1 star ★☆☆☆☆ – This Book Broke Me (In the Worst Way)
How do I be brutally honest without sounding like a total bitch? Because I hated this book—and I hate that I hated it, especially since I loved Make Me by Alina May. I went in with high hopes, but this was a full-blown disaster for me.
It started off strong, I’ll admit that. But then it tanked. Hard. The further I read, the more frustrated I became—until I was practically pulling my hair out just to finish. The writing felt rushed and unpolished, the plot was barely there, and the characters? Dry as day-old toast.
And that hurts to say, because this should have been my thing: dark romance, hunting, why choose—normally, I eat that up. But here? It was all so poorly executed I genuinely regretted reading it. The moment Cali got kidnapped, the whole thing spiraled.
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Characters:
• Cali:
I couldn’t stand her. She didn’t stand out as a main character—just felt dull and passive. After her kidnapping, she barely protested her innocence. Yeah, she fought, but that spirit vanished the moment things turned sexual. I just couldn’t root for her.
• Sawyer:
Almost DNF’d because of this man. I cringed constantly. His whole “little bunny” thing? Gross. The collar? What is this, 2012 Wattpad? And let’s not forget—he branded her. With a hot iron. For what?? He’s got a tragic backstory, apparently, but it was barely explored and honestly? I didn’t care.
• Miles:
Sweet, but basically a lapdog until Cali shows up and he suddenly grows a spine. His “dominant” turn felt random and unearned. I didn’t hate him, but I didn’t care either.
• Ryder:
Surprisingly, I sometimes liked Ryder. He had potential with his protective instincts, but I could not, for the life of me, figure out how or why he fell for Cali. He wanted her gone—hated her—then suddenly he’s in love? Let’s be honest: that was just his dick talking.
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The Real Problems:
I can’t tell you how exhausting it was to read another scene where the guys were thinking with their junk. Every paragraph, someone’s hard. I get the genre. I know what I signed up for. But seriously, could we have a bit of restraint?
And while I wasn’t attached to Cali, it was painful watching her go through trauma after trauma. Abused by her ex, relapsing, kidnapped—and all in the span of 24 hours. She was in survival mode, and these men thought that was hot? One even fantasized about her being asleep and fighting him off. No. That’s not sexy. That’s disturbing.
And don’t get me started on the torture scene with Ben, her abusive ex. Sure, I get wanting revenge—but the way it was written? No.
Cutting off his nuts and feeding them to him? Cooked.
With barbecue sauce.
And THEN Sawyer wanted to use Ben’s severed dick to… yeah. I’m not even finishing that sentence. You already know.
At that point, I was DONE.
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Overall:
This book was dogshit. Harsh? Maybe. But I’m mad I didn’t DNF it. I wanted to love another Alina May book—but this? This wasn’t it. Not by a long shot. I wish I could get my time back from this nightmare of a read. (I can’t even imbed quotes in this shit)