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Broken Toys #1
Broken Toys
Galan Rain is emotionally unavailable after chasing love his entire life in an attempt to mend his broken heart. When Aria Scarlet and her sister walk through the gates of Salt Pine Acres and into Grounded Coffee House, it rekindles his faith in love. Enraptured by Aria's presence, he inevitably falls in love. Though the urge to remain is strong, Galan is intent on leaving this town behind because he feels like he doesn’t fit in. Now obsessed with Aria, Galan observes her every move. He saw her in ways no one else did. Learning from the mistakes of his past, Galan methodically plans his every move to win her love. His obsession becomes dangerous when the people in the Scarlets' lives turn into obstacles that stand between him and his plan to leave his past behind. Nothing stays hidden in Salt Pine Acres when the truth about Galan and the Scarlets comes to light. Aria’s past becomes a major obstacle for him in his fight for love, and Galan’s past catches up with him. Ultimately, a bloody turn of events forces him to abandon everything to protect the girl he fell for, by any means necessary.
468 pages, Paperback
Published October 30, 2022
343 people are currently reading
6242 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
November 14, 2023
…. This was REALLY bad. Like this book made me physically ill. Is no one going to address the blatant pedo tendencies of this book!? Seriously. PEDOPHILIA. At first I was rolling with it since it seemed to be part of the plot and things looked like they might get resolved with someone getting in trouble for it. BUT NO.… *spoiler* Then at the end when the mmc said he would wait for this same underage girl to come of age? The same girl who was being abused by another adult in the beginning of the book? Wtf? This book gave me the ICK from start to finish. The rambling internal monologues, the non existent character development… And then at the end *spoiler* the MMCs sex slave comes out of no where (the sex slave that sexually abused him when he was 9 but who has been trapped by him this whole time?) and starts murdering people too…. And calling him master and doing all this murdering for him…. The entire book screamed incel…. I don’t think ive ever been so disgusted by a book like I have with this one. And I WAS SO PUMPED to read this! I read about 50% before I was so horrified that I skimmed the rest. And I’m sure I missed some things skimming, but I read enough to be dangerous. And my god. This book was horrendous. Buuuuut this book seems to have a decent amount of good reviews, so to each their own? I wish I could get my money back… this is going straight in the trash.
October 26, 2023
I’m sorry? what in the John wick, Joe Goldberg, fast and furious, fifty shades of gray and mortal combat was this? I have so many questions and concerns that I can’t even believe I pushed through this book. It was like a car accident that I couldn’t look away from…
October 16, 2023
I got this book only because I thought it would be cool to read on black pages. The writing is so bad I just couldn’t finish it.
September 22, 2023
I got You vibes SO MUCH. Smut was *chefs kiss* but the two male characters back and forth felt weird? Off? Also.. that ending was just WHERE? I feel like WHAT DID I READ
December 18, 2023
The single only reason Neil sold a copy of this book has been because of the beautiful black pages. It was as if a horny 14 year old that's into anime was given a keyboard and told "just type down literally anything, it doesn't need to make sense or have a decent storyline." Wtf was the storyline anyway? Was it extreme smut? Oh wait, no it's suddenly action! They're jumping off buildings and landing on their feet (naturally) (hair toss) getting hit by cars, one swift move his back of his feet (naturally) (hair toss) The rest of the book is 100% just a group of pure idiots TALKING about the SAME subject OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Hands down the worst book I've ever read in my life.
October 20, 2023
The story was interesting. Definitely gave me "You" vibes. The writing was kinda bland, and some scenes just went on for way too long. The plot twist/suspenseful ending has me intrigued, though. According to the reviews, book 2 is a lot better than this one so I'll be starting it immediately.
January 22, 2024
This better not be indicative of my reading year.
October 3, 2023
I downloaded this book because I saw the black pages on someone’s post and thought it’d be my cup of tea.
I really liked the plot, it kept me interested and on my toes.
The beginning gave You vibes with how Galan talked about Aria. I highly enjoyed that.
I also genuinely liked Galan, I was really sad to learn about his trauma at the end. That was heartbreaking. I hate Paige.
I wish there was a happier ending for Galan and Aria, but I wasn’t disappointed with how the plot ended up developing.
I didn’t like the general dynamic of the characters; it seemed that everyone who had a bf/gf was cheating on them, which I just am not fond of reading about, personally. And I didn’t like that Galan was so obsessed with Aria and thought he was so in love with her, but was intimate with the lady at the hotel and apparently Paige the whole time.
I also didn’t like how there was this ongoing topic of underage/adult predatory relationships (Eder and Dana and Galan and Paige) just for Galan to tell, the then underaged, Dana that he would wait for her to turn 18 and promised to come back for her….. have we learned nothing. And it just seemed weird to me considering how it was written to be a brother/sister/role model/mentor relationship throughout and then Dana continues to express her feelings (sexual included) to Galan; to which he finally submits and tells her he’ll come back for her. I liked the innocence they had before that and that Galan really wanted to protect her and see her thrive. But despite him seeing her inappropriate relationship with Eder and hearing her talk about herself and her insecurities with being loved he caves to her naive and young desires and makes a promise to wait for her until she’s of age, just because he’s lacking love himself and can’t imagine a world where he finds it in someone who isn’t currently 16??? I wish he came back into her life at the end in the big brother/protector role we saw at the beginning and she had a new love interest and matured and grew out of her feelings for Galan. I feel like we all have that crush on someone older in our lives when we’re younger, but it’s not supposed to turn into anything. Maybe I’m biased because I was rooting for him and Aria, but I didn’t like that part of the ending.
I’ll have to read the next book to see what happens, although I’m not thrilled to reading how Galan and Dana’s relationship develops (unless of course it ends). Overall it was a pleasant read :)
I really liked the plot, it kept me interested and on my toes.
The beginning gave You vibes with how Galan talked about Aria. I highly enjoyed that.
I also genuinely liked Galan, I was really sad to learn about his trauma at the end. That was heartbreaking. I hate Paige.
I wish there was a happier ending for Galan and Aria, but I wasn’t disappointed with how the plot ended up developing.
I didn’t like the general dynamic of the characters; it seemed that everyone who had a bf/gf was cheating on them, which I just am not fond of reading about, personally. And I didn’t like that Galan was so obsessed with Aria and thought he was so in love with her, but was intimate with the lady at the hotel and apparently Paige the whole time.
I also didn’t like how there was this ongoing topic of underage/adult predatory relationships (Eder and Dana and Galan and Paige) just for Galan to tell, the then underaged, Dana that he would wait for her to turn 18 and promised to come back for her….. have we learned nothing. And it just seemed weird to me considering how it was written to be a brother/sister/role model/mentor relationship throughout and then Dana continues to express her feelings (sexual included) to Galan; to which he finally submits and tells her he’ll come back for her. I liked the innocence they had before that and that Galan really wanted to protect her and see her thrive. But despite him seeing her inappropriate relationship with Eder and hearing her talk about herself and her insecurities with being loved he caves to her naive and young desires and makes a promise to wait for her until she’s of age, just because he’s lacking love himself and can’t imagine a world where he finds it in someone who isn’t currently 16??? I wish he came back into her life at the end in the big brother/protector role we saw at the beginning and she had a new love interest and matured and grew out of her feelings for Galan. I feel like we all have that crush on someone older in our lives when we’re younger, but it’s not supposed to turn into anything. Maybe I’m biased because I was rooting for him and Aria, but I didn’t like that part of the ending.
I’ll have to read the next book to see what happens, although I’m not thrilled to reading how Galan and Dana’s relationship develops (unless of course it ends). Overall it was a pleasant read :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 12, 2023
So far, I'm really struggling to get into the writing style. The way the view point will randomly change in the middle of a chapter is quite confusing sometimes. I'm only 70 pages in so far, so hopefully It will get better as the story goes on. I LOVE the dark pages, it makes reading so much easier on the eyes.
DNF I got to page 124. 14 chapters deep, I really gave it a genuine try. I wanted to like this book so bad, but I just couldn't. The perspectives change way to randomly, and I have a hard time liking any of the characters. The fact that Aria changes opinions on Galan so fast makes my head hurt. She can go from not liking him/being indifferent to jumping into his pants the next moment, and the 2 "spicy" scenes end so abruptly. Not even half way through and Galan admits to Aria that he has been obsessed with her for so long, it's just *shivers*.
Then there is Dana and Eder....first what kind of name is Eder....but also the 16yo and 20+yo "social media influencer" really ruined any chance of liking them as characters. Why is that necessary at all to have in the book. If that doesn't scream grooming, nothing will.
I also got the second book but I'm just going to put it up. Maybe I'll pick the books up again in the future to try again, but for now, it's a no thank you.
DNF I got to page 124. 14 chapters deep, I really gave it a genuine try. I wanted to like this book so bad, but I just couldn't. The perspectives change way to randomly, and I have a hard time liking any of the characters. The fact that Aria changes opinions on Galan so fast makes my head hurt. She can go from not liking him/being indifferent to jumping into his pants the next moment, and the 2 "spicy" scenes end so abruptly. Not even half way through and Galan admits to Aria that he has been obsessed with her for so long, it's just *shivers*.
Then there is Dana and Eder....first what kind of name is Eder....but also the 16yo and 20+yo "social media influencer" really ruined any chance of liking them as characters. Why is that necessary at all to have in the book. If that doesn't scream grooming, nothing will.
I also got the second book but I'm just going to put it up. Maybe I'll pick the books up again in the future to try again, but for now, it's a no thank you.
November 17, 2023
What was this?!
October 29, 2023
This book was really hard for me to read.. the story line had potential, but there were parts that didn’t make sense and there was a lot of repetitive words and the writing was not really good.. there was a line where he said something along the lines of ‘he skillfully dialled his number into his phone’ like skillfully?? A lot of filler words that were entirely unnecessary.
I don’t typically write reviews and I’m not a picky reader but this book had really good reviews and I was excited and became extremely disappointed really quickly, so I thought I’d warn anyone looking to read this book.
I don’t typically write reviews and I’m not a picky reader but this book had really good reviews and I was excited and became extremely disappointed really quickly, so I thought I’d warn anyone looking to read this book.
December 1, 2022
5 stars Amazing read
Looking for a psychological thriller to keep you guessing? Well look no further. Broken toys holds your attention from the very first page and gives you an ending you wouldn't see coming
Looking for a psychological thriller to keep you guessing? Well look no further. Broken toys holds your attention from the very first page and gives you an ending you wouldn't see coming
January 9, 2023
so good! but what a cliffhanger!!!!! i NEED a second book…
November 29, 2023
Writing style is incredibly confusing, keep waiting to get pulled into the book(it’ll never happen) by far the longest it has taken me to finish a book cause I was so uninterested.
January 23, 2024
I’m not gonna lie, I only purchased this because it’s a dark edition so I thought it looked cool. Unfortunately, I didn’t rate the writing at all. I liked the Joe Goldberg vibe in some places but it was mostly just annoying inner thought spiel all the way through.
I found the writing very odd. Neel seems to over-explain 90% of the sentences he writes which is weird and repetitive. It reminded me of when you’re trying to hit a high word count so you reword things in different ways in the same sentences, if that makes sense?😅 for instance, this is a direct quote - “”Hi Galan. How can I serve you today?” With a playful smile on her face, Dana asked Galan a question, her voice filled with curiosity and a hint of mischievousness.” - like, we know, as a reader, that she just asked him a question, so why did he feel the need to spell out the obvious? This could have been worded so much better but it just wasn’t and it’s like this from beginning to end.
Parts of the book are contradictory and I thought the ending was kinda stupid. I really had to force myself through this one.
I found the writing very odd. Neel seems to over-explain 90% of the sentences he writes which is weird and repetitive. It reminded me of when you’re trying to hit a high word count so you reword things in different ways in the same sentences, if that makes sense?😅 for instance, this is a direct quote - “”Hi Galan. How can I serve you today?” With a playful smile on her face, Dana asked Galan a question, her voice filled with curiosity and a hint of mischievousness.” - like, we know, as a reader, that she just asked him a question, so why did he feel the need to spell out the obvious? This could have been worded so much better but it just wasn’t and it’s like this from beginning to end.
Parts of the book are contradictory and I thought the ending was kinda stupid. I really had to force myself through this one.
October 16, 2023
The writing style is not my favorite and it was hard to get used to, but once the plot gets going it really sucks you in. Immediately moved on to the next book.
October 3, 2025
This book had a lot of problems
November 6, 2023
Not worth a review, just a waste of paper.
November 13, 2023
Literally the worst book I’ve ever read lol.
October 4, 2023
Don’t read if you’re the author!
I seriously wanted to love this, I was so excited for this book. I loved his detail, but also felt like it had such bad word vomit I just wanted to skim half the page because it annoyed me so much. I felt like 90% of this book was whiplash to my brain, and not going anywhere until the last 6 chapters. Now that’s what you call a slow fkn burn. I’m a glutton for punishment so I finished the book, and even bought the second prior to reading this one so I’ll still read it as well, but I don’t have high hopes.
I seriously wanted to love this, I was so excited for this book. I loved his detail, but also felt like it had such bad word vomit I just wanted to skim half the page because it annoyed me so much. I felt like 90% of this book was whiplash to my brain, and not going anywhere until the last 6 chapters. Now that’s what you call a slow fkn burn. I’m a glutton for punishment so I finished the book, and even bought the second prior to reading this one so I’ll still read it as well, but I don’t have high hopes.
January 15, 2024
DNF the writing was so bad that i just couldn’t do it. This was so obviously written by a man
December 30, 2023
Juvenile writing and prose. Felt like a high schooler taking creative writing who just learned about descriptive writing and beat the story to death with unneeded flowery additions in every other sentence.
I got an incel, self-insert vibe. Not quite sure why, but once I got that feeling I couldn’t shake it.
I enjoy dark romances, horror, and “yandere” fics, but this missed the mark for me. Maybe because of the weird grooming taking place, unlikable characters, and too out-landish backstories/environmental pieces. $60 cup of coffee? I’m sorry, what? Things like that took me out of the story.
I got an incel, self-insert vibe. Not quite sure why, but once I got that feeling I couldn’t shake it.
I enjoy dark romances, horror, and “yandere” fics, but this missed the mark for me. Maybe because of the weird grooming taking place, unlikable characters, and too out-landish backstories/environmental pieces. $60 cup of coffee? I’m sorry, what? Things like that took me out of the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 5, 2023
“I’m nothing special, you know. I’m not sure what you see in me. I’m so fucked from my past relationships that I’m barely a person anymore. I’m just a broken toy, hoping one day someone will want to put the pieces back together,”
I’m not sure how to write this review. I’m so shocked how I could never guess what was coming next. I have tried to write more but my mind is in shock.
I look forward to reading other books from this author.
I’m not sure how to write this review. I’m so shocked how I could never guess what was coming next. I have tried to write more but my mind is in shock.
I look forward to reading other books from this author.
January 9, 2026
I'm sorry? What in John Wick, Joe Goldberg, Fast and Furious, Fifty Shades of Grey, and Mortal Kombat was this? I have so many questions and concerns that I can hardly believe I finished this book. It was like a car accident that I couldn’t look away from…
July 25, 2024
WOW, that got crazy
September 7, 2023
Broken Toys was written with the intention of being a psychological thriller and believe me, it lived up to the name. There wasn't a moment that I could stay settled as a reader. The book was mystifying and gripping, the characters were complex and full of nuance, and the main character possessed a charm that made him borderline addictive. As a reader, you're going along for the ride as this brilliant (and unhinged) narrative takes place. I found myself to be immediately captivated by Galan’s dark psyche, I actually emailed the author and asked him if he consulted with a psychologist.
I was impressed by the main character’s intelligence - there is an extreme mystery in the book because even though you’re reading from the main character’s perspective, you don’t fully know his intentions, and this keeps readers hooked. There are bits of humor littered throughout the entire novel that add the necessary ambiance to scenes involving lovable characters.
I’ve read an extensive amount of literature, inclusive of comedic plays, classical literature, poetry (in multiple languages), popular fiction etc., but Neel manages to engage the reader in a way I’ve yet to experience. He tells the story in a linear fashion, but the twists and turns add nuance to the tale itself. He manages to keep the reader engaged and wanting more. Galan’s love for Aria is psychotic but holds profound charm.
To expand more, you find yourself in a moral dilemma as you become engaged in these characters and find yourself unsure of who you're rooting for - and when you're almost certain, you're deceived. The main character is brilliant, so much so that you as a reader, are fooled. You'll find yourself engaged in the escalating drama until it hits a point where intrigue crosses the border and becomes riveting. The entire book and all its characters are thought-out and flawed but they're engaging and steadfast in their ambitions. The steady engagement in the characters mends the drama to create a steady path for readers to walk along. The author does a brilliant job at illustrating the environment and the ambiance of the setting and his use of language is friendly to all readers - however, I wouldn't recommend this book for kids.
It's spicy! It's very spicy! But this works because it's brilliant. The book is so well thought out that no loophole is left over. Everything aligns perfectly and there is relief in the mystery - for the most part! All I'll say is that the ending has you craving more and this works out because there is a part two! This is definitely a book that I'd recommend to lovers and non-lovers of psychological thrillers and dark romance.
I was impressed by the main character’s intelligence - there is an extreme mystery in the book because even though you’re reading from the main character’s perspective, you don’t fully know his intentions, and this keeps readers hooked. There are bits of humor littered throughout the entire novel that add the necessary ambiance to scenes involving lovable characters.
I’ve read an extensive amount of literature, inclusive of comedic plays, classical literature, poetry (in multiple languages), popular fiction etc., but Neel manages to engage the reader in a way I’ve yet to experience. He tells the story in a linear fashion, but the twists and turns add nuance to the tale itself. He manages to keep the reader engaged and wanting more. Galan’s love for Aria is psychotic but holds profound charm.
To expand more, you find yourself in a moral dilemma as you become engaged in these characters and find yourself unsure of who you're rooting for - and when you're almost certain, you're deceived. The main character is brilliant, so much so that you as a reader, are fooled. You'll find yourself engaged in the escalating drama until it hits a point where intrigue crosses the border and becomes riveting. The entire book and all its characters are thought-out and flawed but they're engaging and steadfast in their ambitions. The steady engagement in the characters mends the drama to create a steady path for readers to walk along. The author does a brilliant job at illustrating the environment and the ambiance of the setting and his use of language is friendly to all readers - however, I wouldn't recommend this book for kids.
It's spicy! It's very spicy! But this works because it's brilliant. The book is so well thought out that no loophole is left over. Everything aligns perfectly and there is relief in the mystery - for the most part! All I'll say is that the ending has you craving more and this works out because there is a part two! This is definitely a book that I'd recommend to lovers and non-lovers of psychological thrillers and dark romance.
August 26, 2023
Thank you to the author for selecting me as an ARC reader!
More people need to be talking about this book! It is so unique, not only in the storytelling, but in the attributes of the physical book - beautiful white type on all-black pages. Magnificent!
Neel Latchman has a strong sense of character development & story building. There are elements of curiosity, underlying tension, and twists throughout the novel, making this read a slow burn leading to an intense climax cliffhanger ending.
With the sale of Grounded Coffee House, his business that he built from the ground up, Galan was finally able to relish in some hope for his life - or so he thought. Aria, sister of the new owner of Grounded Coffee House, has captivated Galan and unbeknownst to her, has given him hope for love, something Galan craves. But he will learn that Aria and her group of toxic friends is not what he needs - not even a little bit. Sometimes, the idea of 'love' can push us to our breaking point, again and again.
The raw character flaws of the main character, Galan, are what makes the book so innately human; at least for those of us who have never felt like they have been enough. The imagery used is impeccable and really reflects the tone of Galan's moods throughout.
Emotions evoked: anger, anticipation, fear, disgust, sadness, loneliness, hope, surprise, lust
Spice Level: 🌶🌶/5 I personally would love to see more spice as Latchman's imagery can do much for the imagination!
Thought-worthy points evoked by this book:
This book shines light on the reality of how selfish others can be, not caring which ways one can scar another person.
Certain situations in this book (no spoilers!) provoked thoughts about such a throwaway culture we live in, and not with regards to 'stuff' but with human interactions. When careless relationships damage us, aren't we all just a bunch of Broken Toys?
Other notes:
I would love to see this become a movie or even an adult Anime.
In closing:
I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to see what type of a ride the sequel, I'm Broken Too, takes me on!
More people need to be talking about this book! It is so unique, not only in the storytelling, but in the attributes of the physical book - beautiful white type on all-black pages. Magnificent!
Neel Latchman has a strong sense of character development & story building. There are elements of curiosity, underlying tension, and twists throughout the novel, making this read a slow burn leading to an intense climax cliffhanger ending.
With the sale of Grounded Coffee House, his business that he built from the ground up, Galan was finally able to relish in some hope for his life - or so he thought. Aria, sister of the new owner of Grounded Coffee House, has captivated Galan and unbeknownst to her, has given him hope for love, something Galan craves. But he will learn that Aria and her group of toxic friends is not what he needs - not even a little bit. Sometimes, the idea of 'love' can push us to our breaking point, again and again.
The raw character flaws of the main character, Galan, are what makes the book so innately human; at least for those of us who have never felt like they have been enough. The imagery used is impeccable and really reflects the tone of Galan's moods throughout.
Emotions evoked: anger, anticipation, fear, disgust, sadness, loneliness, hope, surprise, lust
Spice Level: 🌶🌶/5 I personally would love to see more spice as Latchman's imagery can do much for the imagination!
Thought-worthy points evoked by this book:
This book shines light on the reality of how selfish others can be, not caring which ways one can scar another person.
Certain situations in this book (no spoilers!) provoked thoughts about such a throwaway culture we live in, and not with regards to 'stuff' but with human interactions. When careless relationships damage us, aren't we all just a bunch of Broken Toys?
Other notes:
I would love to see this become a movie or even an adult Anime.
In closing:
I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to see what type of a ride the sequel, I'm Broken Too, takes me on!
August 14, 2024
2.5 stars
How does one start with a book like this?
The main character, Galan, is quirky and reclusive however, he opened and operated a café so well he earned his couple million. The beginning is him selling the café to a new owner - A member of the Scarlet family; billionaires - and learning that the owner is 16 years old.
Dana is determined to make something of herself so that people start noticing her for who she is and when she is struggling. She is casually seeing an older man child who is a 22 year old social media influencer. (Yes, the weirdness starts here.) obviously, Dana is underaged but for some reason no one gives a hoot.. and I’m sure that 16 is valid in some places considering many states still have the legal marrying age at 12 so alright fine (but clearly not fine).
Galan is obsessing over Aria, Dana’s older sister, whose approx age is 25 since I’m not checking. So ok…
But then in come all the friends of Aria that proceed to do the most shitty things ever and literally everyone overreacts through the whole book and the only person I could actively see being acceptable to overreacting is Dana because she is a teen.
The rest of the book felt like a cross between Invader Zim+Emperors New Groove+Family Guy but if it were rich whiney young adults in a murdery soap opera with sudden child assault. Everything is just so sudden and random to advance the plot.. and unlike Emperors New Groove where it extremely succeeded in doing just that, this did not. I was starting to dig that thinking oh maybe it’s just trope after trope but I don’t think it was…
I received a copy for my birthday because the pages are all black with white writing so it looks super cool however I do not believe I will be continuing since the random implausible story line had felt like a joke for most of the book until the end when we learned how bad the backstory of Galans life really is…
How does one start with a book like this?
The main character, Galan, is quirky and reclusive however, he opened and operated a café so well he earned his couple million. The beginning is him selling the café to a new owner - A member of the Scarlet family; billionaires - and learning that the owner is 16 years old.
Dana is determined to make something of herself so that people start noticing her for who she is and when she is struggling. She is casually seeing an older man child who is a 22 year old social media influencer. (Yes, the weirdness starts here.) obviously, Dana is underaged but for some reason no one gives a hoot.. and I’m sure that 16 is valid in some places considering many states still have the legal marrying age at 12 so alright fine (but clearly not fine).
Galan is obsessing over Aria, Dana’s older sister, whose approx age is 25 since I’m not checking. So ok…
But then in come all the friends of Aria that proceed to do the most shitty things ever and literally everyone overreacts through the whole book and the only person I could actively see being acceptable to overreacting is Dana because she is a teen.
The rest of the book felt like a cross between Invader Zim+Emperors New Groove+Family Guy but if it were rich whiney young adults in a murdery soap opera with sudden child assault. Everything is just so sudden and random to advance the plot.. and unlike Emperors New Groove where it extremely succeeded in doing just that, this did not. I was starting to dig that thinking oh maybe it’s just trope after trope but I don’t think it was…
I received a copy for my birthday because the pages are all black with white writing so it looks super cool however I do not believe I will be continuing since the random implausible story line had felt like a joke for most of the book until the end when we learned how bad the backstory of Galans life really is…
October 24, 2023
Neel I’m so sorry but I have to be honest. Wtf. It started out good and I was hopeful. But honestly it didn’t need to be as long as it was. Some scenes were characters explaining what they found out about the main protagonist and it was word by word verbatim of what the reader already knew. It was repetitive, the conflict was repetive..it felt like one big fever chase dream. I forced myself to finish this book. But man it’s put me in a slump of not wanting to pick up another book for fear it’ll be this bad. I like don’t trust myself to pick up another book. I think the best part was the illustrations. I wish I could read the second but I just can’t bring myself to torture myself again. It dragged onnnn and onnnn and onnnn. The characters weren’t even believable they were easily persuaded and just came off as very flat. Also the MC’s name is galant and one of the villains is Gerrick. Could we not come up with more distinct differentiating names for them? The POV swaping was also not a smooth transition. I found myself wondering who’s stream of conscience I was reading. And then lastly. Please the love of everyone out there, do you have to describe your protagonist with “Galan did XYZ.” “Galan did this and Galan did that..” can we not use terms like “he walked to the bar..” why must we use his name every time when narrating what he’s doing? It gets old. Trust me I didn’t forget his name once because it was always thrown in my face throughout the book. Do yourself a favor—read the series Netflix based their show on, “You”. It’s way more polished and not so far fetched or outlandish..
I’m so, so sorry but I don’t recommend this read at all. I can’t even bring myself to read the second. Best wishes to the author.
I’m so, so sorry but I don’t recommend this read at all. I can’t even bring myself to read the second. Best wishes to the author.
February 25, 2024
yikes. booktok got the best of me with this one. i thought maybe i went in with too high of expectations but after reading other reviews i realize its not me, its this book. the writing was so juvenile and repetitive it was almost angering at times. literally zero characters were remotely likable. i was interested to read some spice written by a man, since everything i read is written by women, and honestly it was exactly what i expected. TERRIBLE. the “spice” was hardly existent and what was, was mediocre at best. like telling a teenaged boy to write about sex. add in the fact this gave major “You” vibes, while doing it a injustice (because at least that was good).
the entire book was just a bunch of terrible people having the same conversations over & over again in circles, while a bunch of fragile ego men have a pissing contest to see who can beat up the bad man & make them a hero, even though it’s the same drawn out fights time and time again.
am i going to read the second one? yes, because the anniversary edition (which is HORRID production quality btw) is sitting on my shelf and i half to read everything i have. but am i looking forward to it? absolutely not.
i can’t believe i wasted a spot on my christmas list for this nightmare.
the entire book was just a bunch of terrible people having the same conversations over & over again in circles, while a bunch of fragile ego men have a pissing contest to see who can beat up the bad man & make them a hero, even though it’s the same drawn out fights time and time again.
am i going to read the second one? yes, because the anniversary edition (which is HORRID production quality btw) is sitting on my shelf and i half to read everything i have. but am i looking forward to it? absolutely not.
i can’t believe i wasted a spot on my christmas list for this nightmare.
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