Shannon Youngblood

Note to self, make an appointment with your therapist and buy a night light STAT

Apparently, Today was the day that I wanted to read a book that would push me so far out of my comfort zone that I would need to sleep with the lights on. I live for dark romance. There is something about it that makes me want to dive into the psyche of the victim and the victimizer. I need to try and understand. It might seem silly for me to say that considering that this is fiction. However, fiction so often mirrors real life. In this case, I hope to all that is good and just that this is not being mirrored.

That being said, the author did a fantastic job of creating a world of horror. This is definitely not a story that one should read and take the warning lightly. I am a little scared of this authors mind. I am also in awe of this authors mind. Quite the conundrum for me to say the least. This is more than pitch black. This is black hole black.… (more)

It is rare that I am at a loss for words. Yet, this author has made it happen twice this year alone. Each time she manages to push me out of my comfort zone and leaves me wanting to sleep with the light on. She most assuredly is not an author that is all sugar and spice and everything nice. Her stories are horrifying. This is largely because they have a certain element of realism to them that makes them even scarier. This is particularly true in regards to this book, especially in light of the way that certain things are happening in the world today.

This society that is the backdrop of the story is beyond effed up. BEYOND. The tasks, and order, in which they were done were extreme. I cannot count the times that I wanted to simultaneously throw up and scream. #TheStruggleWasReal
However, despite the horrific backdrop that was so disturbing this author still managed to make me want to continue reading. The characters were Strong AND Flawed and a few were beyond repugnant. For Phoenix and Zander, they made the best of the situation that they found themselves in. My heart ached for all the characters and what they went through.

If Dark is something that draws appeals to you then I can most definitely say that this author should be added to your list. This is the second book I have read by this author and it won't be the last. I was lucky to have read an advance copy of this book and I am thankful because I don't think I could have handled the teasers and not being able to devour this.… (more)

This book has to be a test of Goodreads as to who is writing genuine reviews and who is biased.

There is no way that anyone with even a passing acquaintance of both 10th grade English composition or the basic tenants of new adult dark romance, could say that this book has anything redeemable about it beyond the inability to predict what the protagonists are going to have to endure.

I can't begin to list the problems with this book. I only kept reading past the first couple of pages because I needed to see what horrors awaited the heroine, since it was heavily foreshadowed and not particularly easy to predict.

It had to be a test. Some AI creation to see if reviewers could spot bad writing and be honest about it.

It was Kindle Unlimited and it wasn't too long and read quickly. I only skipped past the final chapters to the end because I just couldn't take it any longer.

I dare anyone to respond to this with anything objective that can point to a redeemable aspect of this book. If anyone asks for specific examples, I will give them, but there are just too many for me to spend any more time on this review to point out.

Do yourself a favor, look at the reviews of this book. Each reviewer has no shelves other than read and want to read. Go to their pages. Every review they post without fail, without exception, has a 5 star rating, has a written review, but no bookshelves. These reviewers are being compensated in some way for their reviews. Goodreads needs a policy that only reviewers with actual bookshelves and reviews less than 5 star stellar reads be listed. I am pissed that these sham reviewers threw the algorithm that Goodreads uses to recommend books and wasted my time. Shame on all of you! You guys make me sick. Authors who allow this to happen do it because they can't write and rely on fake reviews to bring in new readers and scare them from writing honest reviews. Either learn to write better books or quit wasting everyone's time.

Reviews like these make it hard on actual readers who want to be honest. They are left feeling like they can 't be the only one to give it a bad review. This is shady and ruins the reason why this forum exists.


UPDATE:
I am editing this review only because I have to apologize for being so harsh. I stand by my review of the book not being good (that is an honest opinion) however, the comments about the reviewers being paid, or this book being some kind of A.I. "test" were out of line, and way outside my normal comments. I don't know what gave me the idea that I could just post something like this and it be ok. It isn't OK, and I apologize. I apologize to the author, to the readers, and those who reviewed this book. I am not normally "mean" but I was here. There is no excuse I can give other than just saying that it was a rash and poor decision that I regret.

I will leave the review up regardless because deleting it would be too easy to just make it "go away". Just if you are reading this for the first time, understand that I have had a change of heart and attitude.… (more)

3.75 stars

I was pleasantly surprised at how this author was able to intermix BDSM and MC romance. It's not a combination I would think of. One of my favorite things about this author is that she is always redefining who she is as a writer. She's not afraid to color outside the lines. I'm not sure how she straddles the turn me on with the holy hell this is brutal.

The ending was gruesome but deserved. I did wish that it had ended differently than it did. It was abrupt.

Still, a solid book and why I rounded up to 4 stars.… (more)