I wish I could tell you that I was stolen.
Kidnapped off the street in some third-world country, sold against my will, while a desperate family back home waited and prayed and talked about me on the news.
I wish I could tell you that, because then you might understand.
What really happened? I walked to my fate with my eyes wide open. But before you say I deserved whatever happened to me, you should know. I was desperate. I was alone. I was afraid for my life. You would have done the same thing.
I thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse.
But then, I woke up in darkness, unable to move. There was only one thing I was sure of: I wasn’t alone anymore.
And then I heard HIS voice…
Whatever you think you’re doing, stop. I’m not your fucking knight in tarnished armor. I’m not a broken man with a heart of gold. I’m pure fucking evil, and you made the choice to shackle yourself to me.
I had a hard time rating this book. While I found the writing to be phenomenal, it wasn’t quite what I expected and it wasn’t nearly as dark as I thought it would be. As a debut novel, the author has definitely captured my interest and I will be reading any and all of her future books. There were some parts that didn’t really make sense to me or I wished were different, but despite all that I did enjoy the story. It was different from anything I’ve read, and that alone was enough keep me reading to see how it will end. Don’t go in expecting something quick paced or incredibly dark. It’s neither. It’s a slower paced story with dark elements, but I just wouldn’t classify it as dark. Perhaps readers that want to be eased into the dark romance genre would want to start with this book, as I feel it would be perfect for that. Those that have read books by Pepper Winters, Lily White, Lili St. Germain, M.S. Willis, or the likes will not be quite as impressed by the “darkness” of the plot. Also, this is not set in present time. It’s set in futuristic world where food and water are sparse, money means nothing, and the only power to be had is influence. Influence which is mainly in the hands of the criminals and the corrupted.
This will be a SPOILER FREE review, and I would advise to go into this book blind. Do not read reviews as there are some details that while they aren’t big spoilers, they’re best to find out as you go along.
Autumn is living on borrowed time. She’s running from someone that wants her dead, starving and alone, she’s desperate. Seeing no other alternative, she sells herself to what she feels is the lesser of the evils. An organization that is known as Stoker. She may not know much about them, but she does know that they sell women and she may or may not be better off with her new master. But knowing the fate she’s running from, she takes the chance, and is given to a man she comes to know as Tate. But will he be her salvation or her ruin?
I’m not going to give you any more about Tate. The author trickle feeds you information about him throughout the story, and it’s best that you know next to nothing going in. His alter ego of The Viper was something that I struggled with, though. He has conversations with The Viper at times, and it always threw me. It’s like he had a dual personality…yet they were one in the same. It was strange.
Now I love a good anti-hero, but I struggled to see Tate as one. I’m not sure what it was exactly, but his constant power struggle with The Viper and his back and forth with Autumn left me seeing him as more of a broken man than a truly dark one. But there were times where that darkness in him did come out, and I gobbled it right up.
It’s obvious he has a story, and I really enjoyed the way that it was revealed bit by little bit. I suppose I just wanted something a little more from him. (But hey, that could just be me.)
Autumn’s character I struggled with a bit as well. She was so up and down, it was hard to keep track. I didn’t understand her almost instant “attraction” to Tate (view spoiler)[and the part where she heard his voice before meeting him really had me scratching my head (hide spoiler)]. But I did really like that she wasn’t a weak heroine. While she may have been out on her luck, she did her a core of strength that at times was subtle and at times really prevailed.
The romance aspect is something that I really liked. Despite the quick connection that Autumn had to Tate, it was still a very slow build. I couldn’t imagine it being any other way.
Though don’t expect smooth sailing anywhere in the story with the relationship between these two…
I wanted a little bit more from the ending, but again, that may have been just me. (view spoiler)[Unless I missed something, what happened with Birdy? I wished there was more information given about the time when Tate was gone (hide spoiler)]. There were some things that wrapped up too neatly and almost too quickly.
But everything aside, I did like it quite a bit. The author definitely has an incredible talent, and I look forward to see what else she has in store. If this was her debut novel, I can only imagine how good her future books will be. So give it a try, I can tell you it will be different from anything you’ve read lately.
This is written in dual First Person POV
I really wanted to read this book. Your review has me even more intrigued.