The Syndicater

Dark Verse #6

by RuNyx

From the New York Times bestselling author of Gothikana, comes the highly anticipated finale of the Dark Verse series.

It ends where it begins.

Four couples. Six books. One saga.

Tristan and Morana. Dante and Amara. Alpha and Zephyr. Shadow Man and Lyla.

The world is darker. The game more dangerous. The stakes much more deadly.

A new era is born.

***

Please This is the sixth book in the series and must be read in order. Reading out of order is not recommended. This is a dark romance series. Please read the author's note for content warnings.

Genres: Dark Romance, Romance, Dark, Mafia Romance, Found Family, Contemporary, Mystery

578 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2024

About the author

RuNyx is a New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling author of romance. Her stories range across subgenres from dark contemporary to gothic to historical to fantasy and more, and are currently being translated into over 10 languages.

Her pen name has a very special meaning to her. When she's not writing, she's reading, traveling, meditating, daydreaming, and most of all, procrastinating.

Join her newsletter tribe for all updates and stalk her on her social media.

Website ➡️ https://runyxwrites.com
Newsletter ➡️ https://runyx.myflodesk.com/newsletter
Instagram ➡️ instagram.com/authorrunyx
Reader Group ➡️ facebook.com/groups/runyx

Reviews

[Clace · Rating 2 out of 5]

The more I think on it the more I dislike it. There were so many plot holes that a finale should not have. It was supposed to be wrapped up perfectly but it unfortunately was not and I didn't want to give it a two but that's what it deserves and I'm sad to part ways with this series this way 😔

This book was definitely not bad as most of the people are saying that it is but it's not good either. I had a fun time reading this and some scenes in this book easily deserve five stars but others not so much. I read some of the one star reviews and the way SOME OF THEM have the audacity to lie 😒

This review will be divided into two sections a small spoiler free section and ranty spoilery section and obviously I'll post a warning before the spoiler section starts.

SPOILER FREE SECTION:

This book is definitely not 300-400 pages it ranges across 600 pages and for the most part of this book I would say we saw some of RuNyx's best writing moments however there were some moments which were definitely not her best proving to be inconsistent and hindering the pace, I would also NOT agree with anyone saying this was FAST paced because part 2 was very slow, it definitely had issues with it's pacing, I would say part 1 was done absolutely beautifully that deserves like five bright shining stars and the first few chapters of part 2 were amazing as well for the first 4 chapters and the reunion was the best most perfect reunion one could ever ask for!! honestly the reunion was everything and I like that it wasn't from Tristan and Luna's point of view because it hit more from the pov's of others and I liked that we got to see them from more than one point of view!!! I feel like their emotions would've been very messy to write so I loveeed what we got and tristan sobbing broke me Part 2 besides that was very slow, I was bored at times and I feel like it focused on one character more than all of the characters and the back to back 4 smutty chapters didn't help like what happened 😭 part two was like two stars at best and part 3 had me conflicted because unlike most people one of the plot twist really shocked me, I was happy with part 3 until I got two chapters past it and I felt like the resolution was wayyy too rushed. The epilogues were the dumbest, most useless, pathetic chapters that I have ever read I HATED THEM!! For part 3 and epilogues I give them 1 star.

that is all you guys are gonna get for the spoiler free section because the other things definitely need to be discussed in detail

*SPOILERS*
*SPOILERS*
*SPOILERS*

Lets start with the characters 😔

I am so disappointed when it came to them like the way part 1 was going I thought I was going to love it and let me tell up until the reunion everything was perfect I wouldn't change anything but after that things got so messed up.

Tristan and Morana

I am feral over Tristan and Morana they are like my favourite couples in this series and I have no idea what Runyx was doing with them. I know we have two books about them but don't say that shit to me cuz this was supposed to be everyone's book not just Dainn and Luna's so to see Tristan and Morana get sidelined was so infuriating. Morana deserved so much more than what this book offered!! I liked that she was an integral part of this book but the things that happened to her were a NO NO I had a feeling that Morana would get kidnapped and when that happened I was fine with it because I liked how it was shaping the plot but, I loved her though she made me love the book, the way she carried herself, she was so independent and did almost everything on her own. Figured stuff way before everyone else and gave Tristan and Luna time and was there for Tristan from the start!! I did not like her not finding out her real name tho

Tristan...Tristan in part 1 is the Tristan I know and love because what happened to him? no he wasn't butchered and I still loved him but his tendency to not notice how much pain Morana was in while literally everyone else noticed it?? Even Dainn noticed it!! and Tristan failed to notice it?? and him not saying I LOVE YOU to her was criminal but besides that I loved Tristan and I loved his relationship with Xander. His perspective was so needed because I loved it. His broke down when Morana broke the news to him about finding Luna was so well written, his panic attack with Morana comforting him was literally was all I needed and some of you need to back off because he was AN AMAZING brother not once did he say anything to Luna and the way he respected her and gave her everything?? and I still see things like he slut shamed her?? like bitch where??? His monologue was so fun to read it was something that I felt missing from his books so obviously I would love it.

Xander, I was happy with him staying with Tristan and Morana because seeing how Xander likes things to be done in a certain way and to follow a routine and him already loving them as parents and being comfortable with them was why I think it was perfect that he stayed with them because the entire time I was reading Luna's perspective, she didn't really react to Xander being her son or said anything related to it so I didn't really have strong opinions of him going to her, they barely got any screentime so I don't see why people expect me to root for Xander to go to her when Tristan and Morana treat him so well. I liked the relationship that Xander built with Tristan and Morana and how he was so observant with Morana and noticed when she was in pain or took track of her medicine and snitched on Morana with Tristan and that scene where he high fived him was so cute!! Tristan bonding with him over food was soo cute and his scene with zephyr was one of my favourites.

The romance, I wasn't really expecting some domestic moments because I thought that everyone would be so busy with the syndicate but if Dainn and Luna were bunnies for the whole first half why couldn't Tristan and Morana have some time they were robbed and the one scene that we got was a smut scene and I mean it was very hot when Tristan turned her into a pretzel but still I needed some cute moments between them and ugh I just don't understand how Tristan the most observant man failed to see Morana being in pain!! that is not him also I hated the epilogues and I wasn't a fan of the wedding I wanted more of it! I also wanted the proposal?? but ig we'll get that in the novella. (EDIT:) after reading the new chapters that runyx apparently was hiding I liked Tristan taking care of her and how he's still looking for doctors for her arm!!

Tristan and Luna

God!!! I am so pissed at this one because what the actual fuck was going on the last chapters Runyx was just playing with my head. Lemme just say I like the time they got to spend together but he said I love you to her and couldn't say that to Morana? *SIDE EYE* I like how he treated her and I like that he didn't even get mad at her not sharing everything man just said EXFUCKINGPLAIN in a harsh voice but Luna I expected more from her, she definitely did not carry out the conversation well lmaoo ALSOO omg I felt like crying and laughing that Tristan waited to find Luna to marry Morana but miss girl was already married with Dainn like okayyy ok now that its out of the way I wanna ask what the fuck were you playing at runyx? what was going on saying the Tristan's mom died at childbirth and his step mom was Lunas mom and Tristan's dad raped her and from that Luna was born making her his half sister but then moving forward Runyx says that they're not related like pls someone explain I wanted to bash my head after this.

Dainn and Luna

I have no idea what happened with them because while I loved them in the previous book I hated them in this. They were literally bunnies throughout the first half literally fucking every chance they got, everyone else is doing some shit and Dainn and Luna?? bang bang. Luna also keeping everything made me sour she definitely needed to communicate because everyone except Tristan knew about the shadowman and her and Morana even asked her to tell him but she literally just stood there until the last moment and her being so pathetic at communicating like my man just asked you to explain because you had literally been hiding everything and instead of explaining properly you said "He's mine" that was the worst line in this entire series like come on omgg and not to mention how he asked her to Exfuckingplain because same?? she starts yelling at him like obviously he would ask you to explain because what even is he's mine and he's my devil like god?? I like how Tristan did shame her or belittle her and was a good big brother. Her thinking about changing her name during the last mess of chapters?? woman Morana is over there loosing her arm and everyone's dying and your dumbass is thinking about changing your name to lyna?? what the fuck is even lyna that's the worst name I have ever heard. Her not killing herself because of Xander and barely interacting with him was so foul of runyx like she did not have one single deep convo with him and I hated that.

Dainn, I hate him for personal reasons, him threatening Tristan was my last straw because I wanted to punch him but ugh he got on my nerves a lot and I loved the part where Tristan called him an asshole, a bottomfeeder and punched him because it healed me, if that bitch would've communicated with him things would have been much more smoother for everyone and their epilogue was so dumb I hated it. Also my one complain in the annihilator was the I wanted more of Dainns past but where was that here??

Dante and Amara

what even was their purpose?? them having the best book but the worst screen time in this is absolutely baffling!! the short moments that we got of them were cute but like what did they even do in this book because wasn't everyone supposed to be the main character here but they read like side characters because the only part where they felt like main characters were during their smut scene. Dante and Amara from the few scenes that we got did not disappoint!! they were cute and hot and smart, I loved how Dante was the most accessible how everyone felt calm around him and his relationship with Tristan and alpha was so wholesome but his relationship with Morana was everything the way Morana would consult him first. The same with Amara her relationship with them was so cute!! and tempest ahh the cutest, her chewing on Alpha's eyepatch was the cutest as well. That was all from them tbh.

Their epilogue was the worst one!! I hated how they talked about Vin throughout the book and then they just killed him off in one line and mind you they also killed Amara's mother in one sentence?? Like what was that because she deserved better!! I hated that it was the worst way to end their story.

(EDIT) after reading the added chapters I liked Amara's point of view and also giving more closure was done well.

Alpha and Zephyr

I love them but Runyx clearly doesn't because what did they even do in this book the plot twist was related to her but all Zephyr did was dye her hair and pee like?? I wanted more and her character offers more and lmmaooo the way Alpha was violated here, everyone kept calling that poor man one eyes, like ok we get it but no we would get dialogues like that one eyed gentle beast or my one eyed brother in law every chapter and the whole pregnancy thing was a little messy as well, we barely got time for them together and we got one single flashback and it was so meh!! I wanted more flashbacks from them! Her giving them a one paged epilogue was diabolical as well.

(EDIT) Zephyr's perspective through the new chapters tho nothing much but I liked the added info about her reaction to her father made it more real

The plot, pacing and everything else

This section was mid tbh, there were too many plot holes like Tristan and Luna's relationship, alpha and zephyrs pregnancy, the whole vin plot. Chiara running away and finally the last three chapters, the way we got to know about the syndicates leader but not his actual name?? like what was Runyx doing here, this book got more messy as it progressed the first half of this book is everything that you could hope for but the second half to be honest is terrible, even the plot twist with Zephyr's father was terrible everything needed it to be more drawn out, the book dragged and then concluded too fast. this is not the Runyx that I am familiar with because I have read and loved all her books, given them five stars and I'm so sad that this couldn't even be four!! I'm generous with this rating because of my love for this author but the plot, the romance and the characters in this one did not do as well for me as I wanted them too, the 4 back to back smut chapters while hot could've been distributed better.

Overall, not the best book but I still love this series so I am sad I have to say goodbye and in this way.
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I don't know what to think. I am bummed about it because I was very excited as you can see below 😭 but yeah rant review to come 😔
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Guys I got it 🤭 WATCH ME DEVOUR IT IN INE SITTING 🫦 pls be good 🙏🏻🙂‍↕️
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ONE MORE DAY WE CAN DO IT 😭😭

I just know this will be five bright shinning stars 🙂‍↕️
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OMG ITS FINALLY RELEASE WEEK AND IM SO NERVOUS 😭🥹

I hope it's worth the three year journey 🤭
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We went from a 2022 release to December 2023 to postponed indefinitely to October 30th and now to November 15th 🤣 the bad luck surrounding this book 😔

(I'm glad her dad's doing fine 🤍)
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It ends where it begins. 🥹

I KNOW I WAS THE MOST IMPATIENT PERSON BUT I AM SO NOT READY!! 😭

[annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

as the biggest fan of TristanMorana DV series, i didn't want to dislike this book because of my really high expectations, so i didn't even think much about it, except the reunion & marriage. but, it still didn't fulfill much, and i'm truly here thinking, IT'S OVER? i'm srry, but i'm just not satisfied at all. according to Runyx, it won't meet everyone's expectations, and that's honestly better that she cleared it up already.

and someone with adhd & low memory would definitely appreciate the povs, because they were hella repetitive with introductions.

this review is gonna contain spoilers, so just go when you have the chance and DON'T EVEN DARE TO PEEK, or do 🤷🏻‍♀️

before addressing each topic, i just want to say something about the infamous SYNDICATER 😌

man was such a big mystery for all of us since book 1, and i was literally so curious to find out about who he was, why did he start this, what's his relationship with everyone.

imagine my HUGE shock when i found out he was...



you actually thought i found out smth? 😏 sorry babes, his identity wasn't mentioned.

yeah happens.

⌞ the reunion — chapter 12 ⌝

i won't lie, i knew the reunion would make me emotional, and it did. how they both cried while hugging each other was something i've thought about A LOT, and i'm happy that it was delivered just exactly like that. chapter 10 – where tristan had a panic attack is actually a pretty raw show of emotion imo, so 1 star for that.

what i did not appreciate was how, immediately after Lyla's pov ended, it started with Dante's pov. like seriously? i kept my attitude in check and waited for Tristan's pov on the reunion, but we got ALPHA's pov after that? and there were no bonding scenes bw the siblings 😭 like it was just TOLD and not SHOWN.

GIVE ME THE DAMN SIBLINGS!




again, i did not appreciate it, and it kind of disturbed the whole 'reunion' vibes and distracted from it. that was not very nice. rather than going directly with one situation, the author kept on changing the povs, which was actually really frustrating, and the constant shifting of the situations meant constant shifting of emotions.

⌞ AlphaZeyphr & DanteAmara ⌝

i love you all, but sorry, you provided nothing 😭 it's not nice to say it akhxjsjs, but it's the truth. like, AlphaZeyphr had something to deliver to the plot, but DanteAmara were there randomly. it wouldn't have been nice to cut them obviously, their povs weren't attracting me.

i kind of blame this on the pacing. it was extremely off, and as i said before, it wasn’t following a TRACK, and it was jumbled. Zeyphr's pov was really cute, though. i actually loved how the couple was shown in this book and their interactions with others – especially Luna and Xander.

wrapping it up, i love them as characters but yeah, that's it. and their epilogue with kids is cute and minimized. loved the name Kyra Villanova fr 🥹

⌞ Dainn & Lyla ⌝

luna or lyla or Lyna, i've always loved her. she suffered a lot, and i have a soft spot for her BUT,

this shadow man is just so overrated 😭

after TristanMorana, i've read their povs properly, and while i enjoyed all the possessiveness, the care, the selfless acts, and all that Dainn did for Luna, he really is overrated. this whole book was really revolving around his identity: who was he? how did he know this? is he this or is he that?

this all was extremely hyping him up, and i would've preferred if it focused more on his backstory, what he did in all those SIX YEARS after meeting Luna and all. but just like no information on the mysterious Syndicater, we drew a blank here as well.

i'll chalk it up to Dainn being lazy enough not to complete his shit earlier, that's why he took six years to rescue her. he's somewhat the creation of an experiment and all, and his father was the Syndicater and NOTHING ELSE. thank you. and threatening my husband Mr.Predator was not cool idiot. he is after all, THE PREDATOR 🤬

not Dainn having the audacity to say, 'you wanted to kill your girl, while i wanted to save mine' to tristan? BITCH. he protected morana for more than 20 years even tho he had many chances to kill her. HE NEVER WANTED TO DO THAT because he's not like that. unlike you, who chose the syndicate over luna.

⌞ craziest plot twists ever ⌝

hehe lying. they were not. actually, this book was just a way for Runyx to confirm our theories, so that did happen. everyone suspected something about Tristan's mother being involved with the syndicate.

#1 yeah, that bitch was involved, and i was all patting myself on the back for already predicting that, and then it turns out she is not his biological mother. SHEEESH 🤨

#2 Chiara being Luna's half sister? 🤢 also, the fact that she was tristan's regular is 🤮 hsjshhsjs also, luna and tristan are half-siblings (because of David) and that's honestly sad 💔
- so runyx mentioned in her GROUP, that they're not blood related and Tristan is not even David's son! BUT, it's not even in the book 😀 so now do i go w the book or the group...

#3 Vin being mentioned for the 1000th time and it turns out, he's dead. JUST LIKE THAT? ok

#4 Zeyphr's goodie two-shoes dad being a traitor? yeah, knew that too. because except for Amara's mother, i was sus of everyone. i'm shocked that it's not Dante's brother lol.

⌞ TristanMorana ⌝

i'm very biased for them and Runyx did them sooo dirty. it was not okay 😭 their ending is so bittersweet. i mean, it was HEA, but i'm just extremely, like DEEPLY, sad for Morana. she did not deserve this. she really did not deserve that 😭

with all that's happening, they literally did not get a moment to just TALK about everything. they didn't discuss the reunion and all, and you're telling me, Morana hid her pain in the left shoulder FROM HIM FOR MONTHS? and he did not notice?

that's, for real, very unlikely and not at all like Tristan. i don't blame him, though. Morana losing her left arm movement and having it disabled forever will ALWAYS break my heart now. she literally was bawling her eyes out because she wouldn’t be able to do his tie now. i'm so not over this 😭 I WANT HER ARM BACK!




i'm damn happy to read about their marriage and TristanMorana finally having a cat, but I LOVE YOU?

i'll forever cry because of these two things, because 412 pages and NOT AN ILY BY TRISTAN TO MORANA. he did say he loved her in his pov but not to her back. literally, random events and random povs actually did not let them have serious conversations, and Morana's whole losing her arm situation wasn’t even in her own pov. and also, no pov of tristan or morana about the pregnancy.

⌞ final conclusion ⌝

guess i'll have to live with that. Runyx should've focused more on the events rather than intros, and the smuts were really thrust in this book. everything should've been in an order and actually should've made sense. we all knew that syndicate was a bitchy organization, and the reasons were literally 'evilness in man.' thanks for nothing, we knew that.

the pace was extremely frustrating. Xander and his friend being six years old and talking about missions by Dainn but not even revealing anything was not at all COOL. a lot of things are still unanswered, and guess they'll never be answered anyway. we were 🤏🏻 this close to knowing Morana's real name but didn’t get it either. it's a solid 3-book fr.

i'll still say it though, the books are damn great. the duet is hotness overloaded, and the others are great as well. they still got their HEA, so it's fine by me. i'll just ignore the arm thing.

[SK · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reads like it was written by character AI and I'm taking no arguments.

Imo it starts off okay, I was giddy to read everyone's pov, especially Dainn's and Zephyr's , the two really carried this book. I would also give Alpha and Luna some credit because of their zeal. However, the power couples took such a hard fall in this one, I'm genuinely baffled. Tristan and Morana were not the same. There was something quite off about them, the chemistry felt a bit forced to read. Dante and Amara were sidelined which sort of makes me mad because the two have WAY MORE to offer than whatever happened in this book.

Coming to the writing, it is bland, boring, and completely unorganized. The way this book has been written it's like written by AI. The language is different from the other books in the series, the way the story is crafted is different and so is the execution. The pacing is slower than any other book in the series and for about 65% of the book nothing happens!! Then we come across the characters having the most basic conversation and poof we got smut all of a sudden. There's no organization. They're having sex at the most random times. Like sure, the smut is well written but what about the story?! This was supposed to be THE finale and all we got was sex and that too something that seems like it's written by AI.

Honestly, I went in not liking Dainn and ended up caring only about him...and Dante (obviously). The big reunion scene was emotional, I won't deny but I just did not feel attached to Tristan in this one at all. I'm genuinely pissed because there was supposed to be more hands on action in this one, more darkness, more secrets unraveled but we get the bare minimum. I don't even think it's something to do with my expectations, the book was THAT BAD.

"This thing of darkness,
I acknowledge mine."

[kendyl ʚ♡⃛ɞ (hiatus) · Rating 1 out of 5]

i genuinely don’t even want to talk about it rn. my rating? idk, somewhere between fuck and this book. i’m just thinking about dante in between me and siff tbh. add amara in there and it’s a party i’m getting down at🧎🏻‍♀️

reading and ranting with my baby siff was the best part🥺

i’ll just rate it 1 star for now because idk when i’ll come back to this. i just wanna go write my reviews for the emperor, finisher, and annihilator since i actually loved those🫡

[ames · Rating 1 out of 5]

i’m gonna pretend tristan caine had a lobotomy because there’s no way the syndicator tristan caine and the reaper tristan caine are the same people

[bruna · Rating 2 out of 5]

★ 1.75 stars

“It ended where it began. This is a new era.”

real footage of me after reading this book:


this is quite literally my biggest disappointment of the year.

it actually hurts so much to say that because i had such high expectations for this book and none of my expectations were meet. none. i don’t even have the proper words to express how devastated i feel.

i started reading the Darkverse series a little over a year ago and let me tell you: i fell in love with it right away. i became obsessed. anyone who really knows me knows that i usually avoid reading dark romance, but there was something so... captivating about this series that i couldn’t stay away from it. i binged all the books in less than two weeks and after finishing book five i was like “wow the last book is going to be undoubtedly epic!” but oh well... i guess i couldn’t be more wrong. there’s nothing epic about this finale. it surely had all the potential to be epic, but unfortunately, it wasn’t.

everything about The Syndicater is just so disappointing. the plot as a whole, the writing, the pacing, the storylines. even the characters and the romance were disappointing. that’s such a wild and strange thing for me to say because months ago i can guarantee you that i would never say something like that.

i was so excited to see the characters again, but most importantly, i was excited to see how the incredible story that have been building for five books would end. that’s what i was mostly looking forward to. now imagine my reaction when i realized that that was not even the main focus for the majority of the book... yeah, it was not a good reaction. i was extremely frustrated. the author spent way too much time focusing on things that were not remotely important, such as filler scenes and smut. what was even the point? i don’t mind smut and a few filler scenes, but c’mon, this is the final book in a series! there’s already so many plot points to wrap up and things that don’t necessarily add much to the story shouldn’t be taking so much space — especially because of the fact that we didn’t even have many pages to begin with. the first 80% of the book was basically a whole bunch of nothing. only important thing i can remember happening was the Luna & Tristan reunion [which was not as good as i expected, by the way] but besides that, there wasn’t a lot of relevant stuff going on.

see, i wouldn’t complain that much if the first 80% were heavily focused on giving a meaningful development to the 8 main characters and their relationships with each other. but that was not the case here. generally speaking, i didn’t see meaningful developments in this book which was another big disappointment for me. Luna, specifically, was the one that i wanted to see having a meaningful, memorable development — but i personally don’t think that Runyx gave her that, the way her whole arc was handled was just so weak. i’m very pissed about that actually. and the way the author handled the arcs of the other characters in this book was also weak. well, with the exception of Dainn; i think he was the only one that didn’t get a weak and poorly handled arc. Runyx focused a lot on giving him a nice development arc and i guess she must have forgotten about doing that to the others. Luna, Tristan, Amara, Dante, Morana, Alpha & Zephyr all deserved a better treatment.

and while we are on this topic of characters, i have to point out that i felt like there was something so... off about them. in my opinion, at times they didn’t feel like the same characters from the previous books and that was completely strange to me. i don’t know if it’s because it’s been awhile since i read this series or if it’s because Runyx wrote them differently here — i genuinely have no idea. either way, it saddens me because i used to be so attached to those characters in the previous books, but in this one i felt a little disconnected from them.

now let’s circle back to the plot. i said earlier that not much was going on for the majority of the book, but in the last 20%, a lot of things started going on and progress was being made. was that a positive thing? well, not really. everything that Runyx have been building since the beginning of the series got resolved so quickly and easily that it wasn’t even exciting or satisfying. it was just so rushed and underwhelming and such a mess too. so much information all at once and i had a hard time processing everything. i thought this book would answer all of my questions and give me all the clarity, but i finished it and still ended up having a lot of questions. needless to say, i wasn’t a fan of how things ended.

all in all, i’m left feeling unsatisfied and deeply sad. i simply refuse to believe that this is how this great series ends. how can i ever recover from the disappointment? i don’t really know.

i still love the Darkverse series, don’t get me wrong, but i’m not happy with this final book. only reason why i’m giving it 1.75 stars rounded up is because the first chapters weren’t so terrible and sometimes i could find myself enjoying some small parts a bit, so for that reason i don’t think that giving it a 1 star is fair. the rest of the book, though? with all due respect, but i’d rather forget.

. ݁ ˖ 𓂃 ⟡ 𓂃 . ݁ ˖ 𓂃 ⟡ 𓂃 . ݁ ˖ 𓂃 ⟡ 𓂃 . ݁ ˖ 𓂃 . ݁ ˖ 𓂃 . ݁ ˖

๋ · ˚ 🖇️ ⊹ ⌇ pre-read. ⋆
⤿ started on november 15, 2024.

THE SYNDICATER IS HERE! 🖤
gosh, i can’t believe i’m finally reading it... i’ve waited almost two years for this. i won’t lie though—the negative reviews/spoilers are scaring me a lot, but i’ll try to ignore that and go into this book with an open mind and positiveness! hopefully it won’t be a major letdown. 🫶🏻

buddy read with my boo dani! <3

[sasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

i’m sticking to the ending i envisaged in my head

[Krisha (break) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't want to reduce my ratings to one star from a two but every time I think about this book in addition to how highly anticipated it was for years and what it actually turned out to be, saying I'm disappointed would be an understatement.

I'll summarize my views in a way that justifies my ratings! I've divided this review between the things that I was fond of about this book and the ones that I wasn't, personally based on my perspective. Let's get over the latter first.               

𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃!!!!
⤿𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞:

➳ 80% of the book was filled with nothing except the reunion and in the last 20% the author somehow remembered that there's a plot that took five masterpiece books to build only to end it in one chapter? This couldn't be anymore underwhelming of a climax to put an end to the era.


➳ The fact that Tristan "the predator and observant" Caine never noticed that morana had barely been able to move her left hand due to injury? Especially when everyone noticed, even DAINN noticed and Tristan didn't!? And Here comes the major part about Tristan never saying "I LOVE YOU" to morana. I thought runyx was saving the confession part for the Syndicater but what again? Let alone confessing he never even replies to her 'I love you' but doesn't mind telling it to his long lost sister in front of morana? She seriously deserved better.

➳ Honestly I love DanteAmara & AlphaZephyr but why weren't they a part of the plot or stepped in to take the syndicater down? Neither did they contribute anything to the storyline nor did they step into action. Their role was literally limited to their own personal lives. THEY WEREN'T EVEN THE PART OF THE CLIMAX. The author might as well have removed their POVs by only putting them in the epilogue and the story would've still continued. Runyx seriously did them dirty. It's so sad that these characters had so much potential that was utterly wasted.

➳ There was obvious favouritism on part of Runyx regarding Dainn. Everything was about him and if not then about his love interest luna, whose pov was always filled with nothing but thoughts about dainn. The entire story revolved around them. I'm a dainn girly myself but this wasn't what I signed up for. I thought this was about four couples ? Instead runyx should've added 10 additional chapters to the annihilator or made a duet for them like she did for tristan and morana.

➳ I seriously DISLIKED LUNA in this book, she was literally getting on my nerves. The fact that morana and Tristan are being held captive by the syndicate and are on the verge of dying and all she's thinking about is changing her name to lyna and even justifying why without knowing if they're even gonna make it out alive? Wtf? And the scene where Tristan asks her who's shadowman, she goes saying "he's mine", he is asking WHO IS HE for god's sake, when obviously annoyed Tristan asks her to explain, she starts yelling at him forgetting the fact that everyone knew she had some sort of connection with shadowman but they understood and gave her time to reveal until she didn't and she yells at them when they finally ask?

➳ MY LAST STRAW was LUNA saying this to tristan "You found me only because dainn wanted you to!" She's taking a stand for dainn's (so called efforts) in leading Tristan to her, in front of her very brother who mindlessly searched for her for straight up 20 years unbeknownst to the fact if she was even alive, the same brother who vowed to never marry the love of his life until he finds her. Let alone crediting, she never even acknowledged his efforts and here she's taking a stand for dainn on this. Wow.

➳ I myself am a dainn stan but in certain scenes he really annoyed tf Outta me! The way he said "if Tristan intimidates luna again, brother or not, I'll end him " in context to Tristan seeking answers from luna regarding shadowman like wth? He's her brother and he more than has the right to question her if she, out of nowhere claims to be married to dainn, there's nothing intimidating about it like luna made it out to be. It was so hypocritical of dainn to even say that given he was also the reason luna was hurt so many times in the annihilator so wtf he threatened Tristan for? when unlike him Tristan never even hurt her.

➳ The fact that Xander and luna meet for the first time and we don't get any bonding scenes ? She literally met her son for the first time in 6 years after giving birth and all we get is a formal one time interaction? And we never got to know morana's real name either.

➳ The goddamn epilogues omg. Don't even get me started on how terrible they were. God's grace they were mercifully short else I definitely would have skipped.

➳ My heart goes out to Morana because not only was she done dirty, her trauma wasn't even acknowledged by the author. She got adopted by the shitty father who sent goons to kill her, met her loving biological father few minutes before he was shot and almost escaped an Assassin attack (thanks to shadowman who dropped her a hint, as a result Tristan was super alert in the party in the reaper and saved her) She then discovers she's not the real morana and has been living her entire life as a lie. Then later she gets shot and her arm is almost disabled. Furthermore she finds out she was subjected to some sort of life threatening child experiment as a child when she was almost trafficked but luckily was returned to her adoptive father for obvious malicious purposes. As if this wasn't enough, she gets drugged and kidnapped by the syndicate. My woman went through so much but it looks like according to runyx trauma only relates to sexual assault bc let alone not giving us scenes about how morana deals with her trauma and heals, her sufferings weren't even acknowledged in most part of the book, unlike for Luna and Amara where the author not completely but atleast partially did justice to showing their traumatic pasts and how they deal with it. But morana? Runyx messed up her character real bad.

➳ The twists were soo predictable, it literally looked like she wrote them on the basis of fan-made theories. Instead of giving the readers what they wanted, she should've really focused on the vast potential this book had that now is in vain.

➳ The plot around the very syndicate that deals with flesh trade, human trafficking, sex trafficking of underage and other henious crimes which took 5 books to build is suddenly taken over by dainn after killing the only syndicater left along with his 'loyalist' also after rescuing everyone in there and after all the revelation of being half siblings and Xander being dainn's half brother, you're telling me all of this happens in just one chapter in the end when everyone's been sleeping in first 80% of the book? This went straight up from 0.25 to 2x speed. The pacing was clearly unbalanced and messed up. The villain she created took five books and had him destroyed in just half a chapter that easily? No bloodbath no war no explosion nothing?

➳ Alpha never got his childhood memories with zephyr back and that was so sad because I expected this will be rectified in the Syndicater while I was reading the finisher but yeah :)

⤿𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 :

➳ The reunion was the best part in this book! I've to give that to the author about how perfectly written it was given it's never easy to write a scene filled with such high emotions and so much angst.

➳ While i liked the scene where tristan punched Dainn given it was the most awaited encounter and as much as I love dainn, he definitely deserved that punch and more. (BUT the timing was extremely wrong, It would've been better if that scene was followed after getting to the hospital instead of doing Tristan all the more dirty by having him prioritise punching dainn over freeing bleeding morana.)

➳ Lastly the very reason that kept me reading this book was honestly DAINN, yes he's my fav mmc (ik y'all hate him and I get why) but speaking neutrally, he literally carried the entire book on his back and while there were scenes he aggravated me, he was also the only one planning strategizing and stepping into action all alone, bringing somewhat of the lost spark back to what-was-becoming-a-bland-plot, those of which outweighed the scenes where he annoyed me. His povs were quite interesting because he was always up to something unlike other couples runyx clearly didn't do justice with.

One star is only because the things I didn't like about this book (which was most of it) CLEARLY outweighs the ones I did! So overall,

𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝? 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞. 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭.
𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝟐.𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬? 𝐍𝐨. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭.

[Larissa Cambusano · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ was it perfect? no. did i absolutely still eat it up? yes.

[manas (NEW YEAR) · Rating 2 out of 5]

i mean this with all of the disrespect when i say, a lot of you are really entitled and arrogant. the way so many people took such a hyped up release for both the author & the fans and made it about unnecessary bullshit needs to be scrutinized. i have seen too many people on here attacking readers and runyx herself, because YOU did not get what you wanted. this is her book, and her story. if you guys did not like the progression of the plot, either DNF, or fairly rate it as such. people one-star bombing (without reading) this due to ARC leaks and because their faves did not get much page presence is insane. then to target all of this hatred towards her late mother and blame her dad being in the hospital is even more deranged behavior. some of these one-star reviews are absolutely disgusting. having this book go from over a 4.6 rating, to now less than a 3.4 is so unwarranted, as it is clear so many of you did NOT read this book. her family and random readers have nothing to do with a damn dark romance.... the plot has been lost badly.

this is NOT for the people who have read it and did not love it. i also did not love this book but that is a me problem. i am the first to admit that this was poorly constructed and made ZERO sense. however, bullying people over a book is the most puerile behavior one can display. it's clear that so many people aren't even criticizing the book anymore. you are just harassing readers and the author over a fictional story. there was no need to drag her father who is ill and her mother, who is no longer with us. you know damn well you would never say this shit to someone in real life. get your unfledged, chronically online ass off this internet and reconnect with nature. BE serious for once.

[veerali · Rating 2 out of 5]

౨ৎ ⋮ "We will become ashes before we are apart, I will never let you go."

it's disappointing to say that my most eagerly awaited release of the year has turned out to be my biggest letdown. i have a lot of respect for runyx; she's incredibly talented and has created some of my all-time favorite characters. unfortunately, the conclusion didn't meet my expectations. to say I'm upset would be an understatement—i'm genuinely sad that this book wasn't what i had hoped for.

runyx debuted her first book in this series the predator back in 2020. the first four books were so fantastic that i was convinced the finale would be epic and provide the closure i had been longing for all year.

i wouldn’t go as far as to call this book terrible. it had its moments, but there were times when the repetition and the shifts between points of view were quite frustrating. despite that, there were still parts that gave me butterflies and left me in awe. for me, character development and plot are what i focus on when rating books, and sadly, this one fell short in those areas. however, the romance was really well done, so i'll give it an extra star for that.

if you’ve reached this point, well done. and if you haven’t picked up this book yet, i recommend pausing your scrolling, as the upcoming section will reveal some significant spoilers ‼️




𖣠 tristan caine and morana vitalio caine
⤿ the predator and his wildcat

the most formidable couple in the series felt surprisingly dull in this book. while reading the reaper their chemistry was so captivating that i couldn't stop thinking about their scenes. tristan, with his observant and possessive nature, seemed underwhelming here, almost like he was just a background character. as for morana, the fierce female lead, she appeared quite weak in this installment. it’s as if they were completely different people. i think I’ll stick with the predator and the reaper for my tristan and morana fix, sorry!

౨ৎ ⋮ "Yet, she wouldn't change a thing. Tristan, as broken and brutal and beautiful as he was, was hers."

𖣠 dante maroni and amara maroni
⤿ the emperor and his queen

i absolutely adore them, but i felt like these two characters were somewhat overlooked in this book. my love for dante remains strong, and his sweet bonding moments with tempest were just adorable. on the other hand, amara's development and progress truly brought me joy. it's incredible how she runs an institution for children who have been trafficked. at least runyx didn't ruin them for me.

౨ৎ ⋮ "Ride me, my queen. Show me what it's like to sit on this fucking throne."

𖣠 alessandro villanova and zephyr villanova
⤿ the finisher and his rainbow

i have to say, this couple really shined in this book. their chemistry felt even stronger here than in their previous story. his reaction to zephyr's pregnancy was just AAHHHHHHHH. plus, the way he responds to the silly names his wife gives him is absolutely adorable.

౨ৎ ⋮ "Alpha didn't think he could fall more in love with her, but she proved him wrong every day, pulling him deeper into the depths without even knowing she did."

𖣠 dainn blackthorne and lyla/luna/lyna blackthorne
⤿ the annihilator and his flamma

i have to admit, dainn and luna really stole the show in this book. in the last installment, i couldn't stand shadow man because of all the fuck ups he caused. however, in this one, he really shows some growth. that's some solid character development right there. as for luna, she shines after working through her trauma, which is great to see. another character development win. it felt like this book focused mainly on their journeys, while the other characters took a backseat.

౨ৎ ⋮ "Flamma," Dainn spoke softly, his mismatched eyes staring deep into hers, his term of endearment for her always softening her inside. "It will always be yours. I will always be yours. No matter what happens, you can come home whenever you want. All of it is yours. You know this."

okay, so let’s talk about the not-so-great stuff:

the tristan and luna reunion? i was hyped for that, but honestly, it felt like a letdown. tristan was all about luna, and poor morana just got tossed aside. he took a whole day to say "i love you" back to luna, but morana? still waiting. ny girl deserves way better than this treatment.

and then there’s the whole zephyr’s dad working with the syndicate thing. like, what even? it came out of nowhere! what happened after that? how did her mom find out? and she just went and killed him? 😭 i need more details on this chaos because it’s wild.

by the end, dainn says he’ll take over the syndicate, but how? we’re left hanging with no answers. who even is the syndicater? i was so ready to find out, but all we got was a big ol’ question mark.

the tristan and luna moments were supposed to be epic. i mean, he spent almost 20 years looking for her. i thought we’d get some deep moments, but nope. just crickets.

we also miss out on seeing alpha regain his memories and discovering morana's true name.

honestly, everything felt super rushed, and the pov switches were a total mess. after finishing this book, i was ready to cry because i've been waiting for answers for a year, and all i got was disappointment. i'll probably re-read it later just to catch all the parts with danteamara mentioned.


⊹ ♟️ dark verse series

⤿ the predator — 4 stars
⤿ the reaper — 5 stars
⤿ the emperor — 5 stars
⤿ the finisher — 3.5 stars
⤿ the annihilator — 3 stars
⤿ the syndicater — 2 stars

— ( ♟️ ) review to come ⊹

i'm sorry but runyx deserves a more supportive fan base 🤚 this book was a total letdown for me, but there’s a big difference between disliking a book and attacking the author. like, some of y’all are coming for her deceased mom and her dad who’s been dealing with health problems? that’s just messed up. reading some of those one-star reviews made me so sick.

[Lilyya ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars (lowering my rating now that i think i grieved whatever the hell was this shit show)

four couples,
six books,
one saga, and a broken heart—mine.

even after closing the book a few hours ago, I still find myself emotionally drained, hovering somewhere between satisfaction and discontent. to say I have 'conflicted feelings' would neatly resume my experience, though I want a more eloquent or gracious explanation.

the book unfolds in four parts, with the last serving merely as epilogues for each of the four couples. the first two parts were infused with RuNyx’s signature lyrical and masterful prose, enveloping me in a cocoon of vivid emotions. i loved those two sections the most.

yet, as I ventured into the third part, I initially loved the author’s penmanship, only to find myself losing my way amid two particular chapters that struck me as biased and clinical. they read more like rough drafts of an idea for the final reveal than the polished chapters one would expect in the concluding pages of such a monumental saga. the sheer abundance of astonishing revelations came at such a relentless pace that I barely had the opportunity to fully absorb one before we were thrust into yet another setting in an another chapter. each monumental twist seemed to fade into oblivion, overlooked and unexamined by the characters themselves.I struggled to recognize the author’s distinctive voice within them, and the presence of chronological inconsistencies and vague commentary added to my confusion.

as for the epilogues, they felt disappointingly brief and concise. while I see and understand the vision behind this approach, I believe it fell short of the depth required. after the sort of abrupt conclusion of the third part, it would have been more satisfying to delve into the characters’ daily lives—or even their emotional journey following the aftermath of everything.

regarding the characters, I was truly enchanted by the way Lyla & Dainn anchored the narrative. their presence as a couple and individuals was more pronounced than any other couple, particularly since their own previous story eclipsed some parts of their personalities compared to the rest of the series’ books. in this instalment, we exhumed new facettes of Lyla that I genuinely came to appreciate, while witnessing Dainn in a refreshingly endearing and gentlemanly light, and i fell in love with him once more.

the siblings reunion was precisely what I had envisioned and hoped for before diving into this book, and I found myself appreciating the insightful narration from perspectives beyond just Lyla and Tristan. this choice enriched the storytelling; had it solely originated from their viewpoints, the conflicting and tumultuous emotions might have dulled the brilliance of such an epic moment.

Tristan & Morana’s chapters were predominantly centered on the plot’s progression, a choice I anticipated from the author, particularly after two full books devoted to their complex and epic love story. they remain without any doubts my favourites, and I find myself wishing for additional vignettes capturing their happiness in their dedicated epilogue. after all the tribulations they faced, a celebration of their new happy life feels not only warranted but profoundly deserved.

Dante & Amara, along with Alpha & Zephyr, emerge as the most comforting characters and couples in the series. revisiting their journeys brought an overwhelming sense of reassurance and tranquility. I cherished the opportunity to witness their happiness and the ease they have found within their marital lives, all while grappling with and attempting to exorcise the specters of their pasts. Amara’s losses tattered my heart into infime pieces and i honestly couldn’t stomach the curt way one of them was announced in her epilogue, it felt so emotionless with the manner it was so nonchalantly thrown. the second loss was well more approached but nonetheless i would’ve absolutely loved another outcome to that character whom i profoundly loved, it was simply heartbreakingly tragic.

Xander has undoubtedly become my new favorite character! his humor was an absolute highlight, and I felt that his vibrant personality was essential for the book’s overall tone. I adored his relationships with everyone in ‘The Syndicate,’ particularly his dynamic with Zephyr. the camaraderie they shared added a refreshing layer to the narrative.
I couldn’t help but wish for a similar ease between Xander and Lyla. while I completely understand and respect her feelings about not embracing a motherly role, I found myself yearning for more on-screen interactions between them. a more poignant reunion or additional moments shared could have provided the emotional depth I was looking for, enriching both their characters and the overall story.

while this may not have provided the perfect closure I’d hoped for, I can acknowledge that as readers, we occasionally set our sights higher than a book is destined to reach, and this was certainly the case here. i had high expectations that weren’t fully met but i still enjoyed the novel in a certain way and will forever cherish these characters and saga in my heart. it will always be a part of me.

[Marianna Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ I genuinely do not want to believe that this series is over, saying goodbye to this world and these characters had me sobbing. I’m in denial and I will be for the rest of my life.

Now first things first, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being disappointed by a book and not liking a book and giving your honest unfiltered thoughts about it (I literally do this all the time). HOWEVER, what is not okay is attacking an author just because your feelings are hurt that the book wasn’t what you wanted it to be. NEWS FUCKING FLASH PEOPLE life is full of disappointments and AUTHORS OWE YOU ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!! The way people are coming at RuNyx personally because they didn’t like this book is absolutely disgusting and reeks of entitlement. Also leaving 1 star reviews without even reading the book is beyond inconsiderate. NONE OF THAT HERE!

I went into this book with an open mind to formulate my OWN opinions and didn’t let the negativity take away from my experience as I recommend you do as well ♥️

Rant over on to the book…

I might be one of the few that actually enjoyed this book! Did it have its flaws? Yes. Did I personally think it was as terrible as people are saying it is? Absolutely not. There were so many parts I loved that outweighed the parts I didn’t like. But as a whole I was just so happy to be back in this world with these characters who I hold so close to my heart so I savored every moment despite its imperfections!

The plot as a whole fell a little flat, I do think after the build up of a 5 book series things got resolved too quickly and easily. It just seemed anticlimactic at the end of the day. But I wasn’t too bothered by this because I loved that we focused on our characters and their relationships/healing journeys. That being said the multi-POVs was a little clunky but not terrible by any means and didn’t take away from the story for me. What did bother me was how during some really important and impactful scenes we would get the POV of a character watching it take place, not the one experiencing it. But again I was still extremely happy with how this book rounded out as a whole and it will hold a special place in my heart!

Tristan and Morana: have to start with my favorites because I’m biased. They are quite literally one of my favorite fictional couples of all time and Tristan Caine is god tier book boyfriend for me so just being in their heads again had me so giddy and excited!!! People are saying they don’t recognize Tristan in this book and it did him dirty??? Couldn’t disagree with a statement more. I thought his growth in this was phenomenal and he must be protected at all costs. His reunion/relationship with Lyla was everything I wanted and more, those two had me crying my eyes out on multiple occasions. His emotions and reaction to finding out about Lyla and Dainn were entirely valid, I cannot wrap my head around why people had such a big problem with that. He’s protective of those he loves and MORALLY GREY PEOPLE, I think sometimes readers forget what that means. Him and Morana’s relationship was them to a T, their love and chemistry was palpable and I could read about them all day. Some people hated that Tristan didn’t openly tell Morana that he loved her even though he said it in his inner monologue multiple times, and surprisingly that didn’t bother me. Yes I know he said it to his sister, but his love for Morana has and always will be different, something he shows her rather than tells her, something he doesn’t know how to put words to because it is so much more than love. And it’s just them… THEIR WEDDING?! Dante giving her away?!!! Sob sob sob. Don’t even get me started on the way Tristan proposed to her!! I LOST IT!

Tristan Caine I would crawl through glass in the middle of the desert for you any day or the week.

Morana my sweet baby angel, I will say I am upset about what happened with her arm, but I’m still hopeful that shadow man will come through with a solution for her! Runyx did say we are getting a novella with an extended epilogue of them in the future so I will not give up hope! I’m also the type of reader that loves when actions have clear consequences despite how much it hurts me. Morana did what Morana ALWAYS HAS DONE, put others before herself by not immediately getting her arm looked at, and there were repercussions to that. People thought that Tristan not picking up on it was very out of character and unrealistic but to me it only showed how deeply affected he was by his sisters return and it was very clear that he was mind was elsewhere a lot during this book. THAT DOESNT MEAN I LIKED IT!!! Her learning how to tie his ties one handed!! I can’t.

“Love wasn't the word for what he felt for Morana. It was too simple, too basic, like the answer he had just given.”

“To someone on the outside, it could look like love, but it was so much more nuanced, so much more intense, so much more. Saying that he loved her was as basic as saying that he was living because his heart beat in his chest.”

Tristan and Morana’s relationship with Xander was everything to me! I want a whole book on this little boy!! Tristan and him are kindred souls and I think they healed pieces of each other they didn’t know needed healing.

Dainn and Lyla: okay I think I liked this book a lot more than most people because I absolutely adore these two and they were a big focus of this book! They are my second favorite couple and I have such a soft spot for them! I actually went into this book thinking they would be the focus because Lyla still had so much healing to do. And of course our shadow man is pulling all the damn strings so obviously his role was going to be important! However if you are not a fan of them I could see why you would struggle through this book. But to me their story and conclusion was everything I wanted.

However finding out that Lyla and Tristan aren’t even related???? WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT??? So unnecessary didn’t need to happen. I’m pissed.

Dante and Amara: ughhhh they are simply
PERFECT! I’m obsessed with them and their little family. However I was definitely upset that it felt like they were kind of brushed to the side and didn’t have much significance in this book. But the scenes we did get were so wholesome, Dante as a daddy was EVERYTHING!! Also the mouth on that man… SAT!

Alpha and Zephyr: Zephyr girl YOU WERE PUT THROUGH IT!!! Ugh my heart broke for her I love her so much and she could not catch a break! I felt like her grief in the beginning was so real and emotional and you could tell Runyx channeled her own grief in writing those scenes. I loved her and alpha in this and how soft and patient he was with her!!!! This man literally got on his knees for her when she told him she’s pregnant! No I’m not upset that he didn’t get his memories back of Zephyr, I feel like if that was gonna happen it would have happened in their book! I definitely think after what happened to Zephyr at the end of the book it would have been nice to have gotten a little bit more in the epilogue about how she handled everything 😭

All in all, I think readers going into this book with set expectations of what they want/need it to be set them up for disappointment. Which can happen when you have a long time between book releases in the series and is the biggest reason why I always try my best not to do this!!

At the end of the day I was happy and satisfied with the conclusion and will miss these characters every single day 😭😭😭

[shania · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'M SO FUCKING DISAPPOINTED


*SPOILERS*

im actually so mad (this is just gonna be a rant bc im EXTRA mad. i wrote a long ass review before this and gr decided to delete it all. yay! )another one of my fav series ruined. what is it with authors and messing up endings?? the pacing was so off (EVERYTHING WAS SO RUSHED this shouldve been wayy longer) there were so many plot holes!! this shouldve been the epic finale of the dark verse, the destruction of the syndicate and it was so.. bland?? SO underwhelming everything was resolved in one chapter like?? five books just for the ending to be rushed asf ARE YOU KIDDING? idk why runyx felt the need to add completely random and very unnecessary plots into the mix, "ooh lets make those two half siblings!! how about making him the father of that one?? they should def be cousins!!" this book had so much potential im actually mourning the book it couldve been ughh. dont even get me STARTED on tristanmorana. i love those two SO MUCH whyyyyyy did runyx have to do that to them?? why were they barely together? book 1&2 tristan wouldve IMMEDIATELY noticed morana was in pain (even dainn noticed!!) and rushed her to the hospital. why was he so clueless?? WHY. THE. FUCK. DIDNT HE SAY I LOVE YOU. was punching dainn really more important than freeing your injured girlfriend from fucking chains??!! PLSS MY FAV COUPLEE IM SO MAD runyx did my girl morana so dirty she was exhausted and in pain throughout thewhole book :( I HATE THIS

that thing about zephyrs father was so random and barely mentioned?? what was the point of that?? omg how could i forget WHY WAS THE SYNDICATERS IDENTITY NEVER MENTIONED JSCDGEG THAT WOULDVE BEEN SUCH A GREAT REVEAL

and vin!!! vin one of the best characters in the series runyx just dropped his death on us and... thats it?!! GIRL. give us the story!! why did he even have to be dead there were so many other ways his story could go. and why was zia's death only mentioned in like two sentenes??? we shouldve gotten danteamaras pov during that. i wanted emotion!! i have sm more to say but im so disappointed idc so whatever.

i dont even know what to rate this. it did have some good moments im ngl. tristan and luna/lyla/lyna's reunion was so emotional (BUT where tf was tristans pov????!!!!??) and dante and alpha were the cutest girl dads (the pink eyepatch loll) . i love this series and i dont want to give it a low rating but it also doesnt deserve a high one unfortunately.

im just gonna stick to the ending i imagined in my head and lower my expectations for future anticipated releases bc i have YET to read a good one

[‌ · Rating 1 out of 5]

i hope riding dainn’s dick was worth ruining your entire series for xx

[Iqra]

Nvm we good, it’s longer than that and Amazon/gr messed up the page count 😮‍💨 almost thought it was gna be over before it started

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

AM I TRIPPING OR DOES IT SAY 378 PAGES ON GR AND AMAZON??????? WASNT SHE SAYING THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HER BIGGEST BOOK TO DATE??

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

THE ARCS ARE OUT TIME TO HIBERNATE BEFORE RELEASE DAY

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

The release date shifted to 15 November

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

WE GOT A COVER REVEAL AND RELEASE DATE



BRB PREPARING TO GO MISSING WHEN THIS RELEASES 🔐💋

[Ri ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

“It ended where it began,” he stated. “This is a new era.”
The end of one era. The beginning of another. And this one was all of theirs.

The Syndicater is the finale I have been waiting for for two years, and it hurts to say, but it wasn’t what I expected. Sure, the book had its moments, and I really liked and enjoyed Part 1, which was perfect in every sense, and Part 2 was delicious and intriguing, but everything went downhill after that. This book was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I am heartbroken with the way some things were handled and how some characters were written. I don’t think I hate the book, but I do not like the execution of the plot or the way things were wrapped up so suddenly without giving us any proper explanation. It was all very underwhelming and rushed. I have so many mixed feelings about this one—on one hand, I am satisfied, but I don’t feel the contentment of finishing an epic series.

Certain things in this book felt flat. The beginning was really good, and I was hooked—the mystery about The Syndicater was keeping me intrigued until it was all wrapped up in one chapter in Part 3. The suspense about The Syndicater and his identity was built up so meticulously in the first half of the book, but everything was rushed in the ending, and it all ended very abruptly. I think this book could’ve benefited more if it had a few more chapters added in Part 3 and if some characters hadn’t been written in a way that destroyed their already developed character arcs.

Tristan and Morana will always be my favourite Dark Verse couple. I am and will always love them endlessly. But I’m sad to say they were overlooked and used here just for ‘the sake of the plot’. Though Tristan and Morana had a few lovely moments together, they were all perfect—but not enough for my TristanMorana-starved heart. I wish they had gotten a longer epilogue, and I wish the book had ended with their POV, because as it said, “It ends where it begins.” So it would have been fitting.

“Living was so much more than that, life was so much more than just that, and it was something he had learned just by being with her. Waking with her every morning, sleeping with her every night, being with her every day.”

Morana, the most intelligent person in their group, was only used for her intelligence. She was hurt again, and I hate how this woman can’t catch a break. I had a bad feeling about her even before the release, and I was right—and I wish I wasn’t right. I feel bad for the unnecessary thing that happened to her in the end, just to make her seem equal to the other women in this series. She deserved the best in this series, and instead, she got betrayal. I’m just going to believe that she is perfectly fine and living her best life with Tristan, Xander, and their baby girl.

“He had once promised her that she would never walk into a room and question his loyalty, and he’d been right. No matter where they were, every time she walked into a room, the first thing she felt were his eyes on herself, and they never strayed, not once.”

Dante and Amara were amazing and the healthiest couple in this series, living a happy life with their daughter. I adored all their moments, and Daddy Dante was a treat for my sore eyes. I love him so much, and he did not disappoint. Though they felt more like side characters in this book, they added a comforting element to the story with their family and cozy moments—but nothing much beyond that. I am heartbroken for Amara and how she lost her loved ones, and how her grief was overlooked.

Dante walked over to her, kissing her on the forehead; her first crush, her best friend, her husband, her king.
“You’re the beat to my heart.” He gave her a quick kiss, which was interrupted by their daughter's loud, “Ew.” They grinned, knowing life would be full of ups and downs, calm and chaos, but they would play it together with the same beats and the same hearts.

Alpha and Zephyr were really cute in this one. I loved them even more, and the way Alpha handled Zephyr when she was in a grieving period of her life was truly heartwarming.

“Alpha didn’t think he could fall more in love with her, but she proved him wrong every day, pulling him deeper into the depths without even knowing she did.”

Dainn and Lyla were the major focus—or I could say the main couple—of this book. Which was fine by me at first because Dainn, as he called himself, is the Prince of The Syndicater, aka The Hell, so it was fitting for him to be the main character of this finale. But his character was romanticised by painting other characters in a very blatant and ignorant manner. Dainn could’ve been the hero without making another character seem like an overly possessive, angry, ignorant person.

“Flamma,” Dainn spoke softly, his mismatched eyes staring deep into hers, his term of endearment for her always softening her inside. “It will always be yours. I will always be yours. No matter what happens, you can come home whenever you want. All of it is yours. You know this.”

Lyla/ Luna/ Lyna was different here, still on her journey of soul and identity searching while coming to terms with her new reality—including her brother and his extended family. I’m glad she’s healing and that Dainn let her have her freedom and helped her decide what she wanted and who she is in the present. Dainn was portrayed as a gentleman in this series, and this man has a way with words. He should be a poet, and the things he said to Lyla had me swooning every time. The new endearing facets he showed in this book made me love him even more.

“She had seen enough of genuine love, deep love around her to know when it was meant to be, it was meant to be. And she and him were. She and him, they were written in the stars. Had been since the moment they had met under them.”

Xander added such a nuanced narrative to this book with his humour and observations. I love this little guy and how innocently he asks some not-so-innocent questions. He is the best part of this book, and I loved all his little moments with Morana and Tristan. Seeing them embrace and cherish Xander as their family was everything.

The reunion that I had been waiting for since I read The Predator two years ago was finally here, and it was emotionally and heartbreakingly beautiful and heartwarming. My heart healed after seeing Tristan and Lyla hug and cry in each other’s arms, and I am happy Tristan got the closure he so desperately needed from the beginning.

“They didn’t care, a broken brother and a shattered sister. The world could have ended, and they would have stayed locked there, both of them holding each other, crumbled on the ground, reuniting and restoring and repairing over twenty years of open wounds that had never stopped bleeding.”

The epilogues were cute and wholesome, but they weren’t fulfilling. This book wasn’t what I expected, and maybe it was because of the wait or the high expectations I had for it over the years, but I am glad that we got the conclusion—however unsatisfying it was or wasn’t.

This book and its imperfections will not erase the love I have for these characters and couples. I am forever going to be a Dark Verse fan and will always cherish this series and the core eight close to my heart. This epic saga might have ended, but my love for it will always go on.

———————
It's finally coming home! I just know this book is gonna be ✨️ EPIC ✨️

[✩ Yaz ✩ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Changing my rating to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of sheer pettiness after witnessing the amount of hate RuNyx is getting.

It's not something I tend to do but I am absolutely disgusted by what's happening to RuNyx. Nothing justifies bullying the author and directing this hate towards her. NOTHING.

What outcome will satisfy you? She won't rewrite and publish the book. She is being generous enough to spoil her readers with bonus content and a future novella. Do none of you understand how your words and action might affect her? But I don't expect anything better to come out of toxic bookish cliques, you get off on validation from your friends by ganging up on one person.

On the bright side, other authors and their PAs have said they are keeping track of the readers who are doing this to RuNyx to add them on their problematic readers list so good luck getting future ARCs and PR opportunities from some of your favorite authors.

---

(Original rating: 3.5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫)

"Because you're my flame, a little source of light and warmth in a void full of darkness and death, small but capable of becoming an inferno with the right fuel. And though I was always full of dark and death, for you, I have embraced it, become it, so you can keep flickering without fear. I am the void all monsters fear so you never have to be scared of anything. Not with me."

I'm going to miss these characters dearly and I'm pleased with how it ended (for the characters).

I have to say as much as I enjoyed spending time with the characters but I was expecting the finale to be more action-packed and balanced. It felt rushed, especially the climax, so it didn't feel like a final book to me (although it is). I wasn't satisfied with how they handled the big bad.

My favorite bits of the Syndicater has to be Lyla and Shadow man *swoons*.

Note: regardless of how disappointed or upset you are with this book, nothing justifies bullying the author KNOWING what she had been through in the past two years. You can criticize the book in your reviews but bullying and harassment is a red line. We're even lucky to get one book from her while she was dealing with her grief after her mother's passing and her father has been in and out hospitals.

[(*ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t understand you runyx, you claim you have such a high IQ and yet you didn’t use that to help you write this book!?!?

***SPOILERS***

1) why not explain why TF DAIN COULDNT SAVE LUNA & he watched her get raped and still chose his color black liking ass to wait wtf?

2) WHY TF would you NOT write about tristan FINALLY saying I LOVE YOU to morana ? I let it slide that he was waiting to marry her after he found his sister but to have him say I love you to luna right in front of morana knowing he never said it to her is so fucking ridiculous & fucked up are you kidding me??? to have him propose knowing damn well he never said ily , seriously?? got her pregnant, married her , they adopt xander but he still couldn’t say those three words ?? it makes no sense & there’s no reasonable explanation

the book was just a book written about everything we already knew and guessed. you tried toooo hard to make it “suspense” & “dark & mysterious” that you left out a bunch of shit , so disappointing. 2-3 years for what???

[TrippyBooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

I went into this book with low expectations & it still disappointed me. i’m not even lying when I tell you this might be the worst book I read this year.
The entire story felt so disconnected . I think the multiple pov is what hurt this book because it can be tough to wrap up multiple couples and still provide a cohesive engaging storyline

I was about 60% and unfortunately nothing was happening . There would be a scene where everybody is just talking and then the next chapter would just randomly cut to people having sex.
Then following that ,literally four whole chapters of just people having sex like everybody was simultaneously horny and just couldn’t hold it

before u know it the books about to be over. 🤨

I think if u are a TristanMorana fan to say u will be disappointed is an understatement. May that kinda love never find me
But atleast Zephyr got some lines?
Dainn has a personality transplant.
Some of the dialogue is cringe, literally nobody talks like that

Love Xander aside from
The mature dialogue that is something a 6 year old simply wouldnt say . Its a shame we never got quality mom & son content. Instead she “needed sex” and was “in heat” 😒

I was not satisfied with the end of this series . At all

There’s a lot more I wanna say, but obviously I won’t spoil the big stuff just read it for yourself

I changed my rating to one due to her updating the book & making Tristan say THANK YOU to dainn. Dont pmo what was the reason he stalked her but couldn’t save her from being raped . Shes on his tip real bad.

Update: you guys know this is clearly a arrow fanfic, right? She forgot to edit out Felicity’s name. Tristan is clearly supposed to be Oliver.


Another edit: I did read the three extra chapters that were added since all the pushback came out unfortunately, it does not fix the problems I have with this book

I have actually seen people go to her Instagram and be rude about this book and I do not condone doing that. That’s absolutely rude to enter authors spaces and tell them you don’t like the book.

[♥︎ Heather ⚔ (New House-Hiatus)]

I’m just going to say it. I’m not even really a Runyx fan, but the fact that “fans” are out here telling this author she needs to DIE bc you didn’t like her book? Are you mf kidding me?

Grow up. Touch grass. Seek therapy.

Sickening.

[⋆˙sanyae˙⋆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2★

➷ i truly don't understand why people are being soooo mean to runyx. that is not okay. it's also not okay to go and tell an author how awful you think their book is!!!! i am disappointed but i would never go and tell her that.
!!! have some decorum !!!

♡ anyways,
i loved the initial reunion with tristan and lyla. it made me so happy. i liked the first part of the book + the moments between the couples. the scenes between xander and morana, xander and dante, + xander and zephyr were really sweet.

╰┈❥this series means soo much to me. i have been waiting years for this finale. i'm so fucking sad that i didn't love it but i can't lie. i'm a critical reader and i had a hard time with this one. those ★ are for my attachment and love for this world + the characters.

⋆.˚⭒⋆now onto the critical part of my review. ⋆.˚⭒⋆
‼️🚨⚠️SPOILERS AHEAD!! DO NOT READ, IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE ANY SPOILERS // HAVEN’T READ THE ENTIRE DARK VERSE SERIES!!⚠️🚨‼️
.
.
.
.

everything felt sooo rushed.
✎ the only reason i am bringing up the length is because runyx posted multiple times that this would be the thickest book of hers... yet it was less than 400 pages (shorter than 2 other books in the series). books no. 1-5 combined are 1,752 pages long. the syndicater needed to be longer. why were all the solutions in the last 10% ??
it felt like a complete injustice to the series as a whole. there are many unanswered questions. my main questions are:

i. why did chiara pretend to be mrs. maroni to visit lex?
ii. who drugged morana? when and how? how did tristan and luna get there?
iii. how exactly did dainn take down the syndicate? what did he do with morana codes?


things that i did not like:
╰┈➤the word slave is used a lot. i wish she used enslaved as that's the proper terminology. on top of this, there were multiple typos... runyx needs better people on her team. typos take me out of the story and unfortunately, they have been in every single book.

╰┈➤the 9 pov switches weren't smooth. one specific time comes to mind.. after tristan and luna are reunited, the next chapter switched to dante then zephyr???? why? after a moment we've been waiting for since book 1? it took away from the special moment for me.

╰┈➤dante×amara and zephyr×alpha povs were so boring to me.

╰┈➤i am so upset amara's mom got killed off in less than 2 sentences???? in the epilogue???

╰┈➤as much as i like them, dainn×lyla over shadowed everyone. it felt like their book and everyone else was the side characters. they had lots of domestic // sex scenes (more on that later) but where was everyone else's domestic scenes?

╰┈➤vin was talked about sooo much. since book no. 3 yet his death and being in a relationship with malini?? was explained in a paragraph?? he deserved better .

╰┈➤no tristan or morana pov for the proposal. i don't even care that he didn't say i love you. but i expected a love declaration or something sweet???? tristan says i love you with the swiftness to his sister yet cannot say it to morana. which, i said is fine. but we don't get any conversation with him explaining that to morana; why he could say it so easily to lyla yet not to her. we don't get any explanation. i didn't like their wedding either, it gave nothing

╰┈➤lex is adopted by the maroni's but we are told in less than 1 sentence. in lyla's epilogue at that... not even his parents?? i wanted more from his character.

╰┈➤i thought lyla's epilogue was sweet having the family all over. but overall the epilogues were unsatiating. they were so short. it's the final book. that's not what i was expecting.

╰┈➤runyx has stated she has tons of bonus domestic //fluffy cute scenes to release after this book. but i wish she would have included them in here. this book needed more cutesy couple moments and down time. it was like the only downtime was the couples having sex. which was back to back to back. for 4 chapters… there were too many pages spent on smut for me especially dainn×lyla.

╰┈➤i know that everyone is in a relationship but i was hoping for more romantic development between each couple. real relationships still develop over the years, its not just sex when you're alone with your partner.

╰┈➤dainn just killed his dad the leader of the syndicate, the most powerful organization in the world, just like that?? it was explained so quickly. but how did he do it? we don't know but i wanted to know exactly how it went down.

╰┈➤more telling than showing.

╰┈➤no deep conversations or showing us bonding between lyla and tristan? we are told they go for walks to bond… okay show me!!

╰┈➤ what about lyla and xander? no real first introduction. no real conversations. we are told that xander doesn't want to live with lyla (which is understandable) and he comes to visit lyla×dainn once a month. that's it? xander is 6. finding out about your birth mom, getting adopted, your mom being severely injured and permanently disabled... etc is traumatic for a small child. this was so brushed over.

╰┈➤morana is traumatized and permanently disabled, like every other main fmc in this series. yet unlike them, we don't get to see her heal, and overcome her traumas. so what was it for? my baby deserves better than that.

╰┈➤there is a huge plot hole about lyla's phone and the communication with dainn. in ch. 33, lyla calls dainn. vs ch. 37, she said she doesn't have a # to contact him but took her phone so he could track her. runyx states in her private spoiler reader group: "there's a special code hes told her to dial in case of emergencies, so only she knows the way to contact him just in case someone else gets their hands on her phone. I guess I forgot to mention that 😭" i’m sorry??? what do you mean you forgot to mention that... and that does not even make sense to me.

╰┈➤making lyla and tristan not blood siblings and explaining it in a few paragraphs at the end of the book was cruel. i was and still am confused. it doesn't make sense.
[runyx went to explain this question in her reader group but i feel like that should have been explained properly in… ya know the book?? ]

╰┈➤luna//lyla//lyna name changes zoned me out

╰┈➤lyla said “i love you so much”
and dain said “i know”
instant ick. i am so sad because i actually really like dainn but ew absolutely not..


⋆⭒˚.⋆☁️ ⋆.˚⭒⋆
i am so disappointed and i want to cry about it.
rtc maybe


⋆⭒˚.⋆☁️ ⋆.˚⭒⋆
YOUR GIRL FINALLY HAS ALL 38 CHAPTERS!!!!
going to finish this now. i'm soooo excited and nervous


⋆⭒˚.⋆☁️ ⋆.˚⭒⋆
not runyx saying there is supposed to be 38 chapters and my kindle unlimited copy has 35.... + it won't update//fix. what the fucccck????
i got to 20% and i'm stopping until this problem is solved. can you imagine waiting over 2 years for a book and when you get to the ending, it's not complete...
fml i want to cry.



જ⁀➴ new release date.. november 15 🤞🏼

things i want to see in the finale:
➵closure on syndicate plot ✅kinda?
➵xander and lyla reunion
➵the caine sibling reunion ✅
plus closure on all of them now + future
➵tristan and the shadowman(dainn) meeting
➵tristan realizing that not only is dainn the man who has been sending morana clues... he also knew where lyla was for years, kept it to himself and married her!!! i need his reaction. a huge part of me wants them to fight hehe✅ tristan punches dainn at the end muahahahah
➵morana×tristan wedding + hea✅
➵zephyr hea ✅
➵dainn×lyla hea✅

[Soph · Rating 1 out of 5]

★. This review will contain spoilers so read at your own risk. This review will also not be the nicest if you have an issue with that, move along. To say I’m disappointed in a book is one thing. But to say I’m so angry that this is how a 5 book series with an important plot ended is how I’m feeling. I don’t know what went wrong with this book but after waiting for so long and some even longer we deserved better.

Let’s start with Tristan and Morana. Enemies to lovers who actually wanted to kill each other. Tristan who spent most of the reaper showing how much he loves Morana through his actions. Tristan who got a tattoo for Morana because he couldn’t marry her due to his sister missing. Yet in this book we can’t get one just one “I love you”. If he can say it to Luna IN-FRONT of Morana, he can say it to her. We deserved at least one ESPECIALLY DURING THEIR WEDDING. What runyx did to Morana was so so so unnecessary. You added more trauma onto a character that helped start your career and you can’t even give them a good story in the final? What do you mean they can barely look at each other? Everything we saw from them was from others point of views and that is so ridiculous.

Moving onto the one thing that irks me the most. The Tristan and Luna (Lyna) plot. We had a build up of this man fighting for his life and his sisters. He did everything for her. He was taking down the syndicate for her. And runyx couldn’t even give us a honest to god answer if they were siblings. Why would you write they were HALF SIBLINGS and then say “they aren’t blood related”. First of all, you are blood related. I don’t know if this is a mistake on her part but that’s common biology. Don’t give us this whole sibling thing to just try and write it off to please another fandom.

Next, Dainn. Why was this whole book about Dainn? Why did runyx write it so Dainn got to be the hero but not the two people who started this series? Not the woman THE WOMAN who went through actual hell? Why was it mentioned every five lines that “he’s so hot” yet in his own book the fmc said he wasn’t all that? Stop for the love of everything trying to make people like a character.

NEXT UP (because we aren’t finished) onto the biggest most stupidest thing ever. The syndicate plot. 5 books. 5 BOOKS on this plot. On the sex/human trafficking and you make it so it gets solved within ONE CHAPTER? And you have Dainn be the savior?! ONE CHAPTER SOLVED FIVE BOOKS OF A PLOT. But you can write back to back chapters of sex? We could’ve lived without that to be honest and you could’ve focused on the important things LIKE THE PLOT OF ALL THE BOOKS. It was a careless move on her and I won’t have excuses.

Alphazephyr are the reason for this one star. They finally got the ending they deserved with the happiness they deserve. However, Runyx has stated that he never will remember their past yet now he can remember one moment before he lost everything and you can’t write him to remember one moment with zephyr? You have to write more trauma and him remembering that? Enough. I’m so tired of that. If he can’t remember, don’t make him remember something for your own sake of trauma.

The only thing I agree with and will have controversy is Xander staying with Tristan and Morana. I understand some people want him with Luna but let’s think about the child who formed bonds with tristanmorana. However, how it was written was wrong. One scene of Luna and Xander and you write it so the 6 year old says he doesn’t want her? As an author, you should’ve wrote it so much better instead of a throw away gesture. Also to write that Luna can’t be a good mom because of her trauma is so messed up too write. You have people who may have experienced sexual assault or any kind of trauma and our parents and you write that so confidently and publish it? Gross in my opinion. Another thing, don’t write about kids on the spectrum if you’re not gonna give them adequate representation!! You had the opportunity and didn’t take it.

Adding on….the “bonus scene” Runyx posted was disgusting. To have Dainn throw in “yes you wanted to kill your lover and I wanted to save mine” as if Tristan wasn’t a child when he saw everything and therefore giving him trauma. As if Tristan and Morana aren’t enemies to lovers. As if everything that happened to Tristan didn’t make him feel like he wasn’t enough for her already. It’s very gross runyx is demeaning Tristan’s trauma and making it into a plot point to make Dainn look better. If I remember correctly, didn’t Dainn let Luna stay in a sex trafficking ring for years because he was planning yet it magically got fixed in one chapter here? Seems a little weird for him to comment on that just saying.

Runyx had people waiting years for this ending. I understand runyx went through something and nobody is saying she shouldn’t mourn that loss but she has constantly been caught lying. This was supposed to be the thickest book and it wasn’t. It was supposed to tie up everything and it just left more questions. It was supposed to make everyone feel like the series was done and it was lackluster. Runyx focused on sex and one couple. I’m an easy rater and I loved all the books before this. Yet im so tired of how this ended and how it was handled. No teasers and the one we got wasn’t even in the book. I don’t know maybe this book shouldn’t have been published because she didn’t end anything, she just added more trauma.

[nadine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t wanna talk about it 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
but Morana my baby girl deserves much better 😭😭😭

[nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

ETA: Some of y'all are CRAZY. Certified crazy. Like, I get not liking a book - I've disliked my fair share of books so, valid. But going on an author's page and commenting shit under her posts is a different level of entitled. Talk about the audacity lol. Not only that but I've seen people attacking said author's deceased mom and sick dad? VILE. You're allowed to have an opinion but some people need to learn where to draw the line. Seriously.

2.5⭐️
‼️MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD‼️
To say that I'm disappointed would be an understatement. I had high expectations for this book - especially with the way this series had started out - but I'm sad to say that it absolutely did not deliver. Without wasting any time, I'm just gonna say what I thought about each couple and the supposed plot twists.

→ 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗮: We. Were. Robbed. I'm sorry, but what happened to the whole "I can't say I love you back to you until I find my missing sister" even after they'd found Luna??? Not a single love confession from Tristan's mouth. Sure, he said that he loved Morana in his head in his POV but that doesn't do it for me. I wanted to see him profess his love for her, all desperate and shit because that woman fucking deserves it after being understanding and as patient as she was for YEARS. Also the proposal??? What the hell was that?!?!😪 Yes, we did see them get married so that's a relief ig. Morana, sweetie, I'm so fucking sorry💔 Tristan, I expected better from you. This book honestly wasn't in Morana's favor what with the whole shoulder injury thing and then it eventually going completely numb. Fuck if my heart doesn't hurt for her😭 TristanMorana have officially moved down to second place as my favorite couple in this series😔

→ 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗮: These two were the highlight of this book, no doubt. Probably one of the few only good things in it ngl. The sex scenes were HOT. Tempest was adorable asf. Dante was a total DILF and Amara was a queen as always. Plus, they got their *actual* HEA imo unlike a certain *cough* couple.

→ 𝗮𝗹𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘇𝗲𝗽𝗵𝘆𝗿: I don't think Alpha deserves Zephyr. There. I said it. God it feels good to get it off my chest. Sue me but I'm never getting over the fact that Alpha had the hots for Amara initially (gives me the ick) and that he fucked up pretty bad in The Finisher but Zephyr forgave him way too fast. Also what was up with the cringey nicknames? It was giving me ✨️second hand embarassment✨️ Honest to god, Zephyr should find a better man for herself I SAID WHAT I SAID. Though I will say that her finding out she was pregnant was very cute. Alpha wasn't as bad in this book but I got annoyed by reminders of how he was in his book. Also why the fuck didn't he get his memories back???? Poor Zephyr basically has to spend her entire life and live with him not remembering their times tg. What a disgrace #justiceforzephyr

→ 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗹𝘂𝗻𝗮: I'm saying this with my whole chest and idc if y'all don't like it because I really, really, REALLY don't like Dainn. And yes, a major reason is that he let that bitch touch him because he was "curious" in The Annihilator. I'm also very salty that her name was Nikki. Please do not bring shame to my name, thank you very much. I like to think that people named Nikki aren't homewreckers🙂 Dainn was a meh character tbh. One more thing that I didn't like was how he never said ily back to Luna and only made her say it. I haven't been a fan of him since the beginning so it was a chore for me to read about him in this book - a majority of which had his POVs or something or the other about Shadowman. It was great to see Luna again tho - I just wished we'd gotten to see her heal more.

→ 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝘂𝗻𝗮: Now this was one of the handful scenes in the book that I enjoyed. I'd been waiting for the much awaited brother-sister reunion for as long as I can remember now. It was def a very heavy moment and I liked seeing their dynamic as siblings further on in the story. We didn't get a lot of that though.

→ 𝘃𝗶𝗻: I am utterly furious about what happened to Vin! DEAD? WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK. It felt like Runyx had gotten bored of his character and sent him underground just to kill him off. I am personally very, very hurt because of Vin's death because in my mind, he was my husband and I really wanted to see him get a book🥲

→ 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀: The plot twists were kinda...idek what to think about them. Like there was this whole buildup/anticipation to Tristan finding his BIOLOGICAL baby sister only for us to find out that she was his half sister towards the end? No. Fuck that. Also Chiara. Always hated that bitch - still do - and it makes me sick to know that technically, she's related Tristan too (because Luna and her share a mother) and used to sleep with him. Ew🤮 The plot twists weren't something that had me gasping in surprise but more like going 🤨😒🙄😬😐 soooo yeah🤷🏻‍♀️

Overall, I'd say that this was a let down since I was expecting a more solid conclusion for all the couples. This book was more about the syndicate and putting the final pieces of the puzzle together rather than the romance. I was here more for the romance tbh and less for the plot. I would been fine with a reunion and a lot of fluffy moments between the couples but I digress. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't looking forward to getting this over with and that I didn't speed read (triple my usual speed lol since this is a 600 page book) Wouldn't recommend because I found it to be underwhelming (idk what it is with most of my anticipated reads of 2024😭)

safety squad:
- no OW/OM drama
- no cheating/sharing
- interconnected book part of a series (the finale)
- HEA (with marriage and babies)

***

ETA: Finished reading the bonus scenes sent through the newsletter and now I'm pissed off😑 The only reason I'm gonna read this book is because I wanna finish what I started and because I want to see Tristan and Luna reunite. Reading the bonus scenes has reaffirmed my belief that Alpha doesn't deserve Zephyr and Shadowman doesn't deserve Luna. I said what I said. If I could back and reduce my rating for those two books, I would😬 Also yeah, I'm still bitter about Tristan not saying ily back to Morana. Fucking sue me for wanting couples in romance books to say it to each other
***
I BETTER SEE LUNA AND TRISTAN REUNITED ASAP😤 So many things are gonna happen in this book😭😭😭 TRISTAN AND LUNA BEING REUNITED? TRISTAN SAYING ILY TO MORANA? TRISTANMORANA WEDDING? ALPHA GETTING HIS MEMORY BACK (I HOPE)? FUCK YESSSSSSSSS

[ˋ✧*⁀➷ ʙᴇᴛᴛʏ (med school got me good) · Rating 1 out of 5]

i did not wait for two and a half years for the show to be this flop.

[Youssra (semi ia) · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of all, I harbor absolutely no ill will towards the author because I was disappointed. It's not her job to please everyone, and people being so disrespectful and deciding not to read her other upcoming books is so immature.. seriously grow up lol, at the end of the day it's just a book.



disclaimer: I didn't read a single review of this book because I didn't want those opinions in the back of my head and wanted to form my own, I just saw ratings.

I can appreciate the vision she had with this book but I feel like she bit off more that she could chew. having four main couples come together in one book is not easy. My main issue with the book was the pacing and actual lack of stuff happening😭 Here's a quick summary of the book, and to the people who read this please correct me if I'm wrong:

Internal monologues and nothing.... more nothing... REUNION...nothing.. talking...SEX FEST...reveals that were done poorly imo.. HEA.

The most important thing to me while reading any book, is that I'm having fun.
I can overlook a lot if I'm entertained and sadly I was not. I was so bored except when MY MAN DANTE AND HIS PHILTHY MOUTH was there. I skimmed and skimmed and discovered that I was missing nothing while skimming😭 Also WHAT WAS WITH REPEATING THE SAME SCENE FROM DIFF POVS? It was so useless and infuriated me bcz I felt like I was moving backward instead of forward 🥴



I liked some parts to be fair, the reunion made me cry and we all know how much I love crying, Xander was so funny, and the spice marathon😅, specifically Dante and Amara my babies, was fun😅 The epilogues were cute, especially -you guessed it- Dante and Amara👏

I've said this before and I will say it again, THIS SERIES PEAKED WITH THE EMPEROR 📣📣 the other books after that just kept going downhill, BUT THAT'S JUST MY OPINION.

Probably gonna relisten to The Emperor at some point because I refuse to let my babies go😭

-----------------------------------------------------
pre-read
going in with below zero expectations 😭

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️ 2.75 stars

I wish I could say I loved this, but it felt disjointed. It was always going to be difficult to conclude multiple couples stories and wrap up the central plot line neatly. People were always going to be disappointed with some aspects because it’s a big feat to try and achieve in less than 400 pages.

That said, there was some decisions that made no sense to me, such as the reveals in the epilogues (which were only two pages per couple). It felt very rushed and like some decisions were made as an afterthought.

The spice was good, however, it felt unbalanced given the main plot device could have done with more pages. You would go from heavier scenes to four chapters of sex from each couple back to something else. I was getting whiplash from the constant changing perspectives.

My second favourite couple is Tristian x Morana and I can see people feeling underwhelmed about their role this book. They were the first couple, had two books and were the main focus of the central plot and then when we finally reach the pinnacle moment, it was kind of swept over. I still enjoyed their scenes but overall, I wanted a bit more for their conclusion, especially poor Morana! Tell the woman you love her & how do you not notice what’s going on!! (Ahhh).

The reunion scene was super emotional as expected and I loved it. But again, the book was disjointed and the changing POV’s detracted from the moment.

Zephyr and Alpha had some cute moments too but it felt kind of fleeting in comparison to the screen time of other couples. The epilogue for them was really sweet and unexpected.

Dante and Amara’s chemistry is unmatched. I loved seeing more glimpses of them, even if their scenes felt out of place compared to what was going on in other parts of this book, they were the main thing I was looking forward to.

I’m not going to say much about the shadow man and his love interest. Their book was the weakest for me and they took up a lot of space in this. I get why because of the plot, but I honestly felt like skimming some of their moments.

Overall, it was okay, I went into this excited but without any specific expectation about what I wanted to happen. It did deliver on giving everyone glimpses of all the characters but I think this could have been wrapped up more effectively.

[ellie · Rating 1 out of 5]

[buket · Rating 3 out of 5]

thank you runyx, for this beautiful series🤎

the emotional roller coaster this release caused😭 i think i won’t be reviewing this anytime soon



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guys stay away from twitter until release day bc i accidentally saw some spoilers and actually hate those people and my life rn🤡🤡

ANYWAYS STAY OFFLINE BESTIES WE ARE SO CLOSE TO RELEASE DAY🙏🏻🩷