Alice Green

I picked up this book solely due to the overwhelming social media buzz around it. What I found rather disappointing was that the Instagram reels and posts predominantly focused on the sweet moments in their relationship, conveniently leaving out the gruesome and unsettling aspects. While the first book can be loosely categorized as dark romance, the second book strays far from the genre's typical themes. The book encompassed a staggering 300 pages filled with explicit scenes of r@pe/torture. What was most troubling, however, was particularly as the main characters (Adeline and Zade) developed a unique fascination with drawing blood from one another - slicing open previously healed and abused scars, using a knife to cut the chest and engrave a rose, and employing a gnarled twig for whipping, resulting in the drawing of blood. The focus on graphic violence and gore overshadows any potential for a romantic or dark romance narrative, leaving me wondering how this can still be classified as such. Carlton blurs the line between abuse and romance, pushing the boundaries of what can be considered dark romance.