sage proposed a fake dating situation and eli was hesitant and she started PROJECTING that she wasn’t good enough to be seen with him .. what??? and then when he came back and asked to do the fake dating thing, she’s MAD AT HIM??? STILL?? FOR SAYING NO THE FIRST TIME?? it came off childish and unnecessary
and when they ended up agreeing to the fake dating and eli wanted to go over rules with sage, SHE STARTED IGNORING HIM BECAUSE SHE STARTED DOUBTING THE ARRANGEMENT??? THIS WAS UR IDEA???
also, there was a scene where she jumped into a freezing lake and went on a philosophical tangent on why she liked going to the lake� tone was incredibly off. the development between their romance was jagged and streamlined to only do the “heavy� and “real� stuff, so we didn’t get to know the easygoing attitude and growing mutual friendship between them. just trauma dump and semi-plot related dialogues.
i think the problem is the trope. BK has done a successful run with an enemies to lovers dynamic with aiden and summer, but like in their book, it started falling short and became annoying when they became a couple and in a semi-relationship. the same problem arises here—where they just had consistent conflicts with one another. i wasn’t rooting for them. i was irritated with them; and they just didn’t know how to be FRIENDS. how u gonna be in love w someone u can’t even be friends with?
idk who needs to hear this but you need to SLOW down your writing when you’re writing the first act of a romance book. where it’s surface level conversations with light banters, and fun conversations, that slowly descends into deeper moments. THATS a successful friendship to lovers run. but this? it felt like discombobulated scenes stitched together, tied neatly with a fake dating bow and called it a day. ...more
- simplistic; i didn’t understand how francis threatened dante but very little is done on-screen about taking care of francis and is done off-screen w- simplistic; i didn’t understand how francis threatened dante but very little is done on-screen about taking care of francis and is done off-screen with christian which has an air of unrealism because how did he destroyed physical evidence - the scenes were lackluster - the beginning was strong but it went downhill - it felt like� teenagers, new adults falling in love by the way—their dates the way they talked - lots of telling not showing - i did like vivian’s character though ...more
third book - the writing is very contradictory, in my opinion, to the characters - the characters acted a cerRTC �
one star for vaughn
Monster Triology
third book - the writing is very contradictory, in my opinion, to the characters - the characters acted a certain way, but the writing tells it’s completely different. i feel like im being gaslit whenever i read because when they say a certain character is this, it ends up being that - krill knows everything - he knew about kostanin’s true parentage, he knows about anton being suspicious, and knows every little detail nothing surprises him. i guess the interuptation is tht he could be incredibly intelligent, but for me, combined with the writing, it feels like it was the author’s way of creating a perfect specimen and how he can never be duped - the ONE THING I LIKED IS THAT HE TRIED TO PUT A TRACKER ONTO HER AND SHE SAID SHE WANTED ONE ON HIM AND HE DOES IT - HE IS VERY MUCH A SIMP FOR SASHA - i hate how every time the women gets reduced to just being a wife and a mother for their love interest - also i am sensing a pattern with RK’s writing especially her triologies, regardless, i wanna read more about damienmio <3 ...more
- kirill gives off alex volkov from twisted love (not in a good way) - this man’s plans r dumb and simplistic as hell but the RTC BUTT quick thoughts
- kirill gives off alex volkov from twisted love (not in a good way) - this man’s plans r dumb and simplistic as hell but the narrative makes it seem like he’s the most intelligent man alive. not true, anyone with two brain cells could’ve come up with this. - rina kent only knows how to make characters who follow the roles of gender to the highest degree—the men r emotionless and stern, incredible capable with everything the put their minds to and don’t show emotions, while the women r soft, kind, and often talks back to the mmcs (yet, despite her lack of range, i get why the stories r addicting) - sasha is more submissive that i’d like her to be especially regarding kirill, pls fight back better - also, rk, let sasha beat his ass ONCE during combat i’m tired of hearing “she’s getting stronger but she can’t touch me� - lastly, this relationship is absolutely lackluster and has no good chemistry. yes there’s some moments, but the narration felt completely left-fielded and forced down my throat. instead of building a reason why i should root for them, rk overexplains why they work and like each other (which� i don’t see) and it’s almost like rk doubts her own work of making a strong connection - i liked adrianlia so much better this shit came off so corny - also� HIS TATTOOS?? SOOZEFEST...more
- i’m disappointed by how compliance she became - also the repetitiveness of the writing; a lot of the speech and monologues and internal thoughts r r- i’m disappointed by how compliance she became - also the repetitiveness of the writing; a lot of the speech and monologues and internal thoughts r regurgitated from book 2 - also how she has no hobbies other than being a mob wife??? - i don’t like how rapid fire everything else it’s like instead of rk letting things come naturally - as she was given many opportunities in book 2 - she is now shoving in our throats in the first 10 chapters of all the answers and suddenly revealing their emotions as if they haven’t been hiding it for the past 400 pages ...more
- love winter—she was shown as this kind and resilience character and it was shown through actions rather than tells - her relationship with jeremy mad- love winter—she was shown as this kind and resilience character and it was shown through actions rather than tells - her relationship with jeremy made me adore her so much - unfortunately i fear i did fuck with the smut i love the turning point - the writing was good; strongly paced and gave enough details and i love the characterizations - i have so many questions; what DID she see when she walked up there? how she form a whole new identity as winter? IS yan associated with this???...more
**spoiler alert** What truly stood out about this book was the incredible writing. Rich with details and imagery, strong word choices—it made the stor**spoiler alert** What truly stood out about this book was the incredible writing. Rich with details and imagery, strong word choices—it made the story come alive with its setting, characters, and plot. I don't know if it was because of the font I was reading with (Iowan), or the writing itself, but some of the juvenile aspects of the story weren't so deterring because of how the writing presented itself. It was the reason why the rating of the book stayed as high as it did.
ܳ� Learning Curve followed two characters: Scottie and Finn. Scottie was a virginal cheerleader while Finn was the "bad boy," on their campus of Dickson University. It followed their trials and tribulations as they dealt with their individual demons—Scottie and her detrimental relationship with her alcoholic mother, and threatening texts about her past; Finn with carrying the weight of knowing his father had a whole set of other children, one of which was a professor at Dickson, and the depth of his abused past—while they navigate their love for one another.
Writing, Plot & Pacing� As I said, the writing was the strongest reason for me to continue reading. It was rich and riveting, and it didn't feel juvenile as a lot of other college romance authors made their stories feel. There was a professional touch to it—not in a way that was off-putting but rather strengthened the way the story carried itself. However, there was a juxtaposition in how strong the writing was, versus how the plot developed. It was weak, nearly non-existent, saved with for a couple of reminders between several chapters.
While I loved the college setting, and how Monroe creatively demonstrated how their New York City campus—as if you were in the city itself!—it bordered a lot of unrealistic tendencies. There was a secret club called Double C where they hosted a bunch of excursions, from a boxing match against an ex-UFC fighter to running through the maze-like catacombs underneath their campus, to a poker night, to a library scavenger hunt for old love letters. It was an odd mix, and with how much they were doing, while it was developing the bond of their friend group, it felt unrealistic and so much. This, in combination with their soap opera-esque of plot twists and turns, felt so unrealistic, that it felt like a Hallmark movie on crack.
Another thing with the writing was it felt slow and fast at the same thing. There would be several chapters dedicated to one scene, which attributed to how long the book was (91 chapters + epilogue). I believe Scottie's and Finn's first time together spanned over three to five chapters. At first, I thought with how short the chapters were, it would be a breeze to read back, but at some point, during the 70s, I thought it was getting ridiculous with how Monroe cut their scenes in half. Sometimes in the middle of important conversations. However, I will admit, before that 70s Mark, I thoroughly enjoyed how short the chapters were and how easy it was to read.
Another thing was how character-driven the story was. Despite the plot, which was loose and flimsy at best, especially with Finn's plots, it was focused primarily on building the relationships between Finn and his friends, Scottie and her friends, their entire friend group as a whole, the side characters that are definitely going to be the MCs for one of the next books in the series, and the cameos of Monroe's previous series. In addition, the development of their romance was slow, but fast at the same time. But I can't necessarily classify them as a medium-burn, it was weird. More on this later.
Lastly, the story felt more high school than college. How they met, how they fell in love, how every little turbulence in their lives caused them to push-pull each other away, and how they felt like it was the end of the world when one bad thing happened to them. It felt like I was reading teenagers, with their reactions to melodramatics, then college students who are navigating their lives as new adults. Especially with Scottie's arc and her mother coming onto her campus. What happened was her mother came to her campus, drunk, and had sex with a college student. It was recorded and posted on social media, but Scottie reacted as if it was the end of her world, especially with the setting around her navigating this traumatic experience. People were gossiping about it weeks after it happened, which does not happen in college, and people were making fun of her when none of it was in her control. It felt very high-school-esque with how it was handled and approached. As a college student right now, I can assure you, people would definitely talk, but it would fade away within a week at most because our lives are not centered around reliving the drama of people's lives.
ٱ� When it came to our main characters, Scottie and Finn, I found that both of them were two-dimensional at best. This wasn't meant as a harsh critique, because I genuinely liked reading in their POVs, and it wasn't annoying nor a complete drag to go through. The issue I had with them was they did not have a personality outside of each other.
Scottie was a cheerleader, but I couldn't see any of the personality traits outside of her being a normal girl. She went to class, did her practices, and hung out with her friends. She didn't have many hobbies outside of that. It wasn't shown if she was truly dedicated to her classes—scenes of studying, or worrying about her tests—but rather it was just mentioned in the passing how she maintained her 4.0 GPA and how she passed her classes. The only true characterization we got from her, I believed, was how she waa a klutz, but that was only shown in the beginning of the story. Afterwards, it was never brought up again.
Finn was the "bad boy," of the story, which was disappointing, to say the least. I did like how there was a new approach to how the bad boy was perceived—rather than being brooding, grumpy, and hotheaded, he was just a reclusive who wanted his own space. It was difficult because he had a social butterfly as a roommate-turned-best friend who dragged him to everything. However, a true disappointment I had was how I assumed, with the synopsis, that Finn would be more stereotypical and was a boxer, or fighter, or some sort that had a stronger purpose. That there would be weight behind his self-proclaimed title. Perhaps he would be a fighter for the Double C events more often. However, that did not happen. Yes, he fought, but it was only because he was defending Scottie. Yes, he fought, but it was mentioned in the passing of how he would defend his siblings from his abusive father. Other than that, the fighter in him came out very whimsically.
But truly, what I think irked me about their characterizations is how the plot moved them as characters, rather than them being characters moving the plot. Every time there was a twist or turn in the story, I could never concretely say "Finn would've never acted like that," or "Scottie would never say that," because I didn't understand them well enough to know exactly what is their morals, or personalities, or hard boundaries. They were vessels for the plot, to move in whatever direction the plot told them to go, and acted accordingly to that. In some ways, Finn and Scottie felt like self-inserts for the readers to put themselves in, because they don't have true strong emotions on anything. They just acted, how any normal person would react, in a given scenario.
پDzԲ� I did like their relationship. There was one scene that got me crying, screaming, and kicking my feet, which was where Finn just finished his match with the ex-UFC fighter and Scottie got up to the ring, shoved his chest, and kept scolding him for giving her a heart attack, and he kissed her. That was adorable. I even made a TikTok about them. However, because of their characterization, they did have some faults as a couple.
It was so fast. And so slow. At the exact same time. Let me explain. They kissed, I believe, in the 30s, and they didn't fully get together until the 60s/70s, I believe. It was a tale of first love, because despite Scottie's previous relationship with her ex, she never cared and felt this much emotion for him, and Finn had previous sexual adventures. However, despite the slower side of how they got together, they also slept together for the first time and said "I love yous." Now, pause. Stick with me.
They barely knew each other.
At this point, in the 30s, Finn knew nothing about Scottie outside of her being a cheerleader and someone dedicated to her studies. He didn't know about her family, he didn't know her favorite colors or food (at least, it wasn't demonstrated on-page), and he didn't know anything about her traits, favorite things, hobbies, NOTHING. All he knew was that she was gorgeous, kind (how?), and funny (where?). In the same vein, Scottie knew absolutely nothing about Finn. She knew he fought, knew he was more of the bad-boy type, and a bit about his relationship with the half-brother professor—because she took a note he left on the Professor's desk—but other than that, NOTHING. They knew absolutely nothing about each other, things with real substances, for me to truly believe that they were in love. It truly felt like it was more so out of convenience, their love story, rather than genuine connection. This brings me back to how it was so high school. When you're in high school, your dating pool were the people in your class. You fall in love with a terrible ex because he was conveniently in the same space as you. That's exactly how Scottie fell in love with Finn. He wasn't terrible. Not by any means—he was protective, he cared about her from a distance when she was struggling, and when she pushed him away, he stood his ground to let her know he would stay—but their development of a relationship felt lackluster and unfulfilling.
There were good moments about them, don't get me wrong. Finn was terribly in love with this girl, to the point that he took care of her without getting credit because he wanted to know she was safe and healthy. He was extremely protective, not in a way that didn't leave room for her autonomy, but a silent bodyguard of sorts. He loved her, truly. I believe that from the screen. But I don't believe I can understand why he loved her. What about Scottie was different from the rest? What did Scottie do to you—other than fall in the rain, to which you helped her up—caught your eye? What did Scottie provide for you—as a safe haven, an emotional support, something no one else could give—before you decided you loved her? I didn't believe why they fell in love.
Additionally, let me break down how their romance developed. They met each other; she fell in the rain in the courtyard while he helped her up � He learned she got a boyfriend and iced her out because he, decidedly, didn't want to be involved with someone like her and because he wasn't "good enough for her" � Hot/Cold pushing her away ensues � They make up, especially after the Double C with his fight against the ex-UFC Fighter � He left early in the morning, because of his family, without telling her, making her upset � Hot/Cold ensues again � They're finally at a better place, to which they sleep together on Halloween � He finds out about her taking his journal entry he left on his half-brother Professor � Ignores her, again to which she decided he wanted to leave her alone and she does � They okay, again, but something happened with her mother, to which she isolated herself for a good THIRTY chapters � Finally, after weeks of not talking to anyone, they sleep together again, to which they're finally a couple � Everything was good until something happened to Scottie at her cheerleading nationals � She pushed him away, but he refused to go � They finally get together again.
It was exhaustive. There was so much push-pull without valid reasons, just lackluster communication. I think when they got to the last Hold/Cold, done by Scottie, I was out of it. They always, always confessed/reiterated how much they loved each other every time they caught a bad break—from Finn pushing her away after learning she stole the note from the Professor's desk he left, to after her bad accident during cheerleading nationals—which, to me, was also. Bleh.
Who I Would Recommend This To� Honestly, everyone. Even the mainstream college romance authors nowadays. This was the standard I'm going to put everyone through when it comes to their writing, in terms of actual writing. The word choices. The dialogues. The pacing. However, to be more specific, I would recommend it to people who can handle a bit of unrealism and like One Tree Hill. You know how that one scene in OTH where Dan needed to get a heart transport, or something like that, and the box of the heart transport dropped and the fucking dog ate it? This book felt similar to that. It was fun, it was short (relatively), and you don't have to think too hard. Also, the side characters are everything.
I would recommend this book, in terms of tropes, for those who liked: bad boy/good girl, family dramas/issues, shenanigans, the MMC is protective of the FMC, and found family.
DzԳܲDz� Woah. I did not mean to write that much. I just had so many thoughts I wrote in my Notes app, I had to let you all know. I want to let it be known, that I do like this book, despite the things I highlighted, and I do plan on reading the second book, which I believe is a sports romance between two of the side characters in this book, but there were some things I noticed I needed to point out. It was not as bad as it sounded, but because it was aggravated, it sounded way worse than it was. It was little details but it wasn't overwhelming and would deter anyone from reading the story. It was nearly unnoticeable if anything. However, there are some parting notes I didn't know where to fit in, so I'll just bullet-point them here.
� There were attempts to appear contemporary, especially with Gen-Z slang, that I thought were a bit cringy. Most didn't make me outwardly cringe, but one specific one did, which was when Monroe attempted to use the slang, "salty," but in the context it was used, it felt awkward. In the exact words, it was, "Your salty is showing." Hello? What? Also, so were scattered mentions of TikTok, trends, and even the song “Expresso� by Sabrina Carpenter was played in the background of a frat party.
� Throughout the story, it was focused on building Finn's relationships than Scottie's. What I mean, Finn's relationship with his siblings, his new siblings (including the Professor), and his relationship with Ace, were more developed and intimate than Scottie's relationship with her girl friends, Kayla and Julia.
� Their monologues are decent, and not repetitive in a way that made you groan every time you read them, but it was getting to a point where every three chapters between his POVs, he had to remind the readers why he wasn't good for Scottie, simply for his past; how undeserving he was of her; why he was so fucked up. Man, if you were fucked up, SHOW us.
� There were also a lot of assumptions about what the other person would or would not do. Like, Scottie would be like "Finn wouldn't do that," and Finn would be like, "Scottie isn't like that," First and foremost, how do you know? People are unpredictable, even if you're in love with them. You can't read their heads.
� From Chapters 40�67/70, Scottie was just grieving. Grieving the event of what happened to her with her mother was understandable, but it was so teenage melodramatic. It also happened again from Chapters 80-90, where Scottie was grieving again. This girl has been through so much shit, God, please double it and give it to Dane (her ex).
� Their plots ended so nicely with a bowtie. Like, Finn's whole issue with his father went away because his father got arrested for, bear with me, armed fucking robbery and he got life in prison. That was neat.
� However, what I really loved was the ending. It was when Scottie (view spoiler)[got into a cheerleading accident and got paralyzed, but instead of finishing the story with her regaining back feeling in her legs and walking again, she continued to be paralyzed by the epilogue, exemplifying that your life does not end when you are disabled, which I fucking loved. (hide spoiler)] That was one of my favorite parts of the story.
� Lastly, honestly, the book could've ended in 70% and it would've carried the same depth and satisfaction. It was way too long, and if they just ended on a happy note for Scottie's cheerleading nationals, it would've been as perfect.
Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review....more
RTC, and while I like it, I think it’s a little pretentious of the author to create an annotation section when her writing is mostly cente3.5 Stars �
RTC, and while I like it, I think it’s a little pretentious of the author to create an annotation section when her writing is mostly centered around romance. This doesn’t mean romance cannot be annotated, but the themes she asks if the annotations are weak because the narrative doesn’t focus on portraying those themes—just the romance. IMO. ...more
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