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The Offering
Esme never anticipated that her nightmares were real.
Haunted by a shadow of the night, a man in a goat skull mask.
The Shadow Man.
She certainly wasn’t expecting for him and his three masked brothers to kidnap her the night of her twenty first birthday.To be caged, tortured, relished and destroyed by them and the shadow man.
Esme was told she was the most valuable pawn in the shadow man’s twisted game.That she was an offering to the void, to set him free.But falling in love with him was out of her control.Huxley consumed all of her. And she let him.
Even if it meant dying for him.
Huxley was manipulated by his own shadow.
The void.
He made a deal with the void six years ago. To offer himself in return for a pain free life, after suffering the aftermath of an eternal rest he cannot undo.Huxley saw a vision of Esme pulling him from the attempted suicide. And the message from the void was clear.Give her to me, and you shall be free.He became a shadow, hunting Esme.He fed many offering's to the void that looked like her, but they were not.The voices only grew louder and stronger in his mind, it was getting harder to ignore, harder to push out of his head. Hunting him for his unpaid debt. And after six years, he finally found her.But Esme had something that the others didn’t.
The ability to cleanse.Can he truly grant the void more than the debt that he owed?Authors The Offering is a very dark thriller romance, it is a single POV and contains scenes that may be disturbing for some readers. A full trigger warning list is available on my website THIS BOOK IS NOT A FANTASY, please do not dive into it thinking it
Haunted by a shadow of the night, a man in a goat skull mask.
The Shadow Man.
She certainly wasn’t expecting for him and his three masked brothers to kidnap her the night of her twenty first birthday.To be caged, tortured, relished and destroyed by them and the shadow man.
Esme was told she was the most valuable pawn in the shadow man’s twisted game.That she was an offering to the void, to set him free.But falling in love with him was out of her control.Huxley consumed all of her. And she let him.
Even if it meant dying for him.
Huxley was manipulated by his own shadow.
The void.
He made a deal with the void six years ago. To offer himself in return for a pain free life, after suffering the aftermath of an eternal rest he cannot undo.Huxley saw a vision of Esme pulling him from the attempted suicide. And the message from the void was clear.Give her to me, and you shall be free.He became a shadow, hunting Esme.He fed many offering's to the void that looked like her, but they were not.The voices only grew louder and stronger in his mind, it was getting harder to ignore, harder to push out of his head. Hunting him for his unpaid debt. And after six years, he finally found her.But Esme had something that the others didn’t.
The ability to cleanse.Can he truly grant the void more than the debt that he owed?Authors The Offering is a very dark thriller romance, it is a single POV and contains scenes that may be disturbing for some readers. A full trigger warning list is available on my website THIS BOOK IS NOT A FANTASY, please do not dive into it thinking it
568 pages, Paperback
Published January 13, 2024
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3110 people want to read
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January 21, 2024
This review will contain spoilers, as well as NSFW quotes
I tend to not write that many reviews, and typically I wouldn't even have finished this book to have been able to write an accurate review because it was so rough, but with the amount of hype this book has gotten, people deserve to see honest reviews to get a better idea of what to expect.
In essence, this book is a poorly written, barely edited, not technically Sleep Token Fanfiction in the form of a dark thriller romance.
The author is essentially marketing this book (at least on social media) as a "Sleep Token Inspired" dark romance, and has been adamant that it's not just fanfiction with the serial number shaved off. But anyone who knows enough about the band will be able to see way more similarities than a simple "inspired" story would have. I'm going to come back to this point because my issues with that are secondary to the sheer fact that this is just not well written.
The pacing of the plot is a bit odd, and there were multiple points where I was just thinking, "oh my god can we get to the point." There's a weird amount of exposition where it's not needed, many times breaking up someone's dialogue or conversation, so by the time we get the next line of dialogue, I've already forgotten what the last one was. It's hard to follow conversations in general because there are so many paragraphs that have multiple people speaking; no separation of paragraphs when a new speaker starts.
There are also certain phrases that are used far too often throughout the book, to the point where it's far past being used to accentuate a theme or anything like that. In the prologue alone, we right face first into this:
"A smell that I can never again unsmell. If that were even a thing. [...] A sensation that I can never again, unfeel. If that were even a thing. [...]A sound that I can never again unhear. If that were even a thing. [...]A sight that I can never again unsee. If that were even a thing." -(pp. 1-2).
Each of those pairs of sentences are preceded by one other sentence. Repetition can be a great literary device when used correctly, but this has 2 kinds of repetition that turn the whole thing into overkill. We're repeating the idea of the sensation she can never again un-sensation, and we're also repeating "if that were even a thing" 4 times in 4 three-sentence paragraphs. Putting aside the grammar issues in those phrases alone, it's just unpleasant to read. (The second phrase also repeats a fair amount of times throughout the rest of the book, whether 'if that were even a thing' or 'if that were even possible' etc.)
Similarly, certain words are repeated excessively throughout the entire story, and often they were used in a context that didn't make sense. Some of the most over-used words I noticed were 'squirm/squirming', 'swallow' or 'gulp', and 'pants/panting'. The characters (mostly Esme, the MC) were constantly squirming under someone's gaze or in their seat, or swallowing/gulping in nervousness/fear/anticipation/etc, and everyone was always panting their breath or Esme would note "my pants/their pants/his pants/etc" when they were breathing heavily. Again, I'm not saying these are bad words to use, but many times there were other words that might have been a better fit, which would have made it less likely that someone would pick up on how overused they were. In example of where something else might be better:
"I threw my body into a fit of kicks, and squirmed in defence." -(p. 211).
Spelling error aside, if you're throwing your body and kicking, squirming is almost too small of a gesture comparatively. Another example:
"I stuttered between my turned-on pants. Or whatever they were called." -(p. 85).
She even seems confused about if 'pants' is even the right word to describe that action (note that by this point Esme has panted or noticed someone else panting at least 10 times already, so she should know what the word 'panting' means).
We also get many instances where words or phrases are used that just don't sound good; like, I get what the author was trying to say, but it came out awkwardly.
"Using my forehead as a pair of hands[...]" (p. 64).
"[...]trying to look schmuck and cool."(p. 24).
"She was a billion dollars more than these million-dollar whores." (p. 45).
"[...]the dimly lit candle on the other side of him cast a darkness."(p. 129)
"I made haste closer to the door, not letting my breath shatter." (p. 129).
"I could sense the relief pouring from his body with ecstasy during each drag of his knife as it soared across my skin."(p. 320).
I could keep going, but at that point I might as well quote 1/2 the book. With all of these, you know what's trying to be said, but it just sounds weird. Actually, sorry, one more:
"I was staring at her like a deer would when trying to cross a busy street and headlights pointed at it."(p. 70). Just say 'deer in headlights' - we don't need all that.
Now, without getting ridiculously nitpicky, I will just say that there are A LOT of spelling and grammar errors throughout this whole book (comma usage, or lack thereof, was so egregious it made it genuinely hard to parse out what some sentences were supposed to say). The author edited this herself in a very short period of time (she explained in a TikTok that she started writing this book in August of 2023 and sent it for publishing December 2023, and we know it came out mid-January 2024), so that's not wholly unsurprising, but that's the thing! If you're going to write an entire novel in just a handful on months, and then you edit that novel yourself, you're waaaayyy more likely to miss errors, if you even see them as errors to begin with. No writer can get the English language grammar rules perfect - there's not even a clear consensus on some parts of it - but that's what editors are for; extra eyes on your writing to point out things you may not know or just may not have caught. It really just seemed like this author wanted to write, edit, and publish this book within the shortest possible amount of time, for whatever reason.
So putting aside grammar and syntax and over usage of words and phrases and all of that, there are other glaring issues at play here. I'm not trying to say any of this was intentional, because I would hope the author meant well here, but there were a few inclusivity things that NEED to be brought up.
First off, Esme's best friend and roommate, Tilly. Tilly is black, and is unfortunately victim to several racial stereotypes throughout her appearances. Tilly is a stripper and seemingly also a prostitute (it seems like the author is under the assumption these are the same thing), and she just loves sex so much that even once they're kidnapped and become sex slaves, Tilly is perfectly fine with that:
"[...] this place was built for her; she loved being the centre of attention like this. Naked, controlled, admired. She loved all things sex. Clearly, being kidnapped didn’t bother her."(p. 81).
This feeds into the 'sex-crazed black woman' stereotype like crazy. Then there's this: "“And giiiirl, he was eye-fuckin' the shit out of you.” Tilly blurted with her thick Ebonics accent."(p. 23).
First off, Ebonics isn't an accent at all; it's a dialect. Second, the closest thing Tilly ever said that even came close this kind of speech pattern was the "giiiirl". Otherwise Tilly spoke like any other character, except maybe a bit more excited and vulgar about things.
A secondary issue related here is the attitude about strippers Esme has; she is stated to respect Tilly and what she does, but then talks down about every other stripper she sees.
"She[Tilly] deserved more than this place. Some[strippers] had gang tattoos, others just looked cheap. No wonder Tilly made a killing here. The more I looked at the place, the more I felt all kinds of wrong. Dirty. Misplaced." (p. 29).
"At least this place wouldn’t give you an unknown disease just by touching one of the poles, or girls. Not that Tilly was disease-ridden; she deserved more than Jesse’s place. She deserved to be up here."(p. 44-45).
Another big issue is the gay stereotyping. When we meet Jesse, Tilly's boss, the first thing we learn is that he's "oddly dressed" and has "dainty hands". It's not outwardly stated yet that he's gay, but we can see the hints. And so can Esme, because 2 pages later, this encounter happens:
""Yes sir. Umm." crap, my cheeks flushed crimson, was sir the right word? Should I have said ma'am? "Oh God" I breathed. I wasn't one to insult a person, homosexuality was his choice, but I think I just did.
"I like d*ck, not titles. You're fine." he asserted. (p. 25).
Later, Esme is forced to watch while Damon and Ruby mess around, and she notes this:
[...]she teased at his arousal with her fingers. In a forbidden area that God, never intended it's use. Though, I remember Tilly mentioning it once or twice, anal. I had wrongly assumed that a person would only endure anal if maybe they were homosexual or whatever, but Damon was nothing of the kind." (p. 164). She's implying that A) anal is only for gay men, and B) Damon wasn't gay in any way - spoiler alert, Damon later engages in sexual acts with other men.
And that feeds into the fetishization of gay men that works it's way in to later sex scenes. On a quick glance back, I counted 3 instances where 2 men were either touching each other, or kissing, or doing something else sexually, and Esme specifically notes how much it turns her on (there may have even been more I didn't catch). This one might be the most blatant example, which happens as soon as Caine starts jerking Eli and himself off:
"Wasn't this… gay? I didn’t know, but it was fucking hot."(pp. 303-304).
What makes this so much more obviously Esme fetishizing gay men is the fact that Esme is constantly repressing her own desires towards other women. From the start, she constantly is getting aroused by Tilly touching her but tries to deny it, and this continues on throughout the story any time she recognizes how attracted she is to other women. We also specifically get this: "Women don’t admire other women sexually. That was just the way that it was. Right? Was there a switch? A button somewhere I didn’t know about? A ‘button-that-turns-off-sexual-desires-that-shouldn’t-be-felt’?"(p. 82). So it becomes very obvious that Esme has a huge amount of internalized homophobia, stereotypes gay men and activities she sees as 'gay', but also is very turned on by watching two men together.
And speaking of the sex scenes, they're just not that great. Yes, a lot of the trigger warnings make sense. Yes there's some freaky kinky things that happen. We get a Haunting Adeline and a gun goes somewhere it should never go. That's all great. No issues with how dark and how kinky it all is. My issue is in how awkward it is to read. Esme is a very innocent virgin who's never masturbated and never even kissed a guy before, and she's very religious and wants to save herself for marriage and such. Sure, that's great. Does anyone actually say "The ache in my woman area throbbed" or call their arousal "my secretions" or say that something "tormented my orgasm" or "tugged at my orgasm"? It's just awkward. And don't even get me started on the fact that two fingers broke this girl's hymen after the same man had already "shoved two fingers" into her a few hours prior, and in between, she'd also had a squirting orgasm before he fingered her with one finger and rubbed her g-spot, when she specifically said she was more turned on at that point than she was the first time he shoved 2 fingers in and that she was 'soaking wet'. It just doesn't add up! That's not how that works! So much of the sex in this story just so poorly written it's not even sexy.
The last big issue I have (I have many more small issues I'm not even gonna get into) is the blatant Sleep Token references all throughout this. Again, I know it's supposed to be inspired by them, and that's great - I don't have an issue with that at all. I have an issue with the fact that this still reads like a Sleep Token version of what 50 Shades of Grey did to Twilight, and the fact that the author denies this and yet still heavily promotes this to Sleep Token fans the way she does.
So, as someone else very much into Sleep Token, here are some of the MANY receipts.
Starting off with the similarities of the 4 main guys to the 4 members of Sleep Token:
-Vessel(vocalist): The shadow man is immediately described as wearing a faceless mask and a long black cape, and he has "long black painted fingers" covered in metal rings, he's "lean, muscular" and "his skin painted all black". Also, the eye holes of his mask are covered by a "thick layer of mesh" so you can't see his eyes, he has scars along his arms that you can see once the paint fades, and he plays melancholy songs on the piano while crying (we'll come back to this one).
-the others are less blatant, but here are some similarities - II(drums), III(bass), and IV(guitar) all have blue eyes of various hues; Caine has "intense blue eyes", Damon has "sharp blue eyes", and Eli has eyes "the color of the ocean". Also, prior to December 2023 when they got new masks, II, III, and IV all wore plain black fabric masks with the band's emblem on them; the first time Esme sees Caine, Damon, and Eli together, she notes, "[...]three men in black fabric masks[...]" (p. 57). There are more small personality details that heavily match up with common fan interpretations and/or theories of the band (all four of them and their book counterparts), but that would take forever to get into. The most objective example however, is when Damon "sky-high kicks above his head"(p. 190), which is something III does at almost every live show, many times multiple times a show. Of course, you could argue that all of these are merely coincidences, and I would have agreed with that had the author not specifically marketed this as "Sleep Token Inspired".
Probably one of the biggest similarities of all (that had me throwing my phone down and groaning out loud) is on pages 129-130. Esme hears sad piano music and sneaks over to find out what/who it is.
"It was a silhouette of the shadow man, the dimly lit candle on the other side of him cast a darkness. He sat at the piano with his black cape draped over him entirely. [...] I bit my tongue to stop my gasp, seeing his horned mask was perched on the top of the piano. [...] He was completely lost in his own world, tapping away at the black and white keys, rocking back and forth in his melody between the sobs. [...]Some of it[his body paint] was smudged on the keys of the piano, giving the impression that he played it a lot. The depressive tune and sounds of his weeps twisted at my heart.
In April of 2022, Sleep Token put on a live show called "From the Room Below", in which every song was only Vessel on the piano or Vessel with a guitar (with the exception of backup singers). For the first half of the show, it was just Vessel singing and playing on the piano, but he played facing away from the crowd and took his mask off. He played all of the piano songs with his mask on top of the piano, surrounded by dimly lit candles. He also audibly cries/sobs at different points throughout that show. It's just way too similar to not have been a direct reference, implying once again that the shadow man is supposed to be this world's version of Vessel.
There are also simply way too many instances where song lyrics were just slightly altered or rearranged to fit something being described or a thought Esme is having. I counted 14 alone from chapters 26-38, and those were only the ones I highlighted while reading because they were so super obvious. There were countless others that I guess could have just been coincidences, but were odd enough word choices that it made me feel like the author just had a list of lyrics and song titles and was just going through it every couple pages to pick somewhere to make another cheeky reference. Here are a few that were so blatant they made me actually wince:
"[...]diamond-like stars twinkled in the trees, the visual soothed my nerves in an instant. If you looked hard enough, they looked like perfectly scripted pentagrams. (p. 472)" = "Diamonds in the trees, pentagrams in the night sky" from Ascensionism.
"He was panting heavily as though he had searched the earth below and the sky above for me. (p. 438)." = "The sky above, the Earth below" from The Summoning
"Something has changed. She… is changing me. She is altering me (p. 383)." = "Every once in a while something changes -And she's changing me -It's too late for me now, I am altered" from Alkaline
And I was expecting some lyrics or song references thrown around, with the book being inspired as such, but it got to a point where it was taking away from the action and the plot because it was happening so frequently. If you don't listen to Sleep Token, I'm sure it wouldn't be like that. But again, she is heavily marketing this toward Sleep Token fans. Sure, maybe some readers will find the quotes and references fun and kind of a "ahh I see what you did there" thing, but it just added to the pile of things that rubbed be the wrong way.
And here's my final point;
More power to you if you want to turn your fanfiction into a published book - there are a whole slew of other authors who've had great success by doing that - but this feels like the author is trying to have her cake and eat it too. But there's a certain bar you blow straight past when you write a story so deeply ingrained in something that has so many direct references to that thing, and then turn around and market your book as "only inspired by". And besides that, this is so poorly written and was put out in such a rush (who writes and published a book in 5 months? No one), that it really feels like this was meant to A) have such a high shock value that it would pull in the kinds of people who only read dark romance books because of the taboo of it all, and B) feed off of the insane popularity boom that Sleep Token has had over the past year, and pull in readers who are trying to get their hands on anything even vaguely Sleep Token related.
And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's just poorly written and was rushed because she was just so excited to have her book out there, and there's nothing more to it. Regardless, I genuinely don't understand the 5star reviews, because this book is painful to read. I'm sorry if this review comes off as brutal, but I know I'm not the only one with these kinds of opinions.
I tend to not write that many reviews, and typically I wouldn't even have finished this book to have been able to write an accurate review because it was so rough, but with the amount of hype this book has gotten, people deserve to see honest reviews to get a better idea of what to expect.
In essence, this book is a poorly written, barely edited, not technically Sleep Token Fanfiction in the form of a dark thriller romance.
The author is essentially marketing this book (at least on social media) as a "Sleep Token Inspired" dark romance, and has been adamant that it's not just fanfiction with the serial number shaved off. But anyone who knows enough about the band will be able to see way more similarities than a simple "inspired" story would have. I'm going to come back to this point because my issues with that are secondary to the sheer fact that this is just not well written.
The pacing of the plot is a bit odd, and there were multiple points where I was just thinking, "oh my god can we get to the point." There's a weird amount of exposition where it's not needed, many times breaking up someone's dialogue or conversation, so by the time we get the next line of dialogue, I've already forgotten what the last one was. It's hard to follow conversations in general because there are so many paragraphs that have multiple people speaking; no separation of paragraphs when a new speaker starts.
There are also certain phrases that are used far too often throughout the book, to the point where it's far past being used to accentuate a theme or anything like that. In the prologue alone, we right face first into this:
"A smell that I can never again unsmell. If that were even a thing. [...] A sensation that I can never again, unfeel. If that were even a thing. [...]A sound that I can never again unhear. If that were even a thing. [...]A sight that I can never again unsee. If that were even a thing." -(pp. 1-2).
Each of those pairs of sentences are preceded by one other sentence. Repetition can be a great literary device when used correctly, but this has 2 kinds of repetition that turn the whole thing into overkill. We're repeating the idea of the sensation she can never again un-sensation, and we're also repeating "if that were even a thing" 4 times in 4 three-sentence paragraphs. Putting aside the grammar issues in those phrases alone, it's just unpleasant to read. (The second phrase also repeats a fair amount of times throughout the rest of the book, whether 'if that were even a thing' or 'if that were even possible' etc.)
Similarly, certain words are repeated excessively throughout the entire story, and often they were used in a context that didn't make sense. Some of the most over-used words I noticed were 'squirm/squirming', 'swallow' or 'gulp', and 'pants/panting'. The characters (mostly Esme, the MC) were constantly squirming under someone's gaze or in their seat, or swallowing/gulping in nervousness/fear/anticipation/etc, and everyone was always panting their breath or Esme would note "my pants/their pants/his pants/etc" when they were breathing heavily. Again, I'm not saying these are bad words to use, but many times there were other words that might have been a better fit, which would have made it less likely that someone would pick up on how overused they were. In example of where something else might be better:
"I threw my body into a fit of kicks, and squirmed in defence." -(p. 211).
Spelling error aside, if you're throwing your body and kicking, squirming is almost too small of a gesture comparatively. Another example:
"I stuttered between my turned-on pants. Or whatever they were called." -(p. 85).
She even seems confused about if 'pants' is even the right word to describe that action (note that by this point Esme has panted or noticed someone else panting at least 10 times already, so she should know what the word 'panting' means).
We also get many instances where words or phrases are used that just don't sound good; like, I get what the author was trying to say, but it came out awkwardly.
"Using my forehead as a pair of hands[...]" (p. 64).
"[...]trying to look schmuck and cool."(p. 24).
"She was a billion dollars more than these million-dollar whores." (p. 45).
"[...]the dimly lit candle on the other side of him cast a darkness."(p. 129)
"I made haste closer to the door, not letting my breath shatter." (p. 129).
"I could sense the relief pouring from his body with ecstasy during each drag of his knife as it soared across my skin."(p. 320).
I could keep going, but at that point I might as well quote 1/2 the book. With all of these, you know what's trying to be said, but it just sounds weird. Actually, sorry, one more:
"I was staring at her like a deer would when trying to cross a busy street and headlights pointed at it."(p. 70). Just say 'deer in headlights' - we don't need all that.
Now, without getting ridiculously nitpicky, I will just say that there are A LOT of spelling and grammar errors throughout this whole book (comma usage, or lack thereof, was so egregious it made it genuinely hard to parse out what some sentences were supposed to say). The author edited this herself in a very short period of time (she explained in a TikTok that she started writing this book in August of 2023 and sent it for publishing December 2023, and we know it came out mid-January 2024), so that's not wholly unsurprising, but that's the thing! If you're going to write an entire novel in just a handful on months, and then you edit that novel yourself, you're waaaayyy more likely to miss errors, if you even see them as errors to begin with. No writer can get the English language grammar rules perfect - there's not even a clear consensus on some parts of it - but that's what editors are for; extra eyes on your writing to point out things you may not know or just may not have caught. It really just seemed like this author wanted to write, edit, and publish this book within the shortest possible amount of time, for whatever reason.
So putting aside grammar and syntax and over usage of words and phrases and all of that, there are other glaring issues at play here. I'm not trying to say any of this was intentional, because I would hope the author meant well here, but there were a few inclusivity things that NEED to be brought up.
First off, Esme's best friend and roommate, Tilly. Tilly is black, and is unfortunately victim to several racial stereotypes throughout her appearances. Tilly is a stripper and seemingly also a prostitute (it seems like the author is under the assumption these are the same thing), and she just loves sex so much that even once they're kidnapped and become sex slaves, Tilly is perfectly fine with that:
"[...] this place was built for her; she loved being the centre of attention like this. Naked, controlled, admired. She loved all things sex. Clearly, being kidnapped didn’t bother her."(p. 81).
This feeds into the 'sex-crazed black woman' stereotype like crazy. Then there's this: "“And giiiirl, he was eye-fuckin' the shit out of you.” Tilly blurted with her thick Ebonics accent."(p. 23).
First off, Ebonics isn't an accent at all; it's a dialect. Second, the closest thing Tilly ever said that even came close this kind of speech pattern was the "giiiirl". Otherwise Tilly spoke like any other character, except maybe a bit more excited and vulgar about things.
A secondary issue related here is the attitude about strippers Esme has; she is stated to respect Tilly and what she does, but then talks down about every other stripper she sees.
"She[Tilly] deserved more than this place. Some[strippers] had gang tattoos, others just looked cheap. No wonder Tilly made a killing here. The more I looked at the place, the more I felt all kinds of wrong. Dirty. Misplaced." (p. 29).
"At least this place wouldn’t give you an unknown disease just by touching one of the poles, or girls. Not that Tilly was disease-ridden; she deserved more than Jesse’s place. She deserved to be up here."(p. 44-45).
Another big issue is the gay stereotyping. When we meet Jesse, Tilly's boss, the first thing we learn is that he's "oddly dressed" and has "dainty hands". It's not outwardly stated yet that he's gay, but we can see the hints. And so can Esme, because 2 pages later, this encounter happens:
""Yes sir. Umm." crap, my cheeks flushed crimson, was sir the right word? Should I have said ma'am? "Oh God" I breathed. I wasn't one to insult a person, homosexuality was his choice, but I think I just did.
"I like d*ck, not titles. You're fine." he asserted. (p. 25).
Later, Esme is forced to watch while Damon and Ruby mess around, and she notes this:
[...]she teased at his arousal with her fingers. In a forbidden area that God, never intended it's use. Though, I remember Tilly mentioning it once or twice, anal. I had wrongly assumed that a person would only endure anal if maybe they were homosexual or whatever, but Damon was nothing of the kind." (p. 164). She's implying that A) anal is only for gay men, and B) Damon wasn't gay in any way - spoiler alert, Damon later engages in sexual acts with other men.
And that feeds into the fetishization of gay men that works it's way in to later sex scenes. On a quick glance back, I counted 3 instances where 2 men were either touching each other, or kissing, or doing something else sexually, and Esme specifically notes how much it turns her on (there may have even been more I didn't catch). This one might be the most blatant example, which happens as soon as Caine starts jerking Eli and himself off:
"Wasn't this… gay? I didn’t know, but it was fucking hot."(pp. 303-304).
What makes this so much more obviously Esme fetishizing gay men is the fact that Esme is constantly repressing her own desires towards other women. From the start, she constantly is getting aroused by Tilly touching her but tries to deny it, and this continues on throughout the story any time she recognizes how attracted she is to other women. We also specifically get this: "Women don’t admire other women sexually. That was just the way that it was. Right? Was there a switch? A button somewhere I didn’t know about? A ‘button-that-turns-off-sexual-desires-that-shouldn’t-be-felt’?"(p. 82). So it becomes very obvious that Esme has a huge amount of internalized homophobia, stereotypes gay men and activities she sees as 'gay', but also is very turned on by watching two men together.
And speaking of the sex scenes, they're just not that great. Yes, a lot of the trigger warnings make sense. Yes there's some freaky kinky things that happen. We get a Haunting Adeline and a gun goes somewhere it should never go. That's all great. No issues with how dark and how kinky it all is. My issue is in how awkward it is to read. Esme is a very innocent virgin who's never masturbated and never even kissed a guy before, and she's very religious and wants to save herself for marriage and such. Sure, that's great. Does anyone actually say "The ache in my woman area throbbed" or call their arousal "my secretions" or say that something "tormented my orgasm" or "tugged at my orgasm"? It's just awkward. And don't even get me started on the fact that two fingers broke this girl's hymen after the same man had already "shoved two fingers" into her a few hours prior, and in between, she'd also had a squirting orgasm before he fingered her with one finger and rubbed her g-spot, when she specifically said she was more turned on at that point than she was the first time he shoved 2 fingers in and that she was 'soaking wet'. It just doesn't add up! That's not how that works! So much of the sex in this story just so poorly written it's not even sexy.
The last big issue I have (I have many more small issues I'm not even gonna get into) is the blatant Sleep Token references all throughout this. Again, I know it's supposed to be inspired by them, and that's great - I don't have an issue with that at all. I have an issue with the fact that this still reads like a Sleep Token version of what 50 Shades of Grey did to Twilight, and the fact that the author denies this and yet still heavily promotes this to Sleep Token fans the way she does.
So, as someone else very much into Sleep Token, here are some of the MANY receipts.
Starting off with the similarities of the 4 main guys to the 4 members of Sleep Token:
-Vessel(vocalist): The shadow man is immediately described as wearing a faceless mask and a long black cape, and he has "long black painted fingers" covered in metal rings, he's "lean, muscular" and "his skin painted all black". Also, the eye holes of his mask are covered by a "thick layer of mesh" so you can't see his eyes, he has scars along his arms that you can see once the paint fades, and he plays melancholy songs on the piano while crying (we'll come back to this one).
-the others are less blatant, but here are some similarities - II(drums), III(bass), and IV(guitar) all have blue eyes of various hues; Caine has "intense blue eyes", Damon has "sharp blue eyes", and Eli has eyes "the color of the ocean". Also, prior to December 2023 when they got new masks, II, III, and IV all wore plain black fabric masks with the band's emblem on them; the first time Esme sees Caine, Damon, and Eli together, she notes, "[...]three men in black fabric masks[...]" (p. 57). There are more small personality details that heavily match up with common fan interpretations and/or theories of the band (all four of them and their book counterparts), but that would take forever to get into. The most objective example however, is when Damon "sky-high kicks above his head"(p. 190), which is something III does at almost every live show, many times multiple times a show. Of course, you could argue that all of these are merely coincidences, and I would have agreed with that had the author not specifically marketed this as "Sleep Token Inspired".
Probably one of the biggest similarities of all (that had me throwing my phone down and groaning out loud) is on pages 129-130. Esme hears sad piano music and sneaks over to find out what/who it is.
"It was a silhouette of the shadow man, the dimly lit candle on the other side of him cast a darkness. He sat at the piano with his black cape draped over him entirely. [...] I bit my tongue to stop my gasp, seeing his horned mask was perched on the top of the piano. [...] He was completely lost in his own world, tapping away at the black and white keys, rocking back and forth in his melody between the sobs. [...]Some of it[his body paint] was smudged on the keys of the piano, giving the impression that he played it a lot. The depressive tune and sounds of his weeps twisted at my heart.
In April of 2022, Sleep Token put on a live show called "From the Room Below", in which every song was only Vessel on the piano or Vessel with a guitar (with the exception of backup singers). For the first half of the show, it was just Vessel singing and playing on the piano, but he played facing away from the crowd and took his mask off. He played all of the piano songs with his mask on top of the piano, surrounded by dimly lit candles. He also audibly cries/sobs at different points throughout that show. It's just way too similar to not have been a direct reference, implying once again that the shadow man is supposed to be this world's version of Vessel.
There are also simply way too many instances where song lyrics were just slightly altered or rearranged to fit something being described or a thought Esme is having. I counted 14 alone from chapters 26-38, and those were only the ones I highlighted while reading because they were so super obvious. There were countless others that I guess could have just been coincidences, but were odd enough word choices that it made me feel like the author just had a list of lyrics and song titles and was just going through it every couple pages to pick somewhere to make another cheeky reference. Here are a few that were so blatant they made me actually wince:
"[...]diamond-like stars twinkled in the trees, the visual soothed my nerves in an instant. If you looked hard enough, they looked like perfectly scripted pentagrams. (p. 472)" = "Diamonds in the trees, pentagrams in the night sky" from Ascensionism.
"He was panting heavily as though he had searched the earth below and the sky above for me. (p. 438)." = "The sky above, the Earth below" from The Summoning
"Something has changed. She… is changing me. She is altering me (p. 383)." = "Every once in a while something changes -And she's changing me -It's too late for me now, I am altered" from Alkaline
And I was expecting some lyrics or song references thrown around, with the book being inspired as such, but it got to a point where it was taking away from the action and the plot because it was happening so frequently. If you don't listen to Sleep Token, I'm sure it wouldn't be like that. But again, she is heavily marketing this toward Sleep Token fans. Sure, maybe some readers will find the quotes and references fun and kind of a "ahh I see what you did there" thing, but it just added to the pile of things that rubbed be the wrong way.
And here's my final point;
More power to you if you want to turn your fanfiction into a published book - there are a whole slew of other authors who've had great success by doing that - but this feels like the author is trying to have her cake and eat it too. But there's a certain bar you blow straight past when you write a story so deeply ingrained in something that has so many direct references to that thing, and then turn around and market your book as "only inspired by". And besides that, this is so poorly written and was put out in such a rush (who writes and published a book in 5 months? No one), that it really feels like this was meant to A) have such a high shock value that it would pull in the kinds of people who only read dark romance books because of the taboo of it all, and B) feed off of the insane popularity boom that Sleep Token has had over the past year, and pull in readers who are trying to get their hands on anything even vaguely Sleep Token related.
And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's just poorly written and was rushed because she was just so excited to have her book out there, and there's nothing more to it. Regardless, I genuinely don't understand the 5star reviews, because this book is painful to read. I'm sorry if this review comes off as brutal, but I know I'm not the only one with these kinds of opinions.
January 31, 2024
This is bad. All of it is bad.
If you’re a Sleep Token fan, this book will piss you off, and gross you out.
"Sleep Token inspired" is how this book was advertised. And yeah, that was true. It’s really, really, really, bad fan fiction… and that's being generous.
- I honestly don't think there was an editor for this book. The amount of errors made it hard to continue reading. The spelling. The sentence/paragraph structure. It needed to be read, then re-read, then re-read again. It was very wordy with a lot of unnecessary dialogue. Like the author had to meet a word count, so she just threw the same things in there, but worded it different. Nothing in this book made sense. Nothing was really explained, and if it was, it wasn't explained well. The character developments, individual and together, didn’t make sense. For example, there was no slow burn/tension between the FMC and MMC to make me believe that they would like/love each other. One minute the hated each other, next minute they're running off to get married (not really but you know what I mean). The plot is kinda there, but then again it’s like she had 100 ideas, couldn't decide on what to go with, then said fuck it, and decided to put them all in this book.
- The FMC wasn't well thought out at all. She was horny through 95% of this book. It was irritating, and every other paragraph was her feeling something sexual. I get she’s supposed to be the Christian girl, who goes to church, reads her bible, and doesn’t engage in anything remotely sexual. But to make her act like a horny teenager on the loose was not it. There was a better way to show this growth of her going from innocent and not knowing, to being comfortable with her own sexuality.
- Questionable portrayal of POC, lgbtq+, and sex-workers. Stereotypes for each. Example, black women being strippers in disgusting, stingy strip clubs. Also wasn't a fan of them calling FMC's friend Tilly, who's black, "the black girl". Bad taste all around.
- For being "Sleep Token inspired," it was a way too obvious on who was who. “The Shadow Man” obviously being Vessel, down to the body paint, black cloak, and black skinny jeans. “Damon” being III, down to the height and the on-stage antics that he does (high kicks and whatnot). Not gonna lie, I couldn’t tell who II and IVy were supposed to be, but that doesn’t matter. The author took the boys' on stage personas, flipped them 180 degrees, and made them into rapists, murderers, and torturers. As a HUGE Sleep Token fan, the way they were depicted was vile, and grotesque. Characters in dark romance books usually have SOME redeeming qualities. They had none in this book. I hated each and every one of them all the way to the end.
- The addition of the lyrics throughout this book was cheesy and cringe. They were placed at the weirdest moments, and didn't make sense to the scene or even the dialogue. If you’re gonna include them, intergrade them better.
- There’s a scene in the book of "The Shadow Man" playing the piano, with his back turned from the door, wearing his black cloak, with his mask sitting on top of the piano. Now where have I seen that before? Oh, I know! It's an actual performance. The author took a real performance (from the room below, look it up, it's a good performance), and decided to add it in. It didn't even make sense for it to be there. We get it, it's "Sleep Token inspired", but she didn't need to include everything they do in real life in this book.
- The usage of Vessel's actual scars pissed me off. Bad. Vessel has 3 scars on his forearm. They are not tattoos. They are not put on for the 'Vessel' persona. Those are real scars that belong to the man under the mask. That is his story and his trauma. We don’t know how Vessel got those scars, and quite frankly, it’s none of our business. The author though, took his trauma (for a lack of a better word) and used it in this book. She had no right to do that. If she wanted the MMC (The Shadow Man) to have a tragic story that involved scars, that's fine, but to focus on those scars that Vessel actually has, was over the line for me. It was in bad taste.
If she wanted to make a “Sleep Token inspired” book, there were soooo many ways she could’ve done it while still being in the dark romance genre. Like not making the boys literal murderers, rapists, and torturers.
If you’re a Sleep Token fan, this book will piss you off, and gross you out.
"Sleep Token inspired" is how this book was advertised. And yeah, that was true. It’s really, really, really, bad fan fiction… and that's being generous.
- I honestly don't think there was an editor for this book. The amount of errors made it hard to continue reading. The spelling. The sentence/paragraph structure. It needed to be read, then re-read, then re-read again. It was very wordy with a lot of unnecessary dialogue. Like the author had to meet a word count, so she just threw the same things in there, but worded it different. Nothing in this book made sense. Nothing was really explained, and if it was, it wasn't explained well. The character developments, individual and together, didn’t make sense. For example, there was no slow burn/tension between the FMC and MMC to make me believe that they would like/love each other. One minute the hated each other, next minute they're running off to get married (not really but you know what I mean). The plot is kinda there, but then again it’s like she had 100 ideas, couldn't decide on what to go with, then said fuck it, and decided to put them all in this book.
- The FMC wasn't well thought out at all. She was horny through 95% of this book. It was irritating, and every other paragraph was her feeling something sexual. I get she’s supposed to be the Christian girl, who goes to church, reads her bible, and doesn’t engage in anything remotely sexual. But to make her act like a horny teenager on the loose was not it. There was a better way to show this growth of her going from innocent and not knowing, to being comfortable with her own sexuality.
- Questionable portrayal of POC, lgbtq+, and sex-workers. Stereotypes for each. Example, black women being strippers in disgusting, stingy strip clubs. Also wasn't a fan of them calling FMC's friend Tilly, who's black, "the black girl". Bad taste all around.
- For being "Sleep Token inspired," it was a way too obvious on who was who. “The Shadow Man” obviously being Vessel, down to the body paint, black cloak, and black skinny jeans. “Damon” being III, down to the height and the on-stage antics that he does (high kicks and whatnot). Not gonna lie, I couldn’t tell who II and IVy were supposed to be, but that doesn’t matter. The author took the boys' on stage personas, flipped them 180 degrees, and made them into rapists, murderers, and torturers. As a HUGE Sleep Token fan, the way they were depicted was vile, and grotesque. Characters in dark romance books usually have SOME redeeming qualities. They had none in this book. I hated each and every one of them all the way to the end.
- The addition of the lyrics throughout this book was cheesy and cringe. They were placed at the weirdest moments, and didn't make sense to the scene or even the dialogue. If you’re gonna include them, intergrade them better.
- There’s a scene in the book of "The Shadow Man" playing the piano, with his back turned from the door, wearing his black cloak, with his mask sitting on top of the piano. Now where have I seen that before? Oh, I know! It's an actual performance. The author took a real performance (from the room below, look it up, it's a good performance), and decided to add it in. It didn't even make sense for it to be there. We get it, it's "Sleep Token inspired", but she didn't need to include everything they do in real life in this book.
- The usage of Vessel's actual scars pissed me off. Bad. Vessel has 3 scars on his forearm. They are not tattoos. They are not put on for the 'Vessel' persona. Those are real scars that belong to the man under the mask. That is his story and his trauma. We don’t know how Vessel got those scars, and quite frankly, it’s none of our business. The author though, took his trauma (for a lack of a better word) and used it in this book. She had no right to do that. If she wanted the MMC (The Shadow Man) to have a tragic story that involved scars, that's fine, but to focus on those scars that Vessel actually has, was over the line for me. It was in bad taste.
If she wanted to make a “Sleep Token inspired” book, there were soooo many ways she could’ve done it while still being in the dark romance genre. Like not making the boys literal murderers, rapists, and torturers.
January 19, 2024
***CONAINS SOME SPOILERS BUT NOTHING THAT WOULD TELL YOU THE WHOLE STORY, JUST SOME LINES AND STUFF! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!***
Okay...so this is about to be a brutally honest review. I will not write a review unless I have read the whole book. So, since I have finished this book, I will now give my honest review on it. There will be spoilers in this...so I will click the option to hide the review due to spoilers. I DID BUY THIS BOOK WITH MY OWN MONEY. It was $4.60 (U.S Dollars) in the Amazon store, and the edition I bought was the Kindle edition.
To start out with this book was EXTREMLY hard to even finish. The first half of the book was slow, very boring, and had very little spice. When I say very little spice...I mean it was a 1/10 for spiciness in the first half (well a little more than half). It had to slow of a start, and it even dragged on throughout the whole book. Even though it was very slow and dragged on it also felt like it was rushed at a lot of points and then dragged on even slower. I will insert chapters with pages numbers along with a quote. I will also explain why I felt the need to include it in my review.
Chapter 2:
Page 40:
I quote: "Watch that mouth, missy. Or I'll kiss that sass right out of you." he whispered.
This was just too cheesy and made me cringe as I was reading it (not in a good way).
Page 40:
She used the word Leant in a present tense form. I had re read the scene many times and even had my husband read it too. Leant is PAST TENSE and this scene is present tense. So, where I am trying to get at is, that the word Leant was not used correctly.
Page 41:
She used the word want in a sentence where it did not grammatically make sense. It should have been wanted not want, and it would have sounded a lot better.
Chapter 15:
Page 180:
She used the word on in a sentence where it did not fit or belong. The correct word should have been one not on.
Chapter 23:
Page: 245:
Took this long...over halfway through the book and we finally get to some actual spice. The spice level from here on out it about a 3/10 maybe a 4/10 (depending how new the person is to reading smut).
Chapter 24:
Page 258:
Very beautiful artwork! Well done on that!
Chapter 30:
Pages 341-348:
I like the idea she had with the journal entries. However, it got to a point where it felt like it was dragging on. It became even harder to finish the book at that point but, I managed to push through it and finish it.
Page 351:
"I screamed and howled, panted, and cried, shuddered and squirmed."
She did not group words properly here. This was very painful to read with the poor use of grammar/word grouping.
The correct way would be: "I screamed, howled, panted, cried, shuddered, and squirmed." or "I screamed and howled, panted and cried, shuddered and squirmed."
Chapter 33:
Page 379:
"I cried out and then he brought my right leg in front of my leg leg and padlocked it to the other shackle."
It should have been left leg not leg leg.
Page 380:
"Now you're going to be a good little sl*t and open wide for me." I said with a cocked brow."
*I bleeped out a word just in case.*
From reading that scene it should have been "he said." not "I said."
Chapter 39:
Page 431:
Very beautiful artwork again! Well done on the art for the book!
Page 433:
Please refer to the other part previously about the journal entries. The same goes for this one.
Page 434:
To be continued...
Overall, this book was very hard to even finish. I had to set it down many of times due to how boring it was. It lacked a plot that keeps you hooked along with a good story line. It was worth the price I paid for it. It also did live up to the trigger warnings. The "triggers" in the book were kind of weirdly placed and didn't really fit much into the story line. I feel like this book was all over the place and it did not have a steady plot/story to go with. Also, how does a character who is talked about and shown so much in the book randomly disappear? I am referring to their "sister". It was just odd to me.
To sum up my review, this book was not anything like I was expecting, and it was NOTHING like it was advertised or hyped up about. I was HIGHLY disappointed in it. I will definitely be adding this to my WNRA list (Would not read again list) and would not recommend it. There were way too many grammar errors and not much of a plot or story line. I noticed it said to be continued...I honestly wouldn't read the next one after reading this.
I did notice on the authors website that she is working on four more books. I feel this is why this book was not anything like she hyped it up to be. Maybe focus on ONE book at a time so the books don't feel rushed, not much of a plot, grammar errors, or boring. When it comes to editing, I would highly suggest having someone else edit the books after you...just to make sure things look and sound great. While also making sure the book has a good plot and hooks. It feels like this book was trying to be like "Haunting Adeline and Hunting Adeline." I get that it could have been inspiration, but it was not nearly on the same level as it. It should have been done in a way that made it unique from those books instead of trying to be like it or "compete".
Q: Was this book Sleep Token Inspired?
A: In a way yes. But it did not do any justice to the band even thought they were who "inspired it". It was very cheesy to imagine Sleep Token being like that in a book world. Maybe instead I could see it being inspired by "Sleep" and not Sleep Token. Maybe if it was just focusing on sleep instead of so many other things it could have been a good book that I would want to read again and recommend.
Some of the Sleep Token references she made were:
The offering -Book Title
Puppet Queen -Page: 263
Chokehold -Page: 267/348
Godsent -Page: 268
Sundowning -Page: 274
Summoning -Page: 299
Debt/Sleep -Page: 344
"you're like a flame and I'm the moth." -Page: 349
BY NO MEANS AM I TRYING TO BRING ANY HATE TO THIS BOOK OR AUTHOR! THIS REVIEW IS ONLY MY PERSONAL OPPINION ON THE BOOK AFTER I READ IT COMPLETELY! I REALLY HOPE THAT THIS FEED BACK WILL HOPEFULLY ENCOURAGE AND HELP THE AUTHOR WITH FUTURE BOOKS. I WISH I COULD SAY THAT I ENJOYED THIS BOOK AFTER WAITING SO LONG FOR IT AND WATCHING HER HYPE IT UP ALL OVER TIKTOK AND SOCIAL MEDIA BUT...I CAN'T. MY LAST HONEST OPINION OF/ON THIS BOOK IS I HATED IT...I WISH I DIDN'T BECAUSE SLEEP TOKEN IS MY FAVORITE BAND TOO AND THEY HAVE HELPED ME OUT OF SOME DARK PLACES.
**NOTE TO THE AUTHOR**
Please only work on 1 book at a time not 2, 3, or even 4...JUST ONE BOOK at a time please. I feel like it will help you focus on you story line and plots and make the books not feel so rushed. Also, please hire an editor to edit after you or even have a close friend who loves reading help with that part. I feel that it would also make your books so much better. The artwork was very beautifully done! I hope my review is helpful and shows you the readers perspective. I was not trying to be mean in any way shape or form. I just wanted to give my honest review on the book. I truly hope my review helps you in the future with books. <3
Okay...so this is about to be a brutally honest review. I will not write a review unless I have read the whole book. So, since I have finished this book, I will now give my honest review on it. There will be spoilers in this...so I will click the option to hide the review due to spoilers. I DID BUY THIS BOOK WITH MY OWN MONEY. It was $4.60 (U.S Dollars) in the Amazon store, and the edition I bought was the Kindle edition.
To start out with this book was EXTREMLY hard to even finish. The first half of the book was slow, very boring, and had very little spice. When I say very little spice...I mean it was a 1/10 for spiciness in the first half (well a little more than half). It had to slow of a start, and it even dragged on throughout the whole book. Even though it was very slow and dragged on it also felt like it was rushed at a lot of points and then dragged on even slower. I will insert chapters with pages numbers along with a quote. I will also explain why I felt the need to include it in my review.
Chapter 2:
Page 40:
I quote: "Watch that mouth, missy. Or I'll kiss that sass right out of you." he whispered.
This was just too cheesy and made me cringe as I was reading it (not in a good way).
Page 40:
She used the word Leant in a present tense form. I had re read the scene many times and even had my husband read it too. Leant is PAST TENSE and this scene is present tense. So, where I am trying to get at is, that the word Leant was not used correctly.
Page 41:
She used the word want in a sentence where it did not grammatically make sense. It should have been wanted not want, and it would have sounded a lot better.
Chapter 15:
Page 180:
She used the word on in a sentence where it did not fit or belong. The correct word should have been one not on.
Chapter 23:
Page: 245:
Took this long...over halfway through the book and we finally get to some actual spice. The spice level from here on out it about a 3/10 maybe a 4/10 (depending how new the person is to reading smut).
Chapter 24:
Page 258:
Very beautiful artwork! Well done on that!
Chapter 30:
Pages 341-348:
I like the idea she had with the journal entries. However, it got to a point where it felt like it was dragging on. It became even harder to finish the book at that point but, I managed to push through it and finish it.
Page 351:
"I screamed and howled, panted, and cried, shuddered and squirmed."
She did not group words properly here. This was very painful to read with the poor use of grammar/word grouping.
The correct way would be: "I screamed, howled, panted, cried, shuddered, and squirmed." or "I screamed and howled, panted and cried, shuddered and squirmed."
Chapter 33:
Page 379:
"I cried out and then he brought my right leg in front of my leg leg and padlocked it to the other shackle."
It should have been left leg not leg leg.
Page 380:
"Now you're going to be a good little sl*t and open wide for me." I said with a cocked brow."
*I bleeped out a word just in case.*
From reading that scene it should have been "he said." not "I said."
Chapter 39:
Page 431:
Very beautiful artwork again! Well done on the art for the book!
Page 433:
Please refer to the other part previously about the journal entries. The same goes for this one.
Page 434:
To be continued...
Overall, this book was very hard to even finish. I had to set it down many of times due to how boring it was. It lacked a plot that keeps you hooked along with a good story line. It was worth the price I paid for it. It also did live up to the trigger warnings. The "triggers" in the book were kind of weirdly placed and didn't really fit much into the story line. I feel like this book was all over the place and it did not have a steady plot/story to go with. Also, how does a character who is talked about and shown so much in the book randomly disappear? I am referring to their "sister". It was just odd to me.
To sum up my review, this book was not anything like I was expecting, and it was NOTHING like it was advertised or hyped up about. I was HIGHLY disappointed in it. I will definitely be adding this to my WNRA list (Would not read again list) and would not recommend it. There were way too many grammar errors and not much of a plot or story line. I noticed it said to be continued...I honestly wouldn't read the next one after reading this.
I did notice on the authors website that she is working on four more books. I feel this is why this book was not anything like she hyped it up to be. Maybe focus on ONE book at a time so the books don't feel rushed, not much of a plot, grammar errors, or boring. When it comes to editing, I would highly suggest having someone else edit the books after you...just to make sure things look and sound great. While also making sure the book has a good plot and hooks. It feels like this book was trying to be like "Haunting Adeline and Hunting Adeline." I get that it could have been inspiration, but it was not nearly on the same level as it. It should have been done in a way that made it unique from those books instead of trying to be like it or "compete".
Q: Was this book Sleep Token Inspired?
A: In a way yes. But it did not do any justice to the band even thought they were who "inspired it". It was very cheesy to imagine Sleep Token being like that in a book world. Maybe instead I could see it being inspired by "Sleep" and not Sleep Token. Maybe if it was just focusing on sleep instead of so many other things it could have been a good book that I would want to read again and recommend.
Some of the Sleep Token references she made were:
The offering -Book Title
Puppet Queen -Page: 263
Chokehold -Page: 267/348
Godsent -Page: 268
Sundowning -Page: 274
Summoning -Page: 299
Debt/Sleep -Page: 344
"you're like a flame and I'm the moth." -Page: 349
BY NO MEANS AM I TRYING TO BRING ANY HATE TO THIS BOOK OR AUTHOR! THIS REVIEW IS ONLY MY PERSONAL OPPINION ON THE BOOK AFTER I READ IT COMPLETELY! I REALLY HOPE THAT THIS FEED BACK WILL HOPEFULLY ENCOURAGE AND HELP THE AUTHOR WITH FUTURE BOOKS. I WISH I COULD SAY THAT I ENJOYED THIS BOOK AFTER WAITING SO LONG FOR IT AND WATCHING HER HYPE IT UP ALL OVER TIKTOK AND SOCIAL MEDIA BUT...I CAN'T. MY LAST HONEST OPINION OF/ON THIS BOOK IS I HATED IT...I WISH I DIDN'T BECAUSE SLEEP TOKEN IS MY FAVORITE BAND TOO AND THEY HAVE HELPED ME OUT OF SOME DARK PLACES.
**NOTE TO THE AUTHOR**
Please only work on 1 book at a time not 2, 3, or even 4...JUST ONE BOOK at a time please. I feel like it will help you focus on you story line and plots and make the books not feel so rushed. Also, please hire an editor to edit after you or even have a close friend who loves reading help with that part. I feel that it would also make your books so much better. The artwork was very beautifully done! I hope my review is helpful and shows you the readers perspective. I was not trying to be mean in any way shape or form. I just wanted to give my honest review on the book. I truly hope my review helps you in the future with books. <3
January 21, 2024
DNF at 53% or so.
Firstly, this book suffers from a great lack of editing and formatting. Huge chunks of paragraphs with multiple lines dialogue from multiple people in one paragraph chunk is a headache.
Firstly, this book suffers from a great lack of editing and formatting. Huge chunks of paragraphs with multiple lines dialogue from multiple people in one paragraph chunk is a headache.
January 28, 2024
I wanted to like this but...
I know all these good reviews are a damn lie. Please find any other fanfic and save yourself. I honestly couldn't make it a full page without cringing at something. Not to mention the errors and all over the place writing. The plot could have had potential if it didn't feel like trying too hard to be unnecessarily edgy with the "dark" parts. They didn't really add much to the plot either. The whole thing could have been told in half the time without half the trigger list. If you listen to Sleep Token it's pretty easy to make the connections between the characters, to a disrespectful degree. So much of this book gave me the ick, and not just because it wasn't my cup of tea dark. Using Sleep Token as the inspiration and main marketing for this book feels incredibly insulting.
I know all these good reviews are a damn lie. Please find any other fanfic and save yourself. I honestly couldn't make it a full page without cringing at something. Not to mention the errors and all over the place writing. The plot could have had potential if it didn't feel like trying too hard to be unnecessarily edgy with the "dark" parts. They didn't really add much to the plot either. The whole thing could have been told in half the time without half the trigger list. If you listen to Sleep Token it's pretty easy to make the connections between the characters, to a disrespectful degree. So much of this book gave me the ick, and not just because it wasn't my cup of tea dark. Using Sleep Token as the inspiration and main marketing for this book feels incredibly insulting.
January 30, 2024
I hope for the Authors sake, she is educated about copyright infringement and received permission to use ST lyrics before trying to capitalize off of them. I hope for Sleep Tokens sake that none of them ever come across this book and see how they have been depicted.
January 21, 2024
I don’t know man. I couldn’t do it. I had to DNF at 30%. I don’t like to review books I haven’t finished. But I had to do it on this one.
I absolutely adore Sleep Token, so when the author started posting on TikTok I was totally on board and preordered the book. Now, I’m no stranger to dark romance. It’s not my preferred sub genre and I have very few personal triggers. But this book? Like wtf? Now, as stated previously, I only lasted 30%. So I can’t say with certainty it was “super dark” but there was too much trauma in the beginning. And not enough to make me want to get to the good parts. The good Christian girl bit seems forced. But she has a stripper best friend/roommate? And the reverse harem? They just fucking actually torture her. The few spicy scenes I got through were super fucking weird and made me feel dirty. In a bad way. I’m literally writing this with a disgusted look on my face as I rehash my feelings on his book.
I just wanted a sexy Sleep Token fanfic. Let’s reference some song lyrics or themes from the band. Or the general personality of the members. Or some lore. The only thing I got was the H guy weeping while playing a piano? The fact they were masks. And the truly terrible club name.
Not to mention the nearly non existent proof reading. I’m 99% sure it’s self published, so I expect some grammar issues. But this was real rough. Like it got written once and never looked at again.
I really had high hopes. I get good recs from TikTok and like to support indie authors. And of course I love ST, but this was not for me. I’m not a Haunting Adeline girlie either. I prefer not to read SA or (g)rape as a plot device. But if you can get past all that, and have your FMC get kidnapped by “hot men” then brutally fucking tortured, you might be into this. God speed.
I absolutely adore Sleep Token, so when the author started posting on TikTok I was totally on board and preordered the book. Now, I’m no stranger to dark romance. It’s not my preferred sub genre and I have very few personal triggers. But this book? Like wtf? Now, as stated previously, I only lasted 30%. So I can’t say with certainty it was “super dark” but there was too much trauma in the beginning. And not enough to make me want to get to the good parts. The good Christian girl bit seems forced. But she has a stripper best friend/roommate? And the reverse harem? They just fucking actually torture her. The few spicy scenes I got through were super fucking weird and made me feel dirty. In a bad way. I’m literally writing this with a disgusted look on my face as I rehash my feelings on his book.
I just wanted a sexy Sleep Token fanfic. Let’s reference some song lyrics or themes from the band. Or the general personality of the members. Or some lore. The only thing I got was the H guy weeping while playing a piano? The fact they were masks. And the truly terrible club name.
Not to mention the nearly non existent proof reading. I’m 99% sure it’s self published, so I expect some grammar issues. But this was real rough. Like it got written once and never looked at again.
I really had high hopes. I get good recs from TikTok and like to support indie authors. And of course I love ST, but this was not for me. I’m not a Haunting Adeline girlie either. I prefer not to read SA or (g)rape as a plot device. But if you can get past all that, and have your FMC get kidnapped by “hot men” then brutally fucking tortured, you might be into this. God speed.
June 9, 2024
I have beef with this book honestly. There is no need for sequel. Everything could’ve been handled in one book if you took out some of the unnecessary dialogue and actually got to the point. If I had a shot for every time ‘Gah!’ was said I would be in the hospital for alcohol poisoning and my kidneys would fail. I expected the usage of ST lyrics here and there but good god above it was like beating a dead horse.
I don’t know if I’ll be picking up the sequel for the simple fact that I popped my tire from the amount of plot holes in this book.
Update: I will not be picking up the squeal and I will forever have beef with this book. It is absolutely disgusting how she blatantly portrayed ST as a whole. These men are over sexualized enough.
I don’t know if I’ll be picking up the sequel for the simple fact that I popped my tire from the amount of plot holes in this book.
Update: I will not be picking up the squeal and I will forever have beef with this book. It is absolutely disgusting how she blatantly portrayed ST as a whole. These men are over sexualized enough.
January 29, 2024
I can’t believe I didn’t dnf this and actually finished it. I took this one personally. Sleep Token is my entire personality so for this book to be inspired by them just makes me angry. It was brutal. How does an author not break up dialog? Half the time I had no idea who was even speaking. Happy that it’s over.
January 28, 2024
I know all these good reviews are a damn lie. Please find any other fanfic and save yourself. I honestly couldn't make it a full page without cringing at something. Not to mention the errors and all over the place writing. The plot could have had potential if it didn't feel like trying too hard to be unnecessarily edgy with the "dark" parts. They didn't really add much to the plot either. The whole thing could have been told in half the time without half the trigger list. If you listen to Sleep Token it's pretty easy to make the connections between the characters, to a disrespectful degree. So much of this book gave me the ick, and not just because it wasn't my cup of tea dark. Using Sleep Token as the inspiration and main marketing for this book feels incredibly insulting.
On a positive note.. I do think the physical book itself (from what I've seen, I read on Kindle) looks really nice. I liked the artwork, especially the last picture. I just wish the book was done better.
On a positive note.. I do think the physical book itself (from what I've seen, I read on Kindle) looks really nice. I liked the artwork, especially the last picture. I just wish the book was done better.
March 28, 2024
I loved this DARK story! I see a lot of people are giving the book 1 and 2 stars because of the “errors and formatting” but for what the book is “a DARK story” it’s a 4/5! I have read OVER 300 books in the last year and a half, this book is not a 1 or 2 star! I truly employed the book and will definitely recommend it!
January 30, 2024
It's just so bad. I still don't know wtf I even read. I don't really recall much of a plot. Things weren't explained. The only reason I finished it was because I wanted answers....that I never got.
August 6, 2024
Update- the new version of this book is just as bad and is still just plagiarising every sleep token song out there. How there’s not a copyright issue or lawsuit going on is crazy?? Also it weirdly skips between past and present tense mid sentence. And there are still mistakes. I get that some are always to be expected in any published book, but the amount is once again ridiculous. Honestly this just seems like a cash grab.
——
I was so excited for this book because dark romance (particularly reverse harem) & sleep token are my life 😩 but I feel like I’ve read a different book to everyone else and I’m only writing this review to give readers an idea of what to expect since I feel like it’s very different to what it was marketed as. I’m not bashing the author, it’s just my opinion.
To start with there are some very problematic issues with the writing and depiction of poc, lgbtq rep, sex workers and fatphobia. None of this is relevant to the plot in anyway it’s just seems to be a mix of poor writing and internalised social issues.
The fmc goes through A LOT and I wanted to feel sorry for her but she was so damn annoying I ended up not caring what happened to her in the end. For me it didn’t help that the entire book (like 500 pages) is only from her pov. I don’t remember the last time I read a dark romance that was singular pov, I know they’re out there but it’s just not my vibe and I assumed a book this long and with so many mcs would be multiple pov. I guess that’s my own fault for not realising?
If you’ve seen this promoted then you’re probably aware it was promoted as being inspired by the band Sleep Token and the author for legal reasons can’t actually say it’s about them but come on this is 100% fan fiction about them. The character descriptions are almost completely the same for each band member and the author has used pretty much all their material in her writing. I can’t even say it’s loosely inspired or just similar to the bands themes when it’s just straight up lyrics with the words moved around just enough to avoid copyright issues. There’s a difference between finding inspiration from song lyrics for your writing and just straight up stealing them and hammering them in on almost every page. It made the writing very clunky and I felt like it didn’t flow well at all.
There’s a scene where Vessel—I mean Huxley (I’m not sure why but that name just gives me the ick) is crying over his piano as he plays and it’s straight up just describing Vessels from the room below performance. Again it’s not even inspired it’s just copying the real thing straight onto the page.
The smut sadly didn’t hit the mark for me and didn’t feel spicy at all. Theres a lot of scenes but none of it is written in much detail and what detail there is made me cringe, even the gun scene didn’t do it for me. There’s no tension or burn between the characters. I ended up skimming most of it and my panties were unfortunately dry for the entire book.
I thought this was a why choose/reverse harem but it’s really not. The fmc doesn’t really end up with anyone in the end. She spends the entire book being r*ped and tortured by the guys and ends up falling in love with one of them and another betrays her?? Idk I’m also confused. I’ve read plenty of books with noncon and body betrayal before and this isn’t an issue for me in fact some of my favourite books have this theme but idk this book read more like a horror thriller with some erotic elements in rather than a dark romance. So don’t go in expecting the usual vibes of a dark romance I guess.
The ending isn’t really a happy ending and no one really ends up together. The plot is very messy and there’s a lot of things that just didn’t get dealt with at all. There’s a sort of cliffhanger so maybe this will change if the next book directly follows on.
Overall it was just nope for me. I do feel like the author missed the opportunity to put her own voice on the page and ended up forcing Sleep Tokens onto it instead.
Plot: ⭐️/5
Spice: 🌶️/5
Darkness: 💀💀.5/5
Characters: 😁/5
Editing: ✏️✏️/5
Overall: ⭐️/5
——
I was so excited for this book because dark romance (particularly reverse harem) & sleep token are my life 😩 but I feel like I’ve read a different book to everyone else and I’m only writing this review to give readers an idea of what to expect since I feel like it’s very different to what it was marketed as. I’m not bashing the author, it’s just my opinion.
To start with there are some very problematic issues with the writing and depiction of poc, lgbtq rep, sex workers and fatphobia. None of this is relevant to the plot in anyway it’s just seems to be a mix of poor writing and internalised social issues.
The fmc goes through A LOT and I wanted to feel sorry for her but she was so damn annoying I ended up not caring what happened to her in the end. For me it didn’t help that the entire book (like 500 pages) is only from her pov. I don’t remember the last time I read a dark romance that was singular pov, I know they’re out there but it’s just not my vibe and I assumed a book this long and with so many mcs would be multiple pov. I guess that’s my own fault for not realising?
If you’ve seen this promoted then you’re probably aware it was promoted as being inspired by the band Sleep Token and the author for legal reasons can’t actually say it’s about them but come on this is 100% fan fiction about them. The character descriptions are almost completely the same for each band member and the author has used pretty much all their material in her writing. I can’t even say it’s loosely inspired or just similar to the bands themes when it’s just straight up lyrics with the words moved around just enough to avoid copyright issues. There’s a difference between finding inspiration from song lyrics for your writing and just straight up stealing them and hammering them in on almost every page. It made the writing very clunky and I felt like it didn’t flow well at all.
There’s a scene where Vessel—I mean Huxley (I’m not sure why but that name just gives me the ick) is crying over his piano as he plays and it’s straight up just describing Vessels from the room below performance. Again it’s not even inspired it’s just copying the real thing straight onto the page.
The smut sadly didn’t hit the mark for me and didn’t feel spicy at all. Theres a lot of scenes but none of it is written in much detail and what detail there is made me cringe, even the gun scene didn’t do it for me. There’s no tension or burn between the characters. I ended up skimming most of it and my panties were unfortunately dry for the entire book.
I thought this was a why choose/reverse harem but it’s really not. The fmc doesn’t really end up with anyone in the end. She spends the entire book being r*ped and tortured by the guys and ends up falling in love with one of them and another betrays her?? Idk I’m also confused. I’ve read plenty of books with noncon and body betrayal before and this isn’t an issue for me in fact some of my favourite books have this theme but idk this book read more like a horror thriller with some erotic elements in rather than a dark romance. So don’t go in expecting the usual vibes of a dark romance I guess.
The ending isn’t really a happy ending and no one really ends up together. The plot is very messy and there’s a lot of things that just didn’t get dealt with at all. There’s a sort of cliffhanger so maybe this will change if the next book directly follows on.
Overall it was just nope for me. I do feel like the author missed the opportunity to put her own voice on the page and ended up forcing Sleep Tokens onto it instead.
Plot: ⭐️/5
Spice: 🌶️/5
Darkness: 💀💀.5/5
Characters: 😁/5
Editing: ✏️✏️/5
Overall: ⭐️/5
January 21, 2024
*spoilers and possible triggers*
I don’t really know what to say. I read it. That’s about all. I wanted to love this book as much as I love the author but I just don’t. I spent 500 pages reading about this girl who is taken and beaten and r*ped and who falls in love with her murderer making everything these men do to her okay? No I don’t think so. I don’t feel the chemistry between the mcs. I feel like the mfc was confused and tricked into thinking she liked the things that was done to her. She is a virgin who is forced to be with these men. She’s abused and starved and held in a cage and I’m sure this is for someone but it wasn’t for me. I wanted this book to be something it wasn’t and it just ended up making me sick in the long run. The only reason I didn’t DNF it is because I was hoping for something to get better and it never did. All the male characters are irredeemable and unlikable. The female character is native and instantly falls for the men who are abusing her. I never felt even one ounce of love between the mmc and the mfc. I knew what I was getting into when I started the book but this wasn’t dark romance. This was toxicity and physical and mental and emotional abuse at its highest. Stockholm syndrome is real with this one.
I don’t really know what to say. I read it. That’s about all. I wanted to love this book as much as I love the author but I just don’t. I spent 500 pages reading about this girl who is taken and beaten and r*ped and who falls in love with her murderer making everything these men do to her okay? No I don’t think so. I don’t feel the chemistry between the mcs. I feel like the mfc was confused and tricked into thinking she liked the things that was done to her. She is a virgin who is forced to be with these men. She’s abused and starved and held in a cage and I’m sure this is for someone but it wasn’t for me. I wanted this book to be something it wasn’t and it just ended up making me sick in the long run. The only reason I didn’t DNF it is because I was hoping for something to get better and it never did. All the male characters are irredeemable and unlikable. The female character is native and instantly falls for the men who are abusing her. I never felt even one ounce of love between the mmc and the mfc. I knew what I was getting into when I started the book but this wasn’t dark romance. This was toxicity and physical and mental and emotional abuse at its highest. Stockholm syndrome is real with this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 29, 2024
I really wanted to like this books but I just can’t.
1. Anyone who is a sleep token fan would feel disrespected by making them rapist, torturers, and just unredeemable as characters. I’m okay with pretty dark but not this.
2. I was so excited to have a body inclusive FMC but the constant comments on her weight, making her an easy victim by making her seem “unloveable” and “desperate for attention”, referring to her as “the piggy in the middle”, and just the awful ways she is described really irked me.
I was so excited to see a sleep token inspired book but I didn’t even want to finish it, I only did to see if it would make it any better but nope. IMO it’s disrespectful to try and attach something like this to sleep token.
1. Anyone who is a sleep token fan would feel disrespected by making them rapist, torturers, and just unredeemable as characters. I’m okay with pretty dark but not this.
2. I was so excited to have a body inclusive FMC but the constant comments on her weight, making her an easy victim by making her seem “unloveable” and “desperate for attention”, referring to her as “the piggy in the middle”, and just the awful ways she is described really irked me.
I was so excited to see a sleep token inspired book but I didn’t even want to finish it, I only did to see if it would make it any better but nope. IMO it’s disrespectful to try and attach something like this to sleep token.
February 3, 2024
Uh wow. I am speechless and really don't know what to say. I saw this book recommended in a group chat and immediately bought it. I have learnt my lesson the hard way. I should do proper research before buying books now because apparently, any one and every one thinks they can write and publish a book these days. And to promote the book using a popular music group? Yeh the author knew they'd need some strong marketing gimic. I don't know what to say about the writing. It's like the concept of editors and BETA readers had evaded this author. I'm sad and angry because there are so many good dark romance books out there that deserve the hype, but definitely not this one. In my opinion at least.
January 29, 2024
I was so stoked to find a Sleep Token inspired dark romance, but I couldn’t finish this. The writing was just awful. The constant need to mention the character’s appearance and how “chubby” she was just turned me off. Along with the emphasis on her being a virgin and not cussing… yeah, I couldn’t do it anymore.
January 30, 2024
DNF at 52%
All of my years reading and this is the book to do me in.
What is this? Honestly?
As a huge fan of Sleep Token and a lover of all things dark romance this didn’t check either box.
I truthfully have a hard time believing the 5 star reviews and that anyone enjoyed this book. And the “piggy” comment? Unnecessary. The 52% of this book that i forced myself to read was just insufferable.
All of my years reading and this is the book to do me in.
What is this? Honestly?
As a huge fan of Sleep Token and a lover of all things dark romance this didn’t check either box.
I truthfully have a hard time believing the 5 star reviews and that anyone enjoyed this book. And the “piggy” comment? Unnecessary. The 52% of this book that i forced myself to read was just insufferable.
February 16, 2024
Had to DNF this book. It made me feel like I was reading something that had to meet a certain amount of sentences so the author just overly described something that woulda been done perfectly with their first sentence of the paragraph.
January 24, 2024
why couldn’t this be another self-insert dub con fanfic involving all of Sleep Token on Ao3 like the rest of them
February 16, 2025
⚠️WARNING!!⚠️I did not read this book, but PLEASE do NOT support this author. A book titled "Written in Blood", was a collaboration of authors and the money was to go to charity. Layla Moon took all of the money and shut down her socials. I refuse to support someone who not only screwed over all of the authors who put their time in creating something that had to be ultimately taken down, but also all of the readers who donated that money for a good cause. I'll be posting this on every single one of her books. Please make sure to like this review so it stays at the top of the comments for future readers to see.
March 28, 2024
I’ve tried to review this a few times and it was kicked out for whatever reason, I digress.
I had to DNF this book. Not for the content pertaining to the trigger warnings, I read much darker books, the writing just needs improvement. On top of that there are so many problematic themes pertaining to stereotypes of POC that I couldn’t get past. There are several reviews that go in depth if you’d like more detail. I hope the author takes the criticism constructively and either reworks the book or doesn’t include these narratives moving forward.
I had to DNF this book. Not for the content pertaining to the trigger warnings, I read much darker books, the writing just needs improvement. On top of that there are so many problematic themes pertaining to stereotypes of POC that I couldn’t get past. There are several reviews that go in depth if you’d like more detail. I hope the author takes the criticism constructively and either reworks the book or doesn’t include these narratives moving forward.
April 15, 2024
1⭐| 2🌶️
I cannot believe I actually finished this. The author is well aware of grammatical errors, but looking beyond that, I don't even know the point of this book. It's not a dark thriller romance, its torture porn (heavy on the torture) and needlessly excessive. Do not recommend for fans of the genre. Also, if you're going to include a black character, learn how to write black characters. This reeked of misogynoir.
I cannot believe I actually finished this. The author is well aware of grammatical errors, but looking beyond that, I don't even know the point of this book. It's not a dark thriller romance, its torture porn (heavy on the torture) and needlessly excessive. Do not recommend for fans of the genre. Also, if you're going to include a black character, learn how to write black characters. This reeked of misogynoir.
December 26, 2024
Esme + The Shadow Man
-dark dark dark
-stockholm syndrome
-forced prox
-thriller suspense
this book was absolutely wild!! i honestly loved everything about it, it’s SOOOOO dark thoooo wow!! but the storyline has you SOOOOO hooked to kinda bypass how completed effed up it all is. 😂😂😂 it 100% gave me nightmares tho i’m ngl 🫣🫣😂😂😭😭👀👀
-dark dark dark
-stockholm syndrome
-forced prox
-thriller suspense
this book was absolutely wild!! i honestly loved everything about it, it’s SOOOOO dark thoooo wow!! but the storyline has you SOOOOO hooked to kinda bypass how completed effed up it all is. 😂😂😂 it 100% gave me nightmares tho i’m ngl 🫣🫣😂😂😭😭👀👀
February 2, 2024
This book was….poorly written. There were way too many issues within this book for me to even give it one star. It was a super tough read but I try my best to finish a book, no matter how I feel. And before any of the authors followers try to condemn yet another person simply for having a varying opinion….my problem with this book has nothing to do with how “dark” it is or the kinky things that happen. I’ve ready WAY deeper and darker things. This book is just a train wreck. It almost could’ve been some sort of quick, 200 page one-off book but there’s too many unnecessary moments and groups of pages that are completely unnecessary.
Poor character development. Poor plot development? It’s WILD to me that one of the biggest issues is poor plot development and pacing issues. Lack of education when involving POC (that’s BLATANTLY there for a reason and then just….not?…Ebonics is not an accent. It’s a dialect). Theres a part where the mmc says, “the black girl” in reference to the fmc’s roommate. There are about a dozen other options that could’ve been written in place of that.
Now, yes, this is a DARK ROMANCE. Lots and lots of trigger warnings. I have zero issues with any of those trigger warnings. But prepare yourself…if you can think of a “trope” then it’s probably in here. It’s one after another. My biggest issue is the “good Christian saint of a woman” knowing how to immediately just shoot right off into the realm of s*x. Taking things like a champ and no issues with anything at all. Like I said….very poor character development. Mix that with things happening with a human body that don’t make any sense because….science?
Don’t get me started on the “sleep token inspired” portion of this book. The book was heavily marketed to the sleep token fans/community initially as a sleep token dark romance. Then it quickly changed to “inspired by” right before it was released. It’s not “inspired by” when you take direct descriptions of the existing band members and place it in your book. From their physical looks to their behaviors that the band has on stage? Any fan can see that, clear as day. If the book was “inspired by” sleep token….then it wouldn’t have been such an obvious tie-in to the band, their members, and their music.
I’m gonna end this review with this: let’s not forget the real reason why reviews exist. They are for the consumers. Reviews for books are not for personal attacks on authors but for other readers to figure out if they should read a book, if it’s for them, or even to validate their own opinions during or after they finish ready.
Poor character development. Poor plot development? It’s WILD to me that one of the biggest issues is poor plot development and pacing issues. Lack of education when involving POC (that’s BLATANTLY there for a reason and then just….not?…Ebonics is not an accent. It’s a dialect). Theres a part where the mmc says, “the black girl” in reference to the fmc’s roommate. There are about a dozen other options that could’ve been written in place of that.
Now, yes, this is a DARK ROMANCE. Lots and lots of trigger warnings. I have zero issues with any of those trigger warnings. But prepare yourself…if you can think of a “trope” then it’s probably in here. It’s one after another. My biggest issue is the “good Christian saint of a woman” knowing how to immediately just shoot right off into the realm of s*x. Taking things like a champ and no issues with anything at all. Like I said….very poor character development. Mix that with things happening with a human body that don’t make any sense because….science?
Don’t get me started on the “sleep token inspired” portion of this book. The book was heavily marketed to the sleep token fans/community initially as a sleep token dark romance. Then it quickly changed to “inspired by” right before it was released. It’s not “inspired by” when you take direct descriptions of the existing band members and place it in your book. From their physical looks to their behaviors that the band has on stage? Any fan can see that, clear as day. If the book was “inspired by” sleep token….then it wouldn’t have been such an obvious tie-in to the band, their members, and their music.
I’m gonna end this review with this: let’s not forget the real reason why reviews exist. They are for the consumers. Reviews for books are not for personal attacks on authors but for other readers to figure out if they should read a book, if it’s for them, or even to validate their own opinions during or after they finish ready.
February 26, 2024
new ick = “Gah!” The expression was so misplaced and it irked the F out of me.
i really tried to like this book. it was extremely boring. there was no big climax. the spice didn’t do it for me.
*spoilers*
i’m starting to notice a theme for the things i don’t like. every dark romance book i’ve read where the MCs are trapped in one place for the entirety of the story i’ve rated 1 or 2 stars. the FMC has no backbone whatsoever. she’s horny for literally anything that looks her way.
nothing about this book was sexy. the FMC describes herself as smelling putrid and her teeth being furry because she hadn’t brushed her teeth in ages (understandable because she’s being held hostage), but to all the people describing this book as sexy… how?!
the entire book was this girl being bullied and treated like shit. ole shadow daddy treated her like shit the entire time. when i read a bully romance i feel like there has to be some balance… where’s the vulnerability? the after care? the sacrifice? anything??? shadow daddy claims he’s in love with her but ties her up like a puppet and almost bleeds her out. the math ain’t mathing.
the whole thing just felt dragged out and i didn’t feel a connection between the two MCs… or between anyone for that matter.
esme pretty much had the golden ticket to escape. she could’ve just run over cain and said sayonara. would’ve made the story far more interesting. because then these dudes probably would’ve hunted her.
the plot was dull. i truly did not give a fuck how this book was going to end.
and i could not care less about the grammatical errors. it really was just a lackluster plot and weird “romance.” absolutely no character development of the FMC. she’s a horny idiot in the beginning and a horny idiot til the end.
one more thing that made me feel uncomfy — Huxley had a journal entry about stalking Esme. It read, “She had no idea I have been watching her, the way she paces her room in those jeans. In class, walking home, having coffee with that black girl, drawing those butterflies in her room, sleeping, showering.” Tilly being described as “that black girl” feels racist as fuck and extremely unnecessary. if Tilly was white would she be described as “that white girl.” weird as hell.
if there’s a second book to this i want it to be from Tilly’s POV and it to be nothing but a revenge plot. that’s the only way i’ll read it.
i really tried to like this book. it was extremely boring. there was no big climax. the spice didn’t do it for me.
*spoilers*
i’m starting to notice a theme for the things i don’t like. every dark romance book i’ve read where the MCs are trapped in one place for the entirety of the story i’ve rated 1 or 2 stars. the FMC has no backbone whatsoever. she’s horny for literally anything that looks her way.
nothing about this book was sexy. the FMC describes herself as smelling putrid and her teeth being furry because she hadn’t brushed her teeth in ages (understandable because she’s being held hostage), but to all the people describing this book as sexy… how?!
the entire book was this girl being bullied and treated like shit. ole shadow daddy treated her like shit the entire time. when i read a bully romance i feel like there has to be some balance… where’s the vulnerability? the after care? the sacrifice? anything??? shadow daddy claims he’s in love with her but ties her up like a puppet and almost bleeds her out. the math ain’t mathing.
the whole thing just felt dragged out and i didn’t feel a connection between the two MCs… or between anyone for that matter.
esme pretty much had the golden ticket to escape. she could’ve just run over cain and said sayonara. would’ve made the story far more interesting. because then these dudes probably would’ve hunted her.
the plot was dull. i truly did not give a fuck how this book was going to end.
and i could not care less about the grammatical errors. it really was just a lackluster plot and weird “romance.” absolutely no character development of the FMC. she’s a horny idiot in the beginning and a horny idiot til the end.
one more thing that made me feel uncomfy — Huxley had a journal entry about stalking Esme. It read, “She had no idea I have been watching her, the way she paces her room in those jeans. In class, walking home, having coffee with that black girl, drawing those butterflies in her room, sleeping, showering.” Tilly being described as “that black girl” feels racist as fuck and extremely unnecessary. if Tilly was white would she be described as “that white girl.” weird as hell.
if there’s a second book to this i want it to be from Tilly’s POV and it to be nothing but a revenge plot. that’s the only way i’ll read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2024
Like what the actual f**k just happened?! But in like the best way possible! This book totally took me on a ride from the minute I read the blurb until I reached the end. Layla Moon y’all!! She’ll take you on the ride. For real. Like my head is still spinning so much that I probably should’ve waited to do this review, but my mind physically won’t let me not get this reaction out.
Let me begin by saying, the minute I saw the blurb, I was hooked. Sleep Token vibes? Stalker? Slow burn? Like yes please!!!!
The way this book grabs you from the minute you meet Esme is unreal. The mystery around Esme’s shadow man will have your mind spinning so hard you’ll be wondering if you’ll be able to unravel the pieces before the book ends. And just when you think the shadow man is the one we have to worry about, Layla introduces us to Mr. Fairytale!!! Oh, but that’s not all!! We get to meet Eli and Damon!!! Like the men that Esme is surrounded with….
like what?!?
This book is a major mystery. What’s the meaning behind the offerings? Who is this shadow man? Why does he remain in the shadows? Why is Esme being treated differently than all the rest? Literally mind blowing. When you finally reach the point that you think you know what’s gonna happen, BOOM TWIST! I don’t think my mouth has fully closed from having my jaw dropped so many times. Well done! This book y’all!! Y’all need to read it…. ASAP!
Let me begin by saying, the minute I saw the blurb, I was hooked. Sleep Token vibes? Stalker? Slow burn? Like yes please!!!!
The way this book grabs you from the minute you meet Esme is unreal. The mystery around Esme’s shadow man will have your mind spinning so hard you’ll be wondering if you’ll be able to unravel the pieces before the book ends. And just when you think the shadow man is the one we have to worry about, Layla introduces us to Mr. Fairytale!!! Oh, but that’s not all!! We get to meet Eli and Damon!!! Like the men that Esme is surrounded with….
like what?!?
This book is a major mystery. What’s the meaning behind the offerings? Who is this shadow man? Why does he remain in the shadows? Why is Esme being treated differently than all the rest? Literally mind blowing. When you finally reach the point that you think you know what’s gonna happen, BOOM TWIST! I don’t think my mouth has fully closed from having my jaw dropped so many times. Well done! This book y’all!! Y’all need to read it…. ASAP!
January 31, 2024
Saw a lot of mixed reviews for this, but as a fan of dark reads and a person that's not a follower of Sleep Token I thought I would perhaps enjoy it (noticed those were alot of the negative comments).
This was not the one for me, I did end up DNF after the first few chapters as it was difficult to read.
The writing felt off...it just doesn't flow and felt very disjointed. There are pretty basic errors that should have been picked up before publishing but haven't been.
There are elements that just feel played up, and as was no connection between the reader and the FMC it doesn't feel genuine. The scary nightmares...it dove straight in at the beginning and I just didn't feel anything.
There's a bit of repetition and a lot of descriptions too...plus the OTT religious aspect felt weird. She has to be a "good girl" and she slates all of the women in the strip club. She's never been kissed or had alcohol (she can down 5 tequilas for the first time and not be drunk...) but every time someone touches or looks at her she gets tingly in her pants.
Eeek, I just wish I could have given more positive feedback but I didn't have any.
This was not the one for me, I did end up DNF after the first few chapters as it was difficult to read.
The writing felt off...it just doesn't flow and felt very disjointed. There are pretty basic errors that should have been picked up before publishing but haven't been.
There are elements that just feel played up, and as was no connection between the reader and the FMC it doesn't feel genuine. The scary nightmares...it dove straight in at the beginning and I just didn't feel anything.
There's a bit of repetition and a lot of descriptions too...plus the OTT religious aspect felt weird. She has to be a "good girl" and she slates all of the women in the strip club. She's never been kissed or had alcohol (she can down 5 tequilas for the first time and not be drunk...) but every time someone touches or looks at her she gets tingly in her pants.
Eeek, I just wish I could have given more positive feedback but I didn't have any.
April 3, 2024
I’m honestly upset I paid money for this book. I didn’t even get to any references of Sleep Token or any of the more dark themes explained in the content warning. I had to DNF this after two chapters. To be clear, I don’t mind dark themes. I was looking forward to a dark romance that was influenced by my favorite band. I do mind an insufferably juvenile FMC (or as tiktok likes to put it: a “pick-me”). It is possible to write someone who is struggling with self-esteem and self-worth issues, and not make them out to be a judgemental asshole to their “friends”.
Her roommate lives a different lifestyle than the FMC and the author makes it a point to put down the roommate. Whatever the intention was, it did not come across to me. From what I assume, it was a poorly executed attempt to make the FMC seem “pure”. Again, it is possible to write a pure FMC without shitting on all of the other characters in your story.
This was severely disappointing characterization and it’s hard to continue with a story when the character who’s perspective you’re reading from is completely immature.
Her roommate lives a different lifestyle than the FMC and the author makes it a point to put down the roommate. Whatever the intention was, it did not come across to me. From what I assume, it was a poorly executed attempt to make the FMC seem “pure”. Again, it is possible to write a pure FMC without shitting on all of the other characters in your story.
This was severely disappointing characterization and it’s hard to continue with a story when the character who’s perspective you’re reading from is completely immature.
June 4, 2024
This book was chaos is the best way. I was hooked and anxious the entire time! I had so many guesses as to what would happen and I was wrong the entire time!
Trigger warnings for this book but like, make them spicy as shit and extra. I am here for every. Single. One.
That character development between the two main characters was next level. Seriously.. whaaa..??
How dare you leave the book off on that cliffy??
I have so many questions and am so invested it hurts!!
The spell this book has me under is ridiculous. I fell in love with the characters and where the plot was going and had so many hopes. Gahhh my heart!! I have no words.
Please gimme book two now. Right now!
Trigger warnings for this book but like, make them spicy as shit and extra. I am here for every. Single. One.
That character development between the two main characters was next level. Seriously.. whaaa..??
How dare you leave the book off on that cliffy??
I have so many questions and am so invested it hurts!!
The spell this book has me under is ridiculous. I fell in love with the characters and where the plot was going and had so many hopes. Gahhh my heart!! I have no words.
Please gimme book two now. Right now!
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