Miss Bequin, who body-snatched you and wrote this "dark romance" by people standards but basically rainbows and suWhat in the fluffy is going on here?
Miss Bequin, who body-snatched you and wrote this "dark romance" by people standards but basically rainbows and sunshine by yours?
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₊˚⊹➵ Short and sweet 'MCs experimented on' trope
Series like New Species Series, Monster Stalker Series and this one have a trope I've encountered from time to time―one where one or both MCs have been taken by an 'entity' in order to do experiments on them.
It's usually pretty dark, as the descriptions of the experiments are just plain t*rture. But this book skips than and goes straight to the escaping part.
The heroine is pretty resilient and the hero outside his beast mode is pure cinnamon. Even his beast mode is pretty tame... by Bequin standards.
This is the woman that wrote a book about heroes who thought the FMC was actual food ffs! What is a single primal play scene with the MMC still conscious enough to grab her and take her back to the cabin compared to that?
Anywho.
I didn't hate it, I just thought I would be getting something darker.
I hate myself for reading this and I possibly hate both the author for writing it and the translator for makAnd my soul will burn with his in the end.
I hate myself for reading this and I possibly hate both the author for writing it and the translator for making it more accessible.
Because I was loving it and hating myself for it.
Joke's on me, ig.
↠ I survived the transformation of a strong heroine into a broken barely shell of a person.
↠ I survived accepting the herovillain heroine's husband wouldn't redeem himself.
All for nothing.
Because after making me hate, cry and hate-cry, the author looked me dead in the eyes, smirked and turned the fucking lights off.
If I was going to be destroyed, it should've at least been done R. Lee Smith-style. She's kind enough to leave the door open.
➜ Last edit, I swear. I'm left feeling like I needed more so if you're feeling the same way I would recommend Claiming the Courtesan or the pnr Fury. Or better yet, the sci-fi The Last Hour of Gann
I know I'm going to look for something to fill the emptiness. ...more
This started out so strong, so... thrilling, for lack of a better adjective. A dark romance retelling of Dr. JThriller romance that steadily lost both
This started out so strong, so... thrilling, for lack of a better adjective. A dark romance retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde seems like a match made in heaven.
The detective heroine that hides a terrible darkness and the therapist who doesn't know why he's having wholes in his memory/serial killer hero both of whom are obsessed with the heroine.
It just worked.
Until it didn't?
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It was too long and too filler-y. It took the book out of the 'thriller' ambiance and made the story mundane...
The steam was nice and the tension as well as their attraction was well written. (I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have since I thought this would have breeding kink, but it was one of those 'clean breeding' where she's taking bc. For me, that's like going bungee jumping... from the top of the bunker bed)
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I read a bunch of reviews praising the ending but for me it was the 'mundane' winning over the 'thrilling'.
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All in all... not really happy to have read this, but it wasn't bad enough for 2 ★. So 2.5 rounded up it is......more
Okay, so I'm in a slump, because this book's rating is almost 4.3 and I still hated it.
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Or maybe I got screwed and for somWhat book did I get?!
Okay, so I'm in a slump, because this book's rating is almost 4.3 and I still hated it.
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Or maybe I got screwed and for some reason I got another, less edited, overly long, unnecessarily contrived version?
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I was engaged with the mystery at the beginning. But since it was pretty obvious, I soon tired of all the useless filler.
There was also the fact that I can't think of anything lamer than a serial killer singing a children's song.
I whistled “London Bridge is Falling Down” as I walked to the back of the building where John was held.
Wait. Yes, yes I can. And that's having him justify his choice in his own head.
The song was almost as dark as I was, but not quite. One theory suggested it referenced Viking attacks in the eleventh century. Another explained it was about entombing live children in the foundations of bridges to ensure they wouldn’t collapse.
The friends' justifications are... just... I can't even find the words for that level of stupid.
The ending was messed up. Imagine having the 'problem' the hero has and add to that the sleep depravation from taking care of twins? Recipe. For. Disaster.
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Side note; people who have read this: how do you justify her cheating? And if her 'kinda not dating yet, but wanting to date' Sebastian is not cheating, then how are you okay with her leading him on? I won't give away "spoilers" (there was absolutely nothing impressive, new, or even interesting about them anyway), but the end result doesn't matter. What matters is what she knew at the time when she did what she did. That's cheating in my book.
The day I crossed that last line has finally arrived
⋆⁺₊⋆ Let's get the awkward out of the way ⋆⁺₊⋆
Trigger warning for an incest pairing, father/daThe day I crossed that last line has finally arrived
⋆⁺₊⋆ Let's get the awkward out of the way ⋆⁺₊⋆
Trigger warning for an incest pairing, father/daughter.
If you read that TW, saw my rating and feel like you can't not only read this review but continue to be GR friends with me, I understand.
➵ On to the review ~~
⋆⁺₊⋆ Why it worked as a book ⋆⁺₊⋆
First of all, reviewers who are creating an account in a less known ebook website, clicking on the book, imputing your information, buying the book only to come her and go
"This is disgusting, he sleeps with his daughter!"
➵ I don't understand your actions. Why go to all that trouble to buy something you knew you would hate?
I doubt you can go in blind given that the ebook is banned on Amazon. You can only by the physical copy. At this point, don't we all know the sorts of book that get banned on Amazon?
Anyway.
As a book, Wild is structured brilliantly.
This is an emotional journey, but instead of throwing all the elements at the same time and potentially overwhelming the readers, or worse, make them indifferent, Webster gives us the minimum amount of information for us to get a broad picture of how things stand in this broken family.
With the aid of extreme circumstances and strategically placed flashbacks and memory dreams, a more detailed picture starts to present itself and suddenly certain actions and reaction start to make more sense or we are able to see them under a different light.
The moment I opened this book, the narrative had me hooked and the fact that I knew the incest was coming only made me more critical, more observant.
➵ Was that too easy? Was this justified?
I was kept glued to my kindle as much as my daily life permitted.
➵ Are there elements that made me suspend my disbelief? Absolutely. This book doesn't do wilderness well. I'll talk about it in more detail after, but this was sadly what kept the book from being a 5 star read for me. Sometimes it even boarded on the fantastical.
⋆⁺₊⋆ Why it worked as a romance ⋆⁺₊⋆
Ah, you made it this far. You brave soul. Let me warn you one last time:
This is a taboo romance between a father and his daughter.
Keep reading at your own risk.
Do you think had we not come out here it would have happened anyway?” I ask, my voice soft. His eyes narrow as he considers my question. “I don’t know.” Lies. The guilt on his face tells me it would have.
This is true to a certain extent.
They are no fated mate couple. Neither is born with this plan in mind.
Tragedy and pain mold them, set them on a dangerous path. Elements beyond their control push them and only when they stand at the very precipice do they take the conscious choice to jump.
When they decide to jump is what comes as a surprise.
However, don't read thinking this is a fairy tale story. This is still very much a dark romance and there's a very toxic codependency that goes past even the regular unhinged stories.
With the sun baking down on us and the water rushing by, it’s easy to pretend we’re just a man and a woman in the wilderness.
Far from rules, laws and morality humans unravel. Add to that loneliness and tragedy...
[Hero's POV] This whole ordeal is too hard on my psyche. I’m cracking. Just like the hole in the side of the mountain. I’m widening and splitting right down the middle until the only thing that fits is she and I.
They have become incapable of living without the other.
Love, brilliant and deep and powerful, shines in his eyes. It burns me. Scalds me. Imprisons me. Suffocates me. But it also fills me. Fuels me. Frees me.
They are a Romeo and Juliet ticking time bomb. They are a harsh winter, an infected cut, a difficult birth, the natural passage of time away from dying along side the other.
It wouldn't matter that they have children they love beyond capacity. It wouldn't matter how old they were or how much they needed their parents.
➵ The moment one is gone, the other won't be far behind.
He’s mine. We’re cosmic and untouchable together.
⋆⁺₊⋆ Why it worked as a taboo ⋆⁺₊⋆
I can't get into details because I don't want to spoil anything, but I can honestly say the subject wasn't treated lightly in my opinion. As I said before, these characters aren't soulmates, but life still stirred them in that direction.
➵ If the original sin hadn't occurred
➵ If the first tragedy hadn't happened and hadn't continued to happen
➵ If the big tragedy hadn't happened
➵ If depression didn't steal a person's soul
So many ifs and as the author reveals them to you, their relationship doesn't seem forced, or taken lightly.
⋆⁺₊⋆ Why it didn't work as a 'barbarian'/'wilderness' book ⋆⁺₊⋆
That's simple:
I sit up on my elbows and watch Dad work on our new home. He’s downed twenty-six trees. I’ve watched him over the weeks bulk up from the manual labor [...]
Just like he’s done the other twelve trees so far, he starts carving one end into a sharp point. He’s driving each one into the earth, braced by a fence-type thing he made and pointing the sharp end away from the cabin. His theory is that if a bear comes up, they’ll impale themselves on the wood long before they ever get to us. The spiked trees are horrifying to look at—like we’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse or something. Dad doesn’t care though. He throws himself into his job.
I don't care what magic genes/tree-cutting classes/preparations he made, he's a forty years old billionaire from California.
He builds a fucking cabin in like two months. Cuts up and reuses the metal from the broken RV.
All of that with like a single ax and a hunting knife?
Then it's winter. What did they eat? Rabbits? All winter? So they hunted every day? How are they not starving?
And what about clothes? They never launder. Three and a half years later, he's built a cabin-mansion with their one outside friend, but he's still hauling water EVERY. DAY.
His back is dead. Can't convince me otherwise.
This is wilderness fantasy. Even V.C. Lancaster and Ruby Dixon gave their respective wildernesses more thought.
⋆⁺₊⋆ Why I read it ⋆⁺₊⋆
As a final thought, I would like to justify myself because as I've said in the past
"I may have said fuck it and decided to read anything I want, but that doesn't mean I don't have shame. Like a proper lady."
I wanted to see how far my boundaries could go.
I read this author's Stroke of Midnight's trilogy and even though I didn't love it, the writing captivated me.
When I looked up her other books and this one came up, my book senses tingled and I just knew this book would work for me.
Took me months to gather the courage to buy it, but now that I have I don't regret it.
Though you might regret staying my friend and reading this review...
... because I plan to buy and read the whole series....more
Izzah ꒰Ｒｏｍａｎｃｅ愛好家 ಇ Duchess of Cabria꒱
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