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624: Swallowed by Darkness
The devil had me dragged out of my bed and tried to make me a deal. Get rid of my baby and he'd compensate me well. There was no way I could get rid of something that had been made out of love, even if it hadn't been planned. I don't know how he even knew. It's not like I told anyone I was pregnant, much less my fiancé’s father. But when he locked me in his study with him, he knew... and he was desperate to put an end to it.
If you don't take a devil's bargain, you may just find yourself in hell anyway. That's what happened to me. I couldn't get rid of my child, and I couldn't run... he was too fast. There were too many of them.
They ruined me that night, and dragged me into their twisted world.
There's no hope here. No color. Just captives, prisoners, each used for whatever we can provide. We just hold on as long as we can to who we used to be, until that's taken too. And while it's a horror we all endure, I'm the only one who has a ticking time bomb inside of them.
I know I'll die here. What I don't know is if my baby will, too.
If you don't take a devil's bargain, you may just find yourself in hell anyway. That's what happened to me. I couldn't get rid of my child, and I couldn't run... he was too fast. There were too many of them.
They ruined me that night, and dragged me into their twisted world.
There's no hope here. No color. Just captives, prisoners, each used for whatever we can provide. We just hold on as long as we can to who we used to be, until that's taken too. And while it's a horror we all endure, I'm the only one who has a ticking time bomb inside of them.
I know I'll die here. What I don't know is if my baby will, too.
196 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 5, 2025
76 people are currently reading
268 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 125 reviews
November 2, 2025
ARC review 🫦
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Beautifully brutal, heartbreakingly human.”
Swallowed by Darkness isn’t just dark—it’s pitch black, the kind that seeps into your bones and refuses to let go. From the first page, I felt every ounce of the heroine’s fear, defiance, and aching hope. When the devil himself comes to her door—her fiancé’s father, no less—and demands the unthinkable, she refuses to bow. What follows is a descent into a world of power, cruelty, and survival that had my stomach in knots and my heart in pieces.
It’s not an easy read, but it’s one that matters. The writing is raw, emotional, and unapologetically haunting. There’s no glossing over the pain here—only the fragile spark of resilience that refuses to die, even when everything else has been stripped away.
If you’re looking for sunshine and safety, this isn’t it. But if you crave stories that rip you open, make you bleed, and remind you what strength truly looks like—this one will stay with you long after you close the final page.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Beautifully brutal, heartbreakingly human.”
Swallowed by Darkness isn’t just dark—it’s pitch black, the kind that seeps into your bones and refuses to let go. From the first page, I felt every ounce of the heroine’s fear, defiance, and aching hope. When the devil himself comes to her door—her fiancé’s father, no less—and demands the unthinkable, she refuses to bow. What follows is a descent into a world of power, cruelty, and survival that had my stomach in knots and my heart in pieces.
It’s not an easy read, but it’s one that matters. The writing is raw, emotional, and unapologetically haunting. There’s no glossing over the pain here—only the fragile spark of resilience that refuses to die, even when everything else has been stripped away.
If you’re looking for sunshine and safety, this isn’t it. But if you crave stories that rip you open, make you bleed, and remind you what strength truly looks like—this one will stay with you long after you close the final page.
October 24, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥🔥
624: Swallowed by Darkness by Carly Claire was haunting, intense, and completely unputdownable. This story grabbed me from the first page and refused to let go. It’s dark, emotional, and full of moments that had me holding my breath.
The concept alone gave me chills—a woman trapped in a twisted world, fighting for her life and her baby against pure evil. The tension was constant, and the writing pulled me straight into the nightmare. You could feel the fear, the hopelessness, and the small sparks of defiance that kept her going.
And let’s talk about the spice, I wouldn’t say its spicy, as much as its very heavy with dark ugly spicy scene. The emotions hit hard and left me reeling. It’s one of those reads that lingers with you long after you’ve finished.
💫 5/5 stars
🔥 5/5 spice
Creepy, emotional, and completely addictive. This one had my heart racing and my jaw on the floor.
“To the bad days, with the knowledge it could always be worse. But also, fuck the Tuesdays.”
🔥🔥
624: Swallowed by Darkness by Carly Claire was haunting, intense, and completely unputdownable. This story grabbed me from the first page and refused to let go. It’s dark, emotional, and full of moments that had me holding my breath.
The concept alone gave me chills—a woman trapped in a twisted world, fighting for her life and her baby against pure evil. The tension was constant, and the writing pulled me straight into the nightmare. You could feel the fear, the hopelessness, and the small sparks of defiance that kept her going.
And let’s talk about the spice, I wouldn’t say its spicy, as much as its very heavy with dark ugly spicy scene. The emotions hit hard and left me reeling. It’s one of those reads that lingers with you long after you’ve finished.
💫 5/5 stars
🔥 5/5 spice
Creepy, emotional, and completely addictive. This one had my heart racing and my jaw on the floor.
“To the bad days, with the knowledge it could always be worse. But also, fuck the Tuesdays.”
November 6, 2025
This story will rip your heart into a million pieces. Have a box of tissues handy while you read Lauren's story. It's very very dark with the sinister monsters that defile her and take and take until there is nothing left.
Carly has written a beautiful erotic horror filled story that is very emotional, about a darkness that some people experience and often never find the light again. My heart aches for those that experience something like human trafficking, where despicable things are done to women by very powerful people, etc. Where the only peace you feel you can have is being numb and lost to the abyss.
Check those TW before reading this book. This story is not for the faint of heart. I don't know if I will ever be the same after reading this book. I devoured this story full of erotic horror. Left feeling numb and forever broken.
Carly has written a beautiful erotic horror filled story that is very emotional, about a darkness that some people experience and often never find the light again. My heart aches for those that experience something like human trafficking, where despicable things are done to women by very powerful people, etc. Where the only peace you feel you can have is being numb and lost to the abyss.
Check those TW before reading this book. This story is not for the faint of heart. I don't know if I will ever be the same after reading this book. I devoured this story full of erotic horror. Left feeling numb and forever broken.
December 1, 2025
This book is heavy. It is not romance, but an erotic horror. A novella but packed full of SA, physical abuse, violence, trauma. It is not for the faint of heart. I had to collect my thoughts before I wrote my review.
The impact 624: 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 had on me was severe. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it, but it wasn’t an easy read. The last book I read by 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞 was dark, but not this dark. She was truly able to transport me into this depraved world and evoke all the emotions as if I was right there with these characters. Lauren, the FMC, aka 624, went through so much in this story and it was heartbreaking. The ending is not called an HEA, but in my eyes it was. It was an escape from her tragic reality. Well done, Ms. Claire. Thank you for the opportunity to arc read this story.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭.“
The impact 624: 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 had on me was severe. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it, but it wasn’t an easy read. The last book I read by 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞 was dark, but not this dark. She was truly able to transport me into this depraved world and evoke all the emotions as if I was right there with these characters. Lauren, the FMC, aka 624, went through so much in this story and it was heartbreaking. The ending is not called an HEA, but in my eyes it was. It was an escape from her tragic reality. Well done, Ms. Claire. Thank you for the opportunity to arc read this story.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭.“
December 5, 2025
This story was absolutely unhinged.. raw, brutal, and undeniably ugly in the most devastating way.
Lauren, better known as 624, carries a story that is nothing short of heartbreaking.
My heart, mind, and body broke for her with every chapter. It may be a short book, but it is not an easy read.
There is no trigger list included, so let me be clear: if you have any triggers, this book is not for you. And if you're looking for a happy ending, you won’t find it here.
This book is so heavy, so emotionally disturbing, that I genuinely don’t think I’ll ever be the same after reading it. It lingers. It haunts. It hurts. And it will sit with me for a long, long time.
ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.
Lauren, better known as 624, carries a story that is nothing short of heartbreaking.
My heart, mind, and body broke for her with every chapter. It may be a short book, but it is not an easy read.
There is no trigger list included, so let me be clear: if you have any triggers, this book is not for you. And if you're looking for a happy ending, you won’t find it here.
This book is so heavy, so emotionally disturbing, that I genuinely don’t think I’ll ever be the same after reading it. It lingers. It haunts. It hurts. And it will sit with me for a long, long time.
ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.
January 1, 2026
3.5 stars rounded up. I'm a sucker for an erotic horror, yes I would categorize this book as such, NOT a dark romance. This was messed up, fast-paced, but also left me wanting more. I feel like I would've rated this higher if it were longer and we got more story/backstory on our characters. But for what it was, it was a great fucked up little story.
January 13, 2026
ARC REVIEW
This was utterly devastating. It has torn my heart apart and shattered it. It never restored my heart to its former state. Instead, it continued to erode it piece by piece. Fast-paced and well-written. Know your triggers before reading.
Thanks to Book Sirens for sending me an advanced copy to read and review
December 11, 2025
I went into this story fairly blind and it was horrific. The things that happened in this book are not for the faint of heart and there are no HEAs, only pain and misery. You could feel the MCs pain through the whole story. Definitely a very rough story to get through.
January 27, 2026
Seriously the darkest book I’ve ever read but couldn’t put it down
November 2, 2025
ARC Review:
This book came with heavy emphasis on no happily ever after. Triggers and Trauma galore. Proceed with caution.
The story is heartbreaking, depraved, depressing and so very very dark. There is no redemption and no hope.
There is an end, and in its own way, is devastatingly poetic. This is well written, well thought out and very raw, open and honest about the realities of our world. This is Horror Erotica.
This was easily a 5 star read for me. I immensely enjoy Carly’s books. I would recommend it, absolutely!
This book came with heavy emphasis on no happily ever after. Triggers and Trauma galore. Proceed with caution.
The story is heartbreaking, depraved, depressing and so very very dark. There is no redemption and no hope.
There is an end, and in its own way, is devastatingly poetic. This is well written, well thought out and very raw, open and honest about the realities of our world. This is Horror Erotica.
This was easily a 5 star read for me. I immensely enjoy Carly’s books. I would recommend it, absolutely!
October 25, 2025
A review of two halves, as the author says in her introduction, you need to be in the right headspace for this book.
If you are looking for a repugnant, repulsive, abhorrent book, then you have found the right one. Bleak, nasty, unpleasant and at times vile. 5 stars
If you are not looking for that kind of book, then this is the wrong book for you. 1 star
It's well written, and I'm glad it's not written to titillate, it's not torture porn, it's just torture.
I decided on 3 stars for this as it's not a book that you can read another chapter to see if you will get into it or not, it either works or it doesn't, I think 3 stars reflects that, and as I said above, if you are in the right head space for this kind of thing, then it's 5 stars all day.
I got a copy of this from BookSirens, and this is my honest review
If you are looking for a repugnant, repulsive, abhorrent book, then you have found the right one. Bleak, nasty, unpleasant and at times vile. 5 stars
If you are not looking for that kind of book, then this is the wrong book for you. 1 star
It's well written, and I'm glad it's not written to titillate, it's not torture porn, it's just torture.
I decided on 3 stars for this as it's not a book that you can read another chapter to see if you will get into it or not, it either works or it doesn't, I think 3 stars reflects that, and as I said above, if you are in the right head space for this kind of thing, then it's 5 stars all day.
I got a copy of this from BookSirens, and this is my honest review
November 5, 2025
i don't honestly think i've ever read a book as sad as this one. my heart is broken. in every single way.
i lost count how many times i cried during this,i never usually go for sadness,i read erotic horror,nothing erotic about this horror,its devastating.
i know you're probably thinking this is negatively reviewed,you'd be wrong,it's a 5 stars for me. it is the most guttural book i have ever read and created an impact and an emptiness in me i didn't know was possible. i have a black little heart and am a heartless bitch usually,but this cracked my armour,a huge crack too.
the story is devastating,the plot line is unlike anything i've read before,it was torture,from start to finish. and i truly don't envy carly for the depths she had to go for this story,like girl are you okay? like i'm checking in on you,i hope you're not sad after this😭
but the note at the end really was the nail in the coffin for me,it is unbelievably true,like carly has said. not everybody gets a happy ending,some people endure pure torture and still don't make it out,some meet their bitter end & too indeed become swallowed by darkness.
ratings are going to be tricky from all the years flowing down my face so let's see!
character/s? 5⭐️ lauren. my sweet lauren. april,the most beautiful special one. blossom. they all play a part. in the lost devastating way,lauren is by far the most complex and tragedies character i have ever read,and i don't say that lightly. her character speaks to me on a level i locked away,her pure pain and sadness feels like you're living with her. it feels like you're entwined with her as you read her story. it is powerful. it is impactful. and i can say. this story will make a difference,for a better or for worse for somebody. but one thing you can take.. this is a tradgey. the story is utterly heartbreaking. but real.
plot? 5⭐️ the plot line. a deep dive into a tragic look at the realities of human trafficking, a look so deep it makes you question how is this possible, how can this happen. although a work of fiction,this is all very real. and it feels it. you feel it in your bones. i have chills, i have tears. a story so moving,in the tragic way. carly did something with this,part of me didn't want to love it,but somehow i did,it is a story so tragically heartbreaking if that makes sense?
overall?? 4.5⭐️ heart broken. that would be saying it lightly. this story has opened my eyes to the world of tragedy and the pure impactful stories that come from this. impactful. that is all i can say. eye opening,guttural. my heart and mind are opened,and broken. but opened none the less.
i lost count how many times i cried during this,i never usually go for sadness,i read erotic horror,nothing erotic about this horror,its devastating.
i know you're probably thinking this is negatively reviewed,you'd be wrong,it's a 5 stars for me. it is the most guttural book i have ever read and created an impact and an emptiness in me i didn't know was possible. i have a black little heart and am a heartless bitch usually,but this cracked my armour,a huge crack too.
the story is devastating,the plot line is unlike anything i've read before,it was torture,from start to finish. and i truly don't envy carly for the depths she had to go for this story,like girl are you okay? like i'm checking in on you,i hope you're not sad after this😭
but the note at the end really was the nail in the coffin for me,it is unbelievably true,like carly has said. not everybody gets a happy ending,some people endure pure torture and still don't make it out,some meet their bitter end & too indeed become swallowed by darkness.
ratings are going to be tricky from all the years flowing down my face so let's see!
character/s? 5⭐️ lauren. my sweet lauren. april,the most beautiful special one. blossom. they all play a part. in the lost devastating way,lauren is by far the most complex and tragedies character i have ever read,and i don't say that lightly. her character speaks to me on a level i locked away,her pure pain and sadness feels like you're living with her. it feels like you're entwined with her as you read her story. it is powerful. it is impactful. and i can say. this story will make a difference,for a better or for worse for somebody. but one thing you can take.. this is a tradgey. the story is utterly heartbreaking. but real.
plot? 5⭐️ the plot line. a deep dive into a tragic look at the realities of human trafficking, a look so deep it makes you question how is this possible, how can this happen. although a work of fiction,this is all very real. and it feels it. you feel it in your bones. i have chills, i have tears. a story so moving,in the tragic way. carly did something with this,part of me didn't want to love it,but somehow i did,it is a story so tragically heartbreaking if that makes sense?
overall?? 4.5⭐️ heart broken. that would be saying it lightly. this story has opened my eyes to the world of tragedy and the pure impactful stories that come from this. impactful. that is all i can say. eye opening,guttural. my heart and mind are opened,and broken. but opened none the less.
December 8, 2025
Before you even start this book, it is imperative that you read the content warning at the beginning. The author lays it all out and lets you know that this is not a romance and there won’t be a HEA. If you are one of those dark romance readers that loves a morally grey MMC and you don’t mind the depraved things you are reading because in the end you know that everything will work out, this may not be the book for you. This is a book so dark and depraved that it tore at my soul as I read. This is a book that will rip and tear at your insides while you ask yourself how people can be this awful. You may wonder why someone would want to read something like this, and if that is what is going through your brain, this is not for you. This book is so well written and one where it produced such an emotional reaction in me that when I finished, I put my kindle down and just stared ahead, wiping the tears from my eyes and thinking about what I had just read. This is only about 170 pages, so not one that will take a long time to read. But it absolutely is one that will stay with me for a while.
One thing that makes this book so powerful is that it is told completely from the POV of the FMC, Lauren. You feel what she feels. You have the same questions rolling through your brain that she does. You ache with everything that she experiences. It honestly is what separates this book from one that is just hurt and pain piled on a poor woman. But what really rips you apart is the fact that the FMC is not a woman but really just a child of 17. She is someone that had their whole life ahead of them, until everything is taken by a man with money and power. Add on top of that that Lauren is pregnant and so her decisions are not ones that she makes for herself, but for her child.
This is not a romance. This is not a happy book and not a book to read when you are looking for someone to overcome everything and be saved by a knight to live happily ever after. This is a book when you want to feel, even if it means feeling like your soul was ripped out. What really hurts is that this is something that actually happens and there are people like this that rule by destroying others. There are definitely situations that would be considered spicy if they all weren’t noncon. But this isn’t one of those books. I thought it was so well written and it will definitely stick with me, but it is not for happy reasons. This book makes you feel and think. That’s what makes it great.
One thing that makes this book so powerful is that it is told completely from the POV of the FMC, Lauren. You feel what she feels. You have the same questions rolling through your brain that she does. You ache with everything that she experiences. It honestly is what separates this book from one that is just hurt and pain piled on a poor woman. But what really rips you apart is the fact that the FMC is not a woman but really just a child of 17. She is someone that had their whole life ahead of them, until everything is taken by a man with money and power. Add on top of that that Lauren is pregnant and so her decisions are not ones that she makes for herself, but for her child.
This is not a romance. This is not a happy book and not a book to read when you are looking for someone to overcome everything and be saved by a knight to live happily ever after. This is a book when you want to feel, even if it means feeling like your soul was ripped out. What really hurts is that this is something that actually happens and there are people like this that rule by destroying others. There are definitely situations that would be considered spicy if they all weren’t noncon. But this isn’t one of those books. I thought it was so well written and it will definitely stick with me, but it is not for happy reasons. This book makes you feel and think. That’s what makes it great.
December 3, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓮
🌶️🌶️ - 𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓮
🔥🔥🔥 - 𝓹𝓵𝓸𝓽
🩸🩸🩸 - 𝓰𝓸𝓻𝓮
🖤 𝓶𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼🖤
Lauren & Victor
🖤 𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓼🖤
captivity
human trafficking
🖤 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀🖤
This book is DARK. The author made it explicitly known that this was not going to be a romance. Everything about this story from the start has been bleak and you soon hope for the best for our female main lead after all the horrific ordeals she is forced into. You will have an emotional breakdown the more she is put through. A tough read but one that is worth finishing because you NEED to know what’s going to happen.
*spoilers*
Lauren attends at funeral and finds Victor, a man she has an insatiable thirst for, there. But he’s only back for a short time before he has to return to the military. A moment of pleasure and he proposes to her and after a little consideration, she replies with a yes. But now she might be pregnant at seventeen, so she hides it by faking the same sickness his sister and her best friend, Allie, has. Until the day she finds out his father knows and he’ll prevent his son from finding out.
Including putting her through a literal hellish ordeal that turns into a life is solitude and order. Now, instead of Lauren, she is referred to as 624 and must satisfy clients as the baby inside of her grows. With only her friend April, another captive, to keep her sanity in order, she insists that Victor will come back one day to save her from this atrocious affair. Day after day, month after month, the torture and assaults increase as she starts to give up. I won’t go too much into details but damn. Definitely do not go into this if you get triggered easily from violence on women.
This book is heavy on the dark subject matter. Emphasis on the DARK. This has no HEA. No satisfying ending. You might even want to watch an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse afterwards so you don’t wake up from the horrid dreams that could come from it. But it’s absolutely a great plot and I’m happy to hear that we actually get to know more about her bundle of joy in another series! 5/5 on plot and pacing, with a rollercoaster of emotions that flood the pages.
🌶️🌶️ - 𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓮
🔥🔥🔥 - 𝓹𝓵𝓸𝓽
🩸🩸🩸 - 𝓰𝓸𝓻𝓮
🖤 𝓶𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼🖤
Lauren & Victor
🖤 𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓼🖤
captivity
human trafficking
🖤 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀🖤
This book is DARK. The author made it explicitly known that this was not going to be a romance. Everything about this story from the start has been bleak and you soon hope for the best for our female main lead after all the horrific ordeals she is forced into. You will have an emotional breakdown the more she is put through. A tough read but one that is worth finishing because you NEED to know what’s going to happen.
*spoilers*
Lauren attends at funeral and finds Victor, a man she has an insatiable thirst for, there. But he’s only back for a short time before he has to return to the military. A moment of pleasure and he proposes to her and after a little consideration, she replies with a yes. But now she might be pregnant at seventeen, so she hides it by faking the same sickness his sister and her best friend, Allie, has. Until the day she finds out his father knows and he’ll prevent his son from finding out.
Including putting her through a literal hellish ordeal that turns into a life is solitude and order. Now, instead of Lauren, she is referred to as 624 and must satisfy clients as the baby inside of her grows. With only her friend April, another captive, to keep her sanity in order, she insists that Victor will come back one day to save her from this atrocious affair. Day after day, month after month, the torture and assaults increase as she starts to give up. I won’t go too much into details but damn. Definitely do not go into this if you get triggered easily from violence on women.
This book is heavy on the dark subject matter. Emphasis on the DARK. This has no HEA. No satisfying ending. You might even want to watch an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse afterwards so you don’t wake up from the horrid dreams that could come from it. But it’s absolutely a great plot and I’m happy to hear that we actually get to know more about her bundle of joy in another series! 5/5 on plot and pacing, with a rollercoaster of emotions that flood the pages.
November 13, 2025
Man oh man was this ever darrkkkk!!!! I’m usually the kind of reader that can always confidently say I don’t have any triggers, even when going into the pitch black and erotic horror genres but I have to be honest, I had a hard time getting through this one. The kind of torture the FMC went through was brutal and there is no HEA, no matter how much you want there to be. No the ending is terrifying and sad. I’ve read the first book in Carly’s Embrace the darkness series and a lot of things clicked into place and it made me feel a lot of things. Carly mentions at the beginning of this book that was so this story is for those who have been feeling numb lately, because this book WILL make you feel something! Check your triggers people! Seriously, I don’t say this lightly. This is one of the darkest books I’ve ever read and what was so terrifying for me while reading this was knowing these awful things could and do happen in real life and they could happen to anyone. All it takes is being at the wrong place at the wrong time or having your partners father find out your pregnant out of wed lock so he tests you by telling you to get rid of the it and when you say no you automatically fail that test because in their world women/wife’s are to be obedient and listen and do what their told. So the lesson here people is read the room and think before you speak, if someone is playing a game in a world you don’t belong in play the game right back until you can get out of said world. I would have told him I’d get the abortion and as soon as I was able to talk to the boyfriend I’d tell him I was leaving and where to find me once he was done with his tour, then we could run away together. Might have to learn how to fight to protect myself and my family and might have to take out his father cuz he would probably spend a lot of resources hunting us down but you gotta do what you gotta do! I suggest reading this book before you start the other books in the “Escape the darkness series. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 23, 2025
The story is one of the bleakest, most relentless pieces of erotic horror I’ve ever read, and it announces that intention from the very first lines. Carly Claire is blunt that this is not a romance, not a dark romance, not a love story in disguise but a tragedy about pain, captivity, and the dismantling of a woman’s identity.
The story follows Lauren, who is kidnapped by the wealthy, politically powerful family of the man she loves. She believes she is about to marry Victor, but instead she’s dragged into the kind of underground trafficking ring people whisper about but never truly imagine. Once she’s taken, her name is wiped away and replaced with a number—624—stripping her of the last anchor she had to her former life. From there the novel becomes an unbroken descent into physical and psychological torture, showing the day-to-day reality of a woman whose worth has been reduced to her body and whose only companions are other women destined for the same fate.
Meanwhile, the men who run the operation cycle in and out of Lauren’s life, each representing a different flavor of cruelty. Some are bored, some are amused, some are businesslike, and some are almost tender in a way that is more grotesque than violence.
The book closes with an author’s note acknowledging that not all stories end in healing, because some people need fiction that reflects pain instead of glossing over it, because sometimes tragedy is the only honest form a story can take.
This novel is brutal, explicit, harrowing, and unyielding. It offers no hope and no rescue, yet it is written with a strange, terrible beauty. The cherry blossom scenes are lyrical enough to hurt, and Lauren’s internal voice is so vulnerable that even in her lowest moments she remains painfully human. It is not a book for most readers. But for those who actively seek the darkest corners of fiction, the ones that refuse catharsis or redemption, this is unforgettable in exactly the way a nightmare can be—a story that crawls under your skin and doesn’t leave, not because it comforts, but because it refuses to lie.
The story follows Lauren, who is kidnapped by the wealthy, politically powerful family of the man she loves. She believes she is about to marry Victor, but instead she’s dragged into the kind of underground trafficking ring people whisper about but never truly imagine. Once she’s taken, her name is wiped away and replaced with a number—624—stripping her of the last anchor she had to her former life. From there the novel becomes an unbroken descent into physical and psychological torture, showing the day-to-day reality of a woman whose worth has been reduced to her body and whose only companions are other women destined for the same fate.
Meanwhile, the men who run the operation cycle in and out of Lauren’s life, each representing a different flavor of cruelty. Some are bored, some are amused, some are businesslike, and some are almost tender in a way that is more grotesque than violence.
The book closes with an author’s note acknowledging that not all stories end in healing, because some people need fiction that reflects pain instead of glossing over it, because sometimes tragedy is the only honest form a story can take.
This novel is brutal, explicit, harrowing, and unyielding. It offers no hope and no rescue, yet it is written with a strange, terrible beauty. The cherry blossom scenes are lyrical enough to hurt, and Lauren’s internal voice is so vulnerable that even in her lowest moments she remains painfully human. It is not a book for most readers. But for those who actively seek the darkest corners of fiction, the ones that refuse catharsis or redemption, this is unforgettable in exactly the way a nightmare can be—a story that crawls under your skin and doesn’t leave, not because it comforts, but because it refuses to lie.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 19, 2025
This book HURT. It hurt my heart and soul and I don't think I'll be the same after reading this. This book is pitch black and the warnings should NOT be taken lightly. I think this story will have a permanent spot in my soul whether I want it there or not. This book is where happiness goes to die. With that being said...
This book was beautifully written. It was haunting in its writing because there is so much to pain and torture and agony than just the obvious and this book sheds light on it. The amount of pain I felt while reading this was insurmountable but I regret nothing. Watching Lauren's downfall was tragic. I definitely had to put this book down a few times because it was hard to get through. The amount of tears I shed! I wished so much for Lauren to get her happy ending, but that's not what this book was about.
The part about reading this book that really pained me was that this is a reality for a lot of people. This book put human trafficking in such a blatant spotlight. I don't think I could ever forget this book. I don't think I'll be able to reread it again anytime soon but I am glad I read it. This pain was needed. I've cried and felt for many characters in many books but I don't think I hurt for anyone quite like Lauren.
I was there when she was at her most content and then again as I watched her autonomy get stripped away. Then again as her body betrayed her. Then, finally, as her mind betrayed her too.
I honestly don't know how to put into words what I experienced reading this book because it was just so much raw emotion that the words for it doesn’t exist.
Thank you for writing this Carly Claire. That couldn't have been easy.
Please take her warning at the beginning seriously because your mental health matters, especially with something this dark.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This book was beautifully written. It was haunting in its writing because there is so much to pain and torture and agony than just the obvious and this book sheds light on it. The amount of pain I felt while reading this was insurmountable but I regret nothing. Watching Lauren's downfall was tragic. I definitely had to put this book down a few times because it was hard to get through. The amount of tears I shed! I wished so much for Lauren to get her happy ending, but that's not what this book was about.
The part about reading this book that really pained me was that this is a reality for a lot of people. This book put human trafficking in such a blatant spotlight. I don't think I could ever forget this book. I don't think I'll be able to reread it again anytime soon but I am glad I read it. This pain was needed. I've cried and felt for many characters in many books but I don't think I hurt for anyone quite like Lauren.
I was there when she was at her most content and then again as I watched her autonomy get stripped away. Then again as her body betrayed her. Then, finally, as her mind betrayed her too.
I honestly don't know how to put into words what I experienced reading this book because it was just so much raw emotion that the words for it doesn’t exist.
Thank you for writing this Carly Claire. That couldn't have been easy.
Please take her warning at the beginning seriously because your mental health matters, especially with something this dark.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 7, 2025
"All the people I’ve loved have left me."
This is a very hard book to review. What a rough way to start out a book! This book is not a romance though, at all. This is an erotic horror with tragedy vibes. It definitely left a lasting and horrific impression. This book needed more femine rage.
If anything can go wrong, everything will go wrong. That's where we find 17 year old orphan, Lauren. Literally, between a rock and a even harder place. OK if 624 doesn't get revenge on everyone that deserves it? This book won't be worth the emotional upheaval! Time to break out some daggers or guns.
What is worse, betrayal from everyone or yourself? This book is very reminiscent to me of Pam Godwin, Pepper Winters, and Jennifer Hartmann. All mixed together. It's torture, abuse, and horrific! What's left to do when all the bad outweighs the good so much you can't even remember the good? I'd think that makes the person dangerous or absolutely hopeless. That's a terrifying place to be. I guess in the end it comes down to fight or give up. Death is a fickle bastard but somehow men are so much worse.
Just know going into reading this there is no happy. Only sadness, destruction, decay, control, torture, and exploitation of women. I did not get enough closure or revenge. Lauren never stood a chance even from her first breath to her last, utter ruin.
Best Quotes:
"They’re repugnant and disgusting, but the worst thing about them is that they take the only things that the world hasn’t gifted them."
"If death won't come to me on his own, I will make him come to me."
"No. I’m pain. I'm agony, and my body has been taken over by the violence to the point where I believe nothing of me remains."
Thanks to Carly Claire for sending this ARC. I think?
This is a very hard book to review. What a rough way to start out a book! This book is not a romance though, at all. This is an erotic horror with tragedy vibes. It definitely left a lasting and horrific impression. This book needed more femine rage.
If anything can go wrong, everything will go wrong. That's where we find 17 year old orphan, Lauren. Literally, between a rock and a even harder place. OK if 624 doesn't get revenge on everyone that deserves it? This book won't be worth the emotional upheaval! Time to break out some daggers or guns.
What is worse, betrayal from everyone or yourself? This book is very reminiscent to me of Pam Godwin, Pepper Winters, and Jennifer Hartmann. All mixed together. It's torture, abuse, and horrific! What's left to do when all the bad outweighs the good so much you can't even remember the good? I'd think that makes the person dangerous or absolutely hopeless. That's a terrifying place to be. I guess in the end it comes down to fight or give up. Death is a fickle bastard but somehow men are so much worse.
Just know going into reading this there is no happy. Only sadness, destruction, decay, control, torture, and exploitation of women. I did not get enough closure or revenge. Lauren never stood a chance even from her first breath to her last, utter ruin.
Best Quotes:
"They’re repugnant and disgusting, but the worst thing about them is that they take the only things that the world hasn’t gifted them."
"If death won't come to me on his own, I will make him come to me."
"No. I’m pain. I'm agony, and my body has been taken over by the violence to the point where I believe nothing of me remains."
Thanks to Carly Claire for sending this ARC. I think?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 2, 2025
It’s been a long time since I’ve found myself completely glued to a book from start to finish in one sitting — but this one held me captive. It left me emotionally wrecked by the sheer sense of dread, evil, and haunting realism woven throughout the plot.
This story doesn’t just unsettle; it challenges. It forces you to confront the ongoing power plays between the sexes that still echo through our society today, reflected both socially and politically across the world.
While the synopsis makes it clear that this is not a traditional happily ever after, what unfolds is a harrowing descent into power, greed, and corruption. The sense of doom and despair is relentless, leaving you emotionally disoriented by the pure evil that humanity can wield—especially when power and money intertwine.
Lauren’s character stood out for me — her strength, determination, and loyalty to love, even amid tragedy, were both heartbreaking and inspiring. The ending is deeply emotive and perfectly aligned with the story’s central theme: love endures, even in the darkest corners of existence.
This isn’t a romance that comforts; it’s one that provokes and unsettles. It reminded me that while we often glorify dark romances, there are always two sides to that coin — the fantasy and the harsh truth. As the story itself points out, so much of our fate comes down to the anatomy we’re born with, but in a perfect world, that shouldn’t determine whether we live in heaven or h€ll.
Tread carefully with this one — not because it’s unworthy, but because it will challenge your emotions, your beliefs, and perhaps even your heart.
November 11, 2025
This was a journey packed into 170 pages of a girls descent into her very own version of Hell. And we as the reader, buckle in and hold on for dear life. While this is not the darkest pitch black story I’ve read, it still packs one hell of a punch and the trigger warnings MUST be read. YOU as the reader, choosing to read this book, are responsible for your own triggers, not the author.
Lauren is 17 and has found her true love. Coming from a broken home, she’s found everything she could ever want in Victor, love, dedication and the knowing that their lives are meant to be together.
Victor’s father, a powerful Senator, has plans for Victor, to follow in his footsteps. While Victor may not particularly want the life his father plans for him, he’s powerless to stop it. Victor is away from home a lot, working towards his future, which leaves his father and his Insidious plans for Lauren to come into full effect once he finds out her secret, that in his sick side business, will be extremely lucrative…
You’re then entered into Lauren’s nightmare, faceless men, trafficking, pain and depravity all while her mind goes to a place where it’s just her and Victor and the Cherry Blossom tree. How else could she possibly cope when she lives a literal hell?
It’s tough to read, it’s difficult to stomach and the ending will hurt your heart. A HEA does not live here unfortunately, not in the traditional sense.
But is it a good book? It’s an extremely good book. Beautifully written and handled with sensitivity. Know what you’re letting yourself in for before you crack the pages, but it is a beautifully tragic, heartbreaking story.
Highly recommend.
Lauren is 17 and has found her true love. Coming from a broken home, she’s found everything she could ever want in Victor, love, dedication and the knowing that their lives are meant to be together.
Victor’s father, a powerful Senator, has plans for Victor, to follow in his footsteps. While Victor may not particularly want the life his father plans for him, he’s powerless to stop it. Victor is away from home a lot, working towards his future, which leaves his father and his Insidious plans for Lauren to come into full effect once he finds out her secret, that in his sick side business, will be extremely lucrative…
You’re then entered into Lauren’s nightmare, faceless men, trafficking, pain and depravity all while her mind goes to a place where it’s just her and Victor and the Cherry Blossom tree. How else could she possibly cope when she lives a literal hell?
It’s tough to read, it’s difficult to stomach and the ending will hurt your heart. A HEA does not live here unfortunately, not in the traditional sense.
But is it a good book? It’s an extremely good book. Beautifully written and handled with sensitivity. Know what you’re letting yourself in for before you crack the pages, but it is a beautifully tragic, heartbreaking story.
Highly recommend.
December 20, 2025
If darkness ever felt less like a monster and more like a familiar room, 624-Swallowed by Darkness will feel painfully close. This book is not about saving yourself, but about enduring what refuses to leave. Carly Claire tells a story shaped by trauma, silence, and the quiet devastation of loving someone who harms you. It is heavy. It is intimate. It does not pretend healing is simple.
Lauren’s story unfolds through pain that does not resolve neatly. Abuse here is not sensationalized, nor is it softened. It is woven into daily life, into memory, into the moments where leaving feels impossible and staying feels fatal. The darkness in this book is not only external. It lives in fear, in self-blame, in the way survival sometimes means shrinking until you almost disappear.
What makes this story devastating is its honesty. There is no promise of rescue. No guarantee of justice. Just the truth that some scars remain, and some demons are carried rather than conquered. And yet, within that weight, there is recognition. A quiet acknowledgment of those who have lived through similar nights and learned to breathe anyway.
This is a book that understands pain as something real, something earned, something that deserves to be witnessed rather than erased. It does not ask you to look away. It asks you to sit with it.
If you are looking for a story that does not offer false comfort, but instead says “I see you,” this one will linger long after the last page.
Note: I received this book as an ARC 🖤
#SwallowedByDarkness
#DarkRomance
#EmotionalRead
#TraumaRepresentation
#SurvivalNotSalvation
#ARCReview
#HeavyReads
#ReadWithCare
#EmbraceTheDarkness
Lauren’s story unfolds through pain that does not resolve neatly. Abuse here is not sensationalized, nor is it softened. It is woven into daily life, into memory, into the moments where leaving feels impossible and staying feels fatal. The darkness in this book is not only external. It lives in fear, in self-blame, in the way survival sometimes means shrinking until you almost disappear.
What makes this story devastating is its honesty. There is no promise of rescue. No guarantee of justice. Just the truth that some scars remain, and some demons are carried rather than conquered. And yet, within that weight, there is recognition. A quiet acknowledgment of those who have lived through similar nights and learned to breathe anyway.
This is a book that understands pain as something real, something earned, something that deserves to be witnessed rather than erased. It does not ask you to look away. It asks you to sit with it.
If you are looking for a story that does not offer false comfort, but instead says “I see you,” this one will linger long after the last page.
Note: I received this book as an ARC 🖤
#SwallowedByDarkness
#DarkRomance
#EmotionalRead
#TraumaRepresentation
#SurvivalNotSalvation
#ARCReview
#HeavyReads
#ReadWithCare
#EmbraceTheDarkness
December 6, 2025
Preface to say, I don't read TWs, because I like surprises 🤷🏽♀️
This book is DARK. If TWs matter to you, check them. This book has all of them haha.
I just described this book to someone in detail and how devastatingly sad it was and just got worse until the end but so we'll written.
Their first question was. "If it was that bad (sad),Why did you finish it?"
Yes it's dark, a soul-shattering story that left me feeling broken for our MFC. Trafficking is real no matter how much we feign ignorance or wish it weren't so. I had he choice to walk away from the filthy mattress and bleeding wounds between these pages. What's more is it not fiction for someone, somewhere. I finished it because someone is losing hope and doesn't have to option to not finish their real life version of this kind of hell. Their story may never be heard and their name forgotten. So I stayed for Lauren, to hear her story and remember her name.
This isn't a love story by conventional standards. There is a mother's love for her unborn babies and her attempts to spare them the pain of what they are to endure once born.
While a victim Lauren also reclaims what little power she still had even though her mind had started to shatter and her body had be brutalized. The amount of mental strength she was able to scrape together and rally in the end made me sob. She set herself free in the only way she knew she could and with hope that her babies would be spared.
Absolutely a well written story that left me speechless at times.
This book is DARK. If TWs matter to you, check them. This book has all of them haha.
I just described this book to someone in detail and how devastatingly sad it was and just got worse until the end but so we'll written.
Their first question was. "If it was that bad (sad),Why did you finish it?"
Yes it's dark, a soul-shattering story that left me feeling broken for our MFC. Trafficking is real no matter how much we feign ignorance or wish it weren't so. I had he choice to walk away from the filthy mattress and bleeding wounds between these pages. What's more is it not fiction for someone, somewhere. I finished it because someone is losing hope and doesn't have to option to not finish their real life version of this kind of hell. Their story may never be heard and their name forgotten. So I stayed for Lauren, to hear her story and remember her name.
This isn't a love story by conventional standards. There is a mother's love for her unborn babies and her attempts to spare them the pain of what they are to endure once born.
While a victim Lauren also reclaims what little power she still had even though her mind had started to shatter and her body had be brutalized. The amount of mental strength she was able to scrape together and rally in the end made me sob. She set herself free in the only way she knew she could and with hope that her babies would be spared.
Absolutely a well written story that left me speechless at times.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2025
I think I absolutely need therapy after this book. Slivers of sunshine struggled to even PEEK through the darkness in this book. It's hauntingly good with the sheer levels of raw and emotional carnage thrown through every page. Lauren is a whole different type of badass. Her strength and her endurance through every cruel and twisted event that happens helps to shape someone that, despite the pitch black surrounding her, she doesn't lose sight of what she finds important. She refuses to bow down and give up, even with everything stacked against her. If you're looking for your typical spice or maybe something a smidge out of the norm but nothing extreme, this book is NOT for you. But if you like challenging your beliefs and want a book that will unpack and live in your mind long after you finish reading it, this is absolutely a book for you! It's dark, it's degrading, it's dangerous, and I couldn't put it down! I'm not sure what that says about me but I'm taking it anyways. I couldn't stop turning the pages, I HAD to know what happened next even while part of me was dreading what I'd find. This isn't a book for the faint of heart. It will mentally and emotionally challenge you through the entire thing but Carly did a beautiful job with the realism of what actually happens in the dark. Often times with dark romance, the line blurs between fantasy and that slice of reality when it comes to what the world is truly like. She did a phenomenal job winding both together.
November 12, 2025
⭐️4
170 Pages
I’m not even sure i know how to write a review for this!
⚠️ I can’t stress this enough check the trigger warnings before picking this up. It’s not a romance and most certainly does not have a HEA like at all.
I finished this book and had to reach straight for a fluffy cute romance to cleanse my mind (After staring at a wall for 20 minutes because i went blank).
I’m a reader of Dark/Horror books so i’m familiar with pitch black but this was blacker than black! What Lauren endured was heartbreaking and horrifying. The reality kicks in that horrifying events similar to this happens in real life.
Half way through this book i was actually questioning if i should be reading it but at the same time i needed the closure. Would i recommend this book to Family/Friends probably not they will think i’m insane for reading it.
However if you enjoy dark reads and have zero triggers and are able to differentiate reality and fiction and still protect your mental health you need to read it.
This book left me questioning if women’s body’s are strong for taking all the physiological and physical pain. Or just cruel for allowing us to endure it for so long!
Also humans who think the behaviour of these men is acceptable need removing from earth asap.
P.S I think we need to check in on this Author it must of been extremely difficult to write.
170 Pages
I’m not even sure i know how to write a review for this!
⚠️ I can’t stress this enough check the trigger warnings before picking this up. It’s not a romance and most certainly does not have a HEA like at all.
I finished this book and had to reach straight for a fluffy cute romance to cleanse my mind (After staring at a wall for 20 minutes because i went blank).
I’m a reader of Dark/Horror books so i’m familiar with pitch black but this was blacker than black! What Lauren endured was heartbreaking and horrifying. The reality kicks in that horrifying events similar to this happens in real life.
Half way through this book i was actually questioning if i should be reading it but at the same time i needed the closure. Would i recommend this book to Family/Friends probably not they will think i’m insane for reading it.
However if you enjoy dark reads and have zero triggers and are able to differentiate reality and fiction and still protect your mental health you need to read it.
This book left me questioning if women’s body’s are strong for taking all the physiological and physical pain. Or just cruel for allowing us to endure it for so long!
Also humans who think the behaviour of these men is acceptable need removing from earth asap.
P.S I think we need to check in on this Author it must of been extremely difficult to write.
November 6, 2025
Guys... I think I need therapy after this book!
This is a short dive into the bleakest, darkest, saddest and most desperate journey ever. This is classed as extreme pitch black erotic horror but I would just class it as tragic horror as there's no eroticism in this book.
This is the story of a girl going through the most abbhorent time, I felt nauseous in places. Her suffering was relentless and tormented, heightened by the fact that she's trying to protect somebody other than herself. Her loosening grip on reality and mindset was the most devastating thing to read about and this really was a brutal read.
As usual, the author's writing was so good! The book was short but packed in so much and I think the decision to have it as a novella was perfect because the constant relentless darkness is better suited to novella rather than full length.
This does not have a HEA and it is NOT romance in any way. Make sure you read the author's note at the beginning, make sure you know you're going into very brutal horror tragedy with some extreme content and prepare for a descent into the darkest journey.
This is a short dive into the bleakest, darkest, saddest and most desperate journey ever. This is classed as extreme pitch black erotic horror but I would just class it as tragic horror as there's no eroticism in this book.
This is the story of a girl going through the most abbhorent time, I felt nauseous in places. Her suffering was relentless and tormented, heightened by the fact that she's trying to protect somebody other than herself. Her loosening grip on reality and mindset was the most devastating thing to read about and this really was a brutal read.
As usual, the author's writing was so good! The book was short but packed in so much and I think the decision to have it as a novella was perfect because the constant relentless darkness is better suited to novella rather than full length.
This does not have a HEA and it is NOT romance in any way. Make sure you read the author's note at the beginning, make sure you know you're going into very brutal horror tragedy with some extreme content and prepare for a descent into the darkest journey.
October 25, 2025
Thanks to Carly Claire for the ARC. 5 stars. This is not romance. It's not "smut" to be read for pleasure. It's so dark and fkd up and there is no happy ending. There isn't even a tw/cw warning list anywhere in the book. I felt like I got emotional whiplash during this book because even with all the fucked up shit that keeps happening, there will suddenly be a nice memory or something that seems hopeful. And there's always the anxiety of not knowing what is going to happen to the baby looming over you. Even though you know, as the reader, there is no HEA, it's human to keep waiting for it. At first. Then reality sets in.
I think what resonated with me the most is the feeling of just being so hopeless that you just feel stuck in the abyss of waiting for things to just end. And it turns into a craving for things to end. (I am good, yall, just something I have felt before as someone with major depressive disorder.)
Spoiler warnings: the suicide/labor scene was heart wrenching. But what fucking got me the worst of anything in the whole book is the last line. Holy fuck 😢😭💔 "Mom?"
I think what resonated with me the most is the feeling of just being so hopeless that you just feel stuck in the abyss of waiting for things to just end. And it turns into a craving for things to end. (I am good, yall, just something I have felt before as someone with major depressive disorder.)
Spoiler warnings: the suicide/labor scene was heart wrenching. But what fucking got me the worst of anything in the whole book is the last line. Holy fuck 😢😭💔 "Mom?"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2025
Not Just Dark… This Is Absolute Darkness
Besties… I don’t even know where to start with this one. "624: Swallowed by Darkness" is the kind of book that rips your soul out, sets it on fire, and dares you to keep reading. Lauren’s story is pure torment. A descent into a nightmare so raw, that you can feel every ounce of her pain. It’s told entirely from her POV, and my heart absolutely shattered for her. The trauma, the violence, the sheer hopelessness… it pushes its emotional limits 😭
This isn’t your typical dark read. . . it’s pitch black, drenched in erotic horror and human depravity. Carly Claire doesn’t sugarcoat a single thing. Please, please read the TWs before diving in because this one will gut you. It’s not about survival; it’s about endurance in h€ll itself.
If you crave the darkest of dark fiction. . .this is it. You’ve been warned.
My Ratings: ⭐ 5/5 ▪︎ 🥵 5/5
🥀 For my rating scale breakdown, head over to my Goodreads &/or Amazon profile! 🖤
Besties… I don’t even know where to start with this one. "624: Swallowed by Darkness" is the kind of book that rips your soul out, sets it on fire, and dares you to keep reading. Lauren’s story is pure torment. A descent into a nightmare so raw, that you can feel every ounce of her pain. It’s told entirely from her POV, and my heart absolutely shattered for her. The trauma, the violence, the sheer hopelessness… it pushes its emotional limits 😭
This isn’t your typical dark read. . . it’s pitch black, drenched in erotic horror and human depravity. Carly Claire doesn’t sugarcoat a single thing. Please, please read the TWs before diving in because this one will gut you. It’s not about survival; it’s about endurance in h€ll itself.
If you crave the darkest of dark fiction. . .this is it. You’ve been warned.
My Ratings: ⭐ 5/5 ▪︎ 🥵 5/5
🥀 For my rating scale breakdown, head over to my Goodreads &/or Amazon profile! 🖤
December 6, 2025
624: Swallowed by Darkness
Author: Carly Claire
Published: November 2025
Genre: Erotic Horror, Dark
Spice: I don’t rate spice levels on this type of content.
This book is not for everyone, if you’re looking for a dark spicy romance…exit stage left, that is not what this is. It is dark, disturbing and may leave you needing a shower. The author is clear at the beginning that this may not be for you, do not expect a HEA or to feel good at the end.
The FMC is offered a large some of money to terminate a pregnancy - when she chooses love over money - she’s pushed into a world of the twisted and deprived. You’ll start to wonder what’s real and what has become a coping mechanism to the evil she is forced to endure.
Well written, with the situations and scenes written in great and horrifying detail.
Triggers: I don't have any triggers and this book does not provide a list. Read the Content Advisory from the author
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Author: Carly Claire
Published: November 2025
Genre: Erotic Horror, Dark
Spice: I don’t rate spice levels on this type of content.
This book is not for everyone, if you’re looking for a dark spicy romance…exit stage left, that is not what this is. It is dark, disturbing and may leave you needing a shower. The author is clear at the beginning that this may not be for you, do not expect a HEA or to feel good at the end.
The FMC is offered a large some of money to terminate a pregnancy - when she chooses love over money - she’s pushed into a world of the twisted and deprived. You’ll start to wonder what’s real and what has become a coping mechanism to the evil she is forced to endure.
Well written, with the situations and scenes written in great and horrifying detail.
Triggers: I don't have any triggers and this book does not provide a list. Read the Content Advisory from the author
#bookstagram #booktok #readersofinstagram #reviews #bookish #bookrec #books #bookaddict #read ##indyauthor #arcreview #paramormal #darkreads
October 27, 2025
ARC Review-BookSirens
Star Rating: 3.75⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Pub Date: Nov 5th, 2025
Genre: Horror/Erotic
This was read in one sitting. This was emotional so please don’t read if you have triggers with pregnancy and stuff. Not much goes on but we follow our FMC who is pregnant by her lover, Victor and his father finds out that she is pregnant and he will make her suffer by any means. This has a lot of r*pe, ab*se, torture etc. This is very dark and emotional you can really feel the MC’s pain. For plot nothing really happens much to me. Just she is literally imprisoned by her fiancés father who is crazy and she is just used and spit out by all kinds of men.. no spoilers here. It was an alright read just not one of my faves. I was expecting a little more to happen. It was dark but doesn’t really go into much detail on stuff I guess that’s just me. Not a bad read at all just be aware of the triggers.
Star Rating: 3.75⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Pub Date: Nov 5th, 2025
Genre: Horror/Erotic
This was read in one sitting. This was emotional so please don’t read if you have triggers with pregnancy and stuff. Not much goes on but we follow our FMC who is pregnant by her lover, Victor and his father finds out that she is pregnant and he will make her suffer by any means. This has a lot of r*pe, ab*se, torture etc. This is very dark and emotional you can really feel the MC’s pain. For plot nothing really happens much to me. Just she is literally imprisoned by her fiancés father who is crazy and she is just used and spit out by all kinds of men.. no spoilers here. It was an alright read just not one of my faves. I was expecting a little more to happen. It was dark but doesn’t really go into much detail on stuff I guess that’s just me. Not a bad read at all just be aware of the triggers.
October 25, 2025
5⭐️
I Need Therapy...
624: Swallowed by Darkness is a dark, erotic horror with tragedy vibes. That, my friends, is an accurate statement! Hence why I could not give this a spicy rating. There was no spice, but a lot of....other things that will be burned into my brain for eternity. I don't even know what to say other than this book pushed some of my boundaries. Not in a bad way, but in a very "Oh sh!t" sort of way. This. Book. Was. A. Rough. One! A couple of firsts for me as far as scenes go and I'm still reflecting on how to digest them. That's future Layna's problem as I have no chill and will be reading more books by Carly Claire.
No joke, read the Consent Advisory section at the beginning of the book before you even THINK about reading this so you have an idea of what you're in for. Happy reading!
I Need Therapy...
624: Swallowed by Darkness is a dark, erotic horror with tragedy vibes. That, my friends, is an accurate statement! Hence why I could not give this a spicy rating. There was no spice, but a lot of....other things that will be burned into my brain for eternity. I don't even know what to say other than this book pushed some of my boundaries. Not in a bad way, but in a very "Oh sh!t" sort of way. This. Book. Was. A. Rough. One! A couple of firsts for me as far as scenes go and I'm still reflecting on how to digest them. That's future Layna's problem as I have no chill and will be reading more books by Carly Claire.
No joke, read the Consent Advisory section at the beginning of the book before you even THINK about reading this so you have an idea of what you're in for. Happy reading!
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