Voracious: Deluxe Edition

The Edge of Darkness Trilogy #2

by Leigh Rivers

'Filled with TENSION, HEARTBREAK and ELECTRIC CHEMISTRY. This one will tear your heart right out of your chest before tossing it back in and sewing you up' No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Brynne Weaver

'Leigh Rivers is THE QUEEN OF DARK ROMANCE. Her books are deeply emotive and her characters feel so vividly real' Tierney Page

He'll never forget her, but he'll never forgive her either . . .

Now back home with the security of Kade's team, Stacey is pulled further into her own living hell, desperate for a chance to escape - until the opportunity finally comes to fight back.

Kade has never been so deep in the pits of hell itself. Seeing Stacey once nearly knocked him off his axis but seeing her twice - ready to make amends and fix the past - is a disaster waiting to happen.

Yet, despite his hatred for her, she's his anchor; the memories of what they used to be the only thing keeping him sane and preventing the darkness from consuming him. But what happens when the truth about their past finally unravels, and he learns what really happened the night that tore them apart?

Voracious is a dark romance and contains explicit sexual content and difficult themes. Please read the content warnings before reading. Recommended 18+.

Genres: Dark Romance, Dark, Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Second Chance, Audiobook, Spicy

336 pages, Paperback

First published November 24, 2023

About the author

Leigh Rivers is a Scottish Biomedical Scientist who has ventured into the world of writing dark, morally gray characters with rollercoaster storylines to drive her readers wild.

When she isn't reading, writing on her laptop, or gaming until ridiculous hours, she dances at the pole studio, goes to the gym, and walks her four dogs with her two sons and husband.

Reviews

[Larissa Cambusano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I HAVE NEVER FELT SUCH PAIN!!!!!!!

I DONT THINK I SMILED ONCE THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE BOOK :)))

[SK · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I choose who I love, and I choose you."

Stopp this was everything and definitely not for the fainthearted. Going in, I was aware that this is darker than Insatiable but I hadn't expected the level of dark I was going to be met with. It's definitely not the sort of read you can binge in a single read. I had to take so many pauses to just process, cry and feel the pain.

The author does a brilliant job at making this book and its love and pain seem realistic. Midst of all the chaos, the darkness and everything going wrong, the simple truth remains: Kade and Stacey love each other. And despite them being separated from each other for the majority of the book, you don't really question that love. That sort of love is presented as absolute and undeniable.

I love Kade and Stacey so much, they deserve so much happiness. Like poor babies haven't had a moment of joy, stability and peace in their lives and for once I would like to see that part of them. Tobias is someone I adore. Like sure he's a diagnosed psychopath but he's a pookie bear too 🥺👉👈 I wanna see more of him in the next one. Base and Luciella have me nervous I won't lie 😩😩 I feel bad and heartbroken for Base in particular.

I can't wait for some justice to be done after all the trauma. I can't wait to see some of the sickos in this book dead in the next book. Brooo this one was such a heavy read, I'm gonna need to take a bit of a time to process this before I start book three. The cliffhanger is really good and tempts me to read book three but I'm gonna be a sobbing mess if I pick it up right now 😭

~•~•~

I miss Kade and I hear this one is an even more of an intense emotional rollercoaster? Well, here I go.

[Krisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a lot darker than the first one was. Before I start this review, let's get over the trigger warnings first. Both the characters were victims here and their endless sufferings literally shattered my heart.

𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: multiple counts of sexual assault, sexual and physical abuse, Rape, Gang rape, Child abuse, Trafficking, Pedophilia, drugging, extreme physical torture, child loss in the second trimester and attempted suicide and much more. Yes both the characters were victims of many heinous tws mentioned above.

This review contains 𝗡𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀.

Kade and Stacey are always going to be one of my most loved fictional couples. Their story was beyond beautiful but just as heartbreakingly traumatizing. I won't spoil anything but both of them were miserably broken because of the hell they were going through and at times I found myself sobbing every time I wholeheartedly wished for them to reconcile but they didn't.

“𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘐’𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭.”
𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺, “𝘚𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭.”

The constant flashbacks of their time together and their joyous memories was the only bright side of the story that was depicted in this book aside from the agony both of them were facing all alone. In fact there were many scenes that made me sick to my stomach. There are multiple aspects in this book that might be triggering to many, so please check TWs before reading it, this series is not for the light hearted ones.

𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘋𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘺’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬.

Knowing well what the context surrounding this sentence was, I can't help but feel utter devastation every time I think about it.

𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳.

This book was indeed a rollercoaster of emotions. My heart clenched every single time kade and Stacey went through hell. The way I wanted to dive right into the book and put an end to their endlessly miserable sufferings was for real. And the cliffhanger was unbelievable, what was that even? I will definitely start the third book asap because I can't wait to know what more is to come. And kade and Stacey better get their happy ending 😭

જ⁀➴ Other quotes :
✧ 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳.
✧ 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐’𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳.
✧ 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦? 𝘐𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦.
✧ “𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴?”
✧ 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.
✧ “𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 – 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘺.”

[Yana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean wow, where do I even start here, I almost felt too much throughout this book… it was pain, pain, and did I mention, some more pain

[Marianna Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nobody talk to me rn. Im a mess. All I know is pain and tears at this point. Im not sure how my heart is going to survive book 3… it might actually kill me tbh. Stacey and Kade have me in the biggest chokehold I swear to god if they don’t get their happy ending I will actually riot before crawling into a cave and never coming out.

This book was significantly darker than book 1 and had me actually sick to my stomach on multiple occasions. Please please and I cannot emphasize this enough, check your trigger warnings for this series. I consider myself a well seasoned dark romance reader at this point and even some scenes made me have to pause and step away from the book for a moment.

That being said, yes of course I gave this 5 stars despite the pain it put me through. I haven’t read a dark romance that has made me feel this many emotions in so long and I’m so deeply invested in this story and these characters.

Keeping this review short as I’ll do a longer one for the last book in the trilogy. Also it’s 1 am and I have to start book 3 after that cliff hanger…. Because WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK??!!

Side note… Tobias is daddy and I love him.

[yuvi • ia · Rating 5 out of 5]

★★★★★

tw: sexual assault, sexual and physical abuse, rape, gang rape, drugging, torture, trafficking, pedophilia, forced abortion, attempted suicide (all on page, and descriptive)

"Look at me now, little princess. Daddy's gone, and he's never coming back."

believe it or not, i've been trying to write this review for HOURS. so far all i've been able to do is write a few paragraphs, think about chapter 26, cry again, stare at the wall blankly for a few minutes and delete everything. rinse and repeat.
you won't believe me but i made a 12 page long word document while rereading this book. 12 pages, over 4k words, and yet i find myself at an impasse because i still don't know how to review this book without spoiling anything (so naturally, spoilers will be marked because i need to get some things off my chest before i fully spiral). like yes, this book made me physically sick. it fucking obliterated me emotionally. it devastated me and bared my soul. and i wouldn't have it any other way.
it's not just a book that you only read. it's a story that you need to experience head on (but please please check your triggers because it gets really really dark and painful).
it's all just so heartbreaking. i don't think there was even a single chapter where i did not have tears in my eyes. it's so painful and it really broke me. i need the author to pay for my therapy rn.
honestly, i really don't know how i was able to read this trilogy in one sitting the first time i read it. because when kade got to know the truth and he was forced to see the video of it, i had to put the book down. i couldn't do it. reading that scene made me physically sick and nauseous. i had to stop reading and put the book down for an hour or two and take a nap before i could even stomach picking it up again.
this book was just 39 chapters of sheer heartbreak and pain. rinse and repeat. all over again. leigh does not pull any punches (as expected) and it's heartbreaking, really (if i had a penny for the amount of times i've written heartbreaking, or painful in my notes😭)
this book seamlessly picks up from where insatiable left off. like i've already said b4, insatiable gave us mere snippets of the impending devastation to come. but this book? this is where the real devastation fully strikes in. the plot deepens, the characters feel so very real (albeit broken), horrible horrible things happen and the truth comes out and the stakes have never been higher.


Kade in the flashbacks was so sweet, insecure and shy, who used to overthink everything. the changes in him are so drastic but also very expected, considering all that he's been through.
and stacey? oh god i don't think she's given enough credit for her resilience. after all she went through, she did NOT give up. though there were many occasions when she was tempted to but she did NOT.
kade and stacey. stacey and kade. my shaylaaaaas😭😭😭😭
my heart breaks for them. it's genuinely very shocking how much i'm attached to these two. every single flashback had me clutching my chest because IT HURT SO MUCH. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHKJGHJSHFHGHHHHHH.
my mini freak out session aside, i just want them to be happy again. these two just can't seem to get a break. jeez. i just want them happy and together. oh god.
this book also has side characters who feel so real and with insane depth. commendable, really. i felt so attached to the side characters- tobias, barry and base. lu did something that did NOT sit right with me. so i'm really conflicted but i'm hoping that she redeems herself in the last book but more on that later in the spoilers section. also, what really surprised me was how much i liked aria in this book (she got on my nerves A LOT when i was reading psychotic obsession lol).
also it's an EoD review. how can it be complete without a tobias mitchell appreciation section mhm🫦( okay stop you're being too much ). anyway. if you know me, you probably know that i'm obsessed with tobias mitchell (pun not intended lol) call him unhinged, toxic or a psycho (all true btw) but you can't deny that tobias with his children is mhmmmmm🫦🫦🫦( stop you're doing it again ). jokes aside, i really can't wait to see more of him in book 3. those scenes with kade (ifykyk) mhmm>>>>
after all, what can i say i'm just a simple girl who looooves a good revenge arc. more on that in the spoilers section hehehehe.

chris, archie, bernadette, cassie can go to hell for all i care. i hate them sm it's not even funny. and no, i won't waste my words more than i already have on these disgusting pigs.

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

ִֶָ. 𓂃˖꣹ quotes ꧔⟢ ִֶָ࿐

─.✦"The calmest I've felt in my life is when I'm with her. The voices are quiet, my heart slows to a healthy pace and i can sleep."

─.✦"Little one," Tobias says, his voice low. "I wanted to check in with you and see how you are. Aria filled me in on everything."

─.✦“The feel of Stacey cuddled into my side. Her breath on my skin with each fill of her perfect little lungs. Her hand splayed on my chest. She’s alive. She’s real. She’s alive.”

─.✦"Maybe if i die, i'll reincarnate into a dog. Stacey likes dogs. She'll cuddle me.

─.✦"If I feel pain, I won't feel anything else."

─.✦"For the next two years, I die a little more each day, until the version of Kade Mitchell I want to be turns into a ghost. My soul is shattered and broken, and I lose all the pieces, unable to glue it back together."

─.✦"I’m going to be a girl-dad. A mini-Stacey by my side – my little princess."

─.✦“I once drew what I assumed our daughter would look like – my most prized possession.”

─.✦"You love my singing." I absolutely do not

─.✦"I'm pretty messed up in the head, but i'll go to therapy before you arrive, I promise. And i'm going to spoil the life out of you, then we'll gang up on mummy with nerf guns. I have two dads, mummy has one, so you get to have three grandfathers. one is a little loopy but we'll bear with him."

─.✦"I love you, Kade. I don’t think I’ll ever not love you.”
“Think?” I snort, my eyes closing. “You’re stuck with me, because I know I could never not love you."

─.✦"There’ll be no other ending for us, Freckles, because you’re fucking it for me."

─.✦"As soon as our daughter's born, we'll start a new life."

─.✦"Dad's hand is at the back of my head as he tells me repeatedly that he's got me. He tells me that it's okay to feel. It's okay to let it all out. He's here."

─.✦"No. i need to keep moving. I roll onto my back, hold my breath and lurch to my feet- only to fall again. So I crawl. I'll crawl the entire fucking way to stacey if i need to."

─.✦“Let’s assume Kade does get his hands on me,” he says as he follows me with our bags. “Would you help him, Stacey?” I throw my head back and laugh. “He’s the son of Tobias Mitchell. He doesn’t need help.”

─.✦"Please... forgive me. I n-never stopped loving you."

─.✦"....and i need my dad."

─.✦“She’s like my own sunrise. Beautiful. Perfect. She fills a part of me that’s been empty and dark for as long as I can remember.”

─.✦“Because I love you. I’ve been in love with you for ages – it’s been all I’ve thought about. And I keep falling more in love with you every single fucking day.”

─.✦"Look at me now, my little princess. Daddy's gone, and he's never coming back."

─.✦“I choose who I love, and I choose you”

─.✦"We have an emergency announcement."

─.✦"Stacey Fields. Stacey Fields. Stacey Fields."

════════≪ °❈° ≫════════

❀psychotic obsession- 4.5★
❀insatiable- 5★
❀voracious- 5★
❀restitution- 5★



── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

ִֶָ. 𓂃˖꣹ !!!!spoilers!!!! ꧔⟢ ִֶָ࿐

(if u r still here, ily)
okayyy so i have sooo many things that i need to get off my chest before i spiral so bear with me.
so kade and stacey BOTH were raped (and gangraped) they have been through SO MUCH hell and neither of them deserved any of the brutalities that were thrown in their life. my heart breaks sm for them. they were expecting a child- a girl. and they had so many dreams. kade's father is tobias mitchell, who's a psychopath who struggles to come terms with reality if his meds are taken away from him. tobias hurt aria when they were younger (and that's an understatement. by hurt, i meant that he also kidnapped and drugged her). they were toxic. so that's also a thing that kade feared would happen. he used to be so afraid that he would also get obsessed with stacey, and that he might hurt her the way tobias hurt aria. we can definitely see some traits of tobias in kade. but he's not as deep into psychosis as tobias was. kade in the flashbacks was so sweet and shy and insecure and an overthinker. the changes in him were DRASTIC. he used to say that he'd never touch a gun in his life ever because he needs stacey's parents' approval and he already has enough of a bad reputation as it is.
i first read this series a few months ago. and my problem with majority of book 1 and some parts of book 2 when i first read it was that kade and stacey barely spend any time together in the present timeline (the story's told in dual timeline) and whenever they do, they spend the whole chapter doing it. while rereading, i had an epiphany. lmao not really.
okay so it was mentioned once in this book and that just stayed with me. archie and bernadette have been abusing kade for years. he's getting raped from the age of 19. for 3-4 years. they drug him and force him and sell him to "clients" and use him as some sort of murder machine? they drug him so much so that sometimes he's completely out of his senses. and there's a permanent damage to his hand. tremors. in one of the chapters, it was mentioned and i quote "But I understand. He's been forced into sex, had zero control over his life for months, so this must be him trying to get it back." he needed that semblance of comfort. and the urge to get back his control. okay so i kinda understand. but that still doesn't absolve him from how he treated stacey during those years.

also, i hate stacey's father. i hate him for not listening to stacey and i hate him for not believing her and saying that she was begging for attention when she told him that her stepbrother sexually harasses her. she was 14 when the physical abuse started. and after she turned 18, chris amped it up by drugging her and raping her while she was sleeping. she had NO idea that she'd been raped 9 times in her sleep until 3 years later. and that broke me ohmygod.
and the way chris reacted when he found out that kade and stacey are going to be parents? ohmygod. he kicked her repeatedly until she lost the baby. and the thing is she was so scared that none of her friends knew that chris was her stepbrother and that she was being abused. AND then days later, chris that mf bitch had SIX other ppl rape stacey and he also raped her. he also videotaped everything. she lost so much blood. mind you, she'd just lost her baby a few days ago. and then chris drugged jason, kade's brother, and sent a heavily edited video to kade who lost his shit cs he thought that she was cheating on him. he refused to hear her out. and then days later, when he finally got the courage to go to her dance studio and talk to her, BERNADETTE approached him. and lured him to her house by saying that she could help his father. she and her husband then drugged him and proceeded to rape him. he was just 19 when it started. just when you think that it couldn't get any worse, 4 years later, when the truth finally comes out, and kade gets to know everything, bernadette forced him to watch the video of stacey getting raped AGAIN AND AGAIN. he vomited and lost consciousness but the torture did NOT stop. in order to get back to stacey- to protect her from bernadette and archie- he tried to run away- body fully weakened, and drugs still in his system because of the prolonged torture- and CRASHED HIS CAR. still, he crawled over broken glass to get to her. and sent a voicemail. WHICH SHE NEVER RECEIVED BTW. all that in vain. cs stacey never received the voicemail and bernadette and archie still found him.
stoppp the way this book BROKE me. you won't understand the full scale of it until you read it and find it out for yourself.

also, one thing that DID NOT sit right with me AT ALL was lu's reaction (she's kade's sister and stacey's best friend, btw, for those who don't know) when stacey finally told everyone the truth. stacey was so scared that she hadn't told anyone anything. when she finally got the courage and tried to open up, her first reaction was to sulk over the fact that stacey was sneaking out with kade, like tfff???? and whine over the fact that their friendship needs to be revaluated bc stacey never told her that she had 2 brothers? instead of supporting her? and consoling her? and then proceeded to "warn her away" from kade, saying he's bad news or yada yada. stacey is her supposed best friend and THAT was her reaction?! it PMO sooo bad ydek.

anywayyy moving on
ik i've already said it soooo many times b4 but i LOVE tobias. i heard that someone say that he's one of the sanest ppl in the books (despite being locked in a mental institution lmao) and i agree. i LOVE how supportive he is. he's a great dad to kade and lu AND stacey. i really like his bond with kade, AND i also really like seeing him with stacey (just as much, if not more). he does what stacey's own father should've done. he comforts her when she's feeling down, bickers with her, takes care of her and loves her like his own daughter. it broke my heart when tobias CRIED. also, that emergency announcement scene? stacey missed only ONE visit and he broke out of the mental institution because he knew something had gone wrong. chris, archie and bernadette's reactions when the news came out were PRICELESS. i just can't wait for tobias and kade to mete out the punishment that those pigs truly deserve😋

ONE LAST THING.
the last paragraph of this book!? ohmygod. that was SO heartbreaking. chris dropped stacey at a party bc bernadette and archie made him believe that they'll destroy all the evidence incriminating him if he dropped her there. he told her to call him if anything goes wrong but that dumbfuck had no idea that once they got hold of her, he would be of zero use. they sold stacey and lu and both were separated from each other. and it really broke my heart when STACEY KEPT CALLING OUT TO CHRIS TO HELP HER. her abuser and tormentor. who murdered her baby. and she felt so helpless that she had no other choice.

anywayy
if you couldn't already tell it, this book was SO emotionally intense and every single chapter had my tears falling down my face. I just can't wait to reread book 3 because i just need the revenge arc nowwww😋

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

ִֶָ. 𓂃˖꣹ pre-reread ꧔⟢ ִֶָ࿐


i'm not ready i'm not ready i'm not ready
fkmn

── .✦ˋ°•*⁀➷
started- nov 24, '25
finished-nov 24, '25
----
reread#1
started- may 25, '26
finished- may 26, '26

[T.S · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 ☆

i want to eat a bullet‼️ this book gave me 50 lashings yall! and i was present for every second of it.

I JUST WANT KADE AND STACY TO BE HAPPY LEIGH RIVERS! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!?!!😭😖

i threw my father's beer bottle at the tv screen when i finished reading those last few chapters. i couldn't control my breathing. like what do you mean??!!



------
Buddy read with bestie Fiza

[annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

This book is truly not for the faint of heart 😭 I cried so so much while reading it! The whole book is a trauma dump, and the things in it broke my heart! 💔

⌞ SPOILERS ⌝

• Kade Mitchell driving while bawling his eyes out after watching a video of Stacey being raped for three hours (where he thought she cheated on him), and crawling to get to her while dying, telling her how much he loves her— will forever traumatize me. I'm truly not okay. 😭

All their past scenes are told in this, and they weren't even the better ones. Things started going downhill. The chapters where they found out that Stacey is pregnant and then lost her baby killed me. Kade's pov about his unborn daughter, how he bought things for her and how good he'd be for her and Stacey, made me sob.

The disgusting piece of shit, Chris, ruined everything. He raped her, killed her child, and then edited a video of Jason (Kade's brother) and Stacey and sent it to her. Tbh, I was mad that Kade didn't listen to Stacey, but when he actually went to her, he saw her with Jason and lost it again.

He would've reconciled or listened to her if he wasn't trapped with Bernadette and… fucking 😭 She also raped and drugged him. I'll cry again, for fuck's sake!!! Now, after 10 months, Stacey has changed her identity and has a good bond with Tobias, but she's found by Chris again. Like, that fucking asshole is so oblivious that he sent her to Bernadette with evidence, like you loser, for all your brains, you pull up this shit.

This book is messed up, and there's no interaction between Kade and Stacey except for a few. Luciella's been a bitch for a while, but now that she's sold too, I can't help but feel bad for her as well! (I found out her and Base will have a book 😭).

Tobias has escaped the institution, and I CAN'T FUCKING WAIT FOR HIM TO SAVE EVERYONE AND KILL THAT BITCH 😭 I swear I want this American Psychopath to kill each and everyone brutally because how dare they hurt his loved ones 🥲

⌞ ratings ⌝
• Insatiable – 4 stars
• Restitution – 4 stars

[Uswah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book broke me, shattered me, wrecked me, and absolutely devastated me. I think it’s safe to say that this trilogy is becoming one of my all-time favorites 🙂‍↕️🤧

I WAS NOT READY FOR THIS MUCH DEVASTATION 🫠🫠 Besties, y’all’s hugs, tissues, and wishes were the only things that kept me reading until the end 😭

When Stacey shared her past with her friends, Barry, Kyle, and Aria 🤧 I was literally sobbing. OMG 😭 I genuinely had to pause for a bit before continuing because my heart couldn’t handle it 🫠🫂 My girl did not deserve any of that 😭 She deserves happiness, freedom, and all the love in the world. Stacey will forever be loved by me 🥹🫶 …and by Kade too, ofc 🤭

And oh boy… Kade absolutely shattered me into pieces 🫠🫠 His chapters were so painful to read 😭 Honestly, this entire book was emotionally exhausting in the best and worst way possible 🤧 I just wanted someone to protect my babies 😭 Kade is officially one of my favorite MMCs ever 🙂‍↕️

And don’t even get me started on that ending line because it completely wrecked me 🫠🫠 I literally just finished the book, and my mind keeps replaying that final scene over and over again 😭😭 I want it to stop, but I can’t 🤧 I’m going straight into Book 3 because there’s no way I can wait after that.

The final book better give me all the revenge scenes I’m desperately craving 😭🫂 The pain is becoming too much 🤧🫠 Now I need revenge and chaos to heal my soul. Tobias Mitchell 👀 DO YOUR THING, please lmaooo 😭 I seriously cannot wait to read his book 🙂‍↕️

Now I’m off to the last book 🫡🫂

Yea, that’s it guys. Love y’all 🫶🖤💜

—————————————————
⊹ ࣪ ˖⏱ ୭˚. ᵎ pre-read ⊹ ࣪ ˖⏱ ୭˚. ᵎ

Let the crying begin 😃🖤

[Laura Greenhalgh · Rating 5 out of 5]

my heart is aching. i thought book one was traumatic, book two deep dives into that trauma and lets you witness the horrors first hand. praying these babies get peace and a happily ever after they so desperately deserve in the next book.

[ivy · Rating 3 out of 5]

PSA: if you’re even a little bit interested in reading this series, please make sure that you’re in the right mental space to read it. please check trigger warnings. my dumbass forgot to check trigger warnings for the first book and boy did i wish i would’ve.

3.5 stars ౨ৎ only the “side characters” section has spoilers

↳ ᡴꪫ ⸝⸝ this book wrecked me. this was the first read in a long while where i had to physically put the book down because the scenes were just so jarring. but all those scenes together created such a raw, beautiful, and heavily emotional love story. i am begging leigh rivers to give my babies kade and stacey a happy ending. (they deserve it.)

१˒🪄⋆ stacey rhodes. the absolute shit (for lack of better words) that she went through in this book & insatiable were just traumitizing. she’s such a strong and resilient character that keeps fighting back no matter what - which i really admired. 90% of the dark romance fmc's that i’ve read about have been doormats - no, airplane runways. lola king fmc’s would bow at her feet. stacey would own them i fear. even though she’s getting brutally raped, abused, lied to, blackmailed, and being sold as a sex slave she’s still considering everyone’s feelings around her, which was just. please girl, worry about yourself and YOUR life/livelihood. you think you’re a people pleaser until you read about ms. stacey rhodes. the end shocked me and i’m not prepared to see what she goes through in the third book.

𖥨⭒˚ kade mitchell. oh my heart. i’ve never vehemently hated villains in the dark romance world as much as i hate bernadette, her daughter, archie, and chris. he went through so much in his life and watching him go through this horror film was so hard to read about. many of the scenes where i had to physically put the book down was when he was getting brutally tortured, raped, sold, and drugged. him and stacey deserve the most beautiful happy ending ever. i was bombarding mads with messages and something that repeatedly came up with was how we both are yearning for their cutesy moments where they are safe and happy together.

side charcters. ᝰ.ᐟ this part will contain spoilers!!

- chris, bernadette, archie - death is too kind for them
- luciella - i’m not sure about my opinions on her. i mean, stacey literally told you in an extremely vulnerable moment that her brother was ABUSING & TORTURING her and your first comment is to accuse her of lying to you about how many BROTHERS SHE HAS? get out. get tf out. guilt tripping her is so wild to me as well. hopefully she gets a redemption arc in the last book because she’s just not doing it for me rn.
- tylar - i loved her!! she was the polar opposite of luciella - supportive, understanding, empathetic, stands on business, etc. she is sunshine personified.
- base & dez - i love their little trio with them and kade.
- tobias - okay okay psychopathic killer but why kinda hot 🤭 i loved what he did for stacey and even though he’s a serial killer (which, who even cares in a dark romance 🤪), he was so sympathetic and non-judgemental.

— spoilers over —

more things i loved about this book:

- leigh rivers KNOWS how to write spicy scenes
- this series is ADDICTIVE. suddenly 60% is over in one day
- although there are many characters, i can easily tell them apart by their distinct personalities

my problems with this book:

- this is going to offend so many people but the past chapters were boring to me ⛓️✋🏻🤚🏻⛓️ - and seeing as they took up a big portion of the book.. 2.5 stars were docked off
- TOO many smut scenes for me

quotes:

✶ “she’s like my own sunrise. beautiful. perfect. she fills a part of me that’s been empty and dark for as long as i can remember.”

✶ “it seems she has no idea how much i’m obsessed with her. not just with her looks, but her heart, her fucking soul.”

𖠵 𓂃 overall, although i said in the beginning that you should be in the right mental space (which i stand by), i highly, highly, highly recommend this book. i’ve been feeling hopeless in the dark romance genre for a long while, and this book threw me out of that feeling. insatiable & voracious took me by surprise, considering this is the same author that wrote little stranger. which is actually surprising because the difference between these wonderous books and those monstrous disasters is seriously mind-boggling (iykyk 😔). so yea, this book is good! go read it.

𓂃˖ lastly, so many thank you's to my best friend mads for reading this with me. i had the best time reading this with you 🥹💌

⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡

𓏲⋆. pre-read ✧ 🐍
so i fear i'm not ready for this.

౨ৎ buddy reading this with my best girl mads! i'm so happy i'm reading this with you 🫶🏻 can't wait to go through the pain together 👯‍♀️<3

[Iqra]

I’m not ready for the pain but the parasites in me won’t let me read anything else until I consume everything KadeStacey have to give me

[Hoda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have no words because honestly WHAT THE FUCK

[ً · Rating 1 out of 5]

i wanna know what y’all are smoking to give this higher than a 1 star..

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It seems she has no idea how much I'm obsessed with her. Not just with her looks, but her heart, her fucking soul.”

It’s not often a dark romance makes me root and empathize with its characters but this surprisingly did. i just wanted to hug Kade and Stacey after they were subjected to such horrendous and heartbreaking events 😭 if the first book was any indication of that—it was more fleshed out here. Given how much I enjoyed book 1, I can understand how their absence in the present tense may annoy some. However, it didn't stop me from enjoying this because it made sense why they weren't. Just know i ate up that Halloween party scene in the present shamelessly and adored + enjoyed most of the flashbacks when they weren’t brutal. In this case, the plot was plotting with all the build up through flashbacks and ongoing conflict they dealt with individually given the obstacles they faced leading to everything that happened.

Vaguely put, Kade and Stacey are racing against time for almost the entirety of the book and the anxiety it put me through was INSANE with how climatic and dark it got. the tension, anguish, anger and desperation was so easy to feel as a result of it all with them. That said, remaining silent is quite like being in a mental prison and for Stacey & Kade this is true as I understood Stacey’s hesitance to speak up as fear and scars that run deep can make silence the easier choice (i just know the retribution will be ruthless with the way the truth was revealed). and kade, who underneath his aloof exterior loves Stacey to the point that even throughout his disdain for her—would rather live a life of pain and misery if that meant she and his family were safe. This man could truly do no wrong in my eyes 🥺 I just need them to be ok 😭

The last time I was this engaged with a dark romance series was when I read the mindfuck series but that’s just my experience. Changing my rating from 4 to 5 as I realize I enjoyed this far more than I let on. The last book better deliver on the resolution given the length and I hope these two (besides Luce and base) get their hea. other than the monsters in this story getting what they deserve as they all sickened and pissed me tf off. All my trust is in kade and Tobias.

This one also ends off on a cliffhanger*

insatiable review

*this book is much darker than the first so look up the trigger warnings before reading*

Some quotes

“I thought I was broken, that my emotions were limited, but I just hadn’t met you yet.”

“The calmest I’ve ever felt in my life is when I’m with her. The voices are quiet, my heart slows to a healthy pace and I can sleep.”

"Are you going to be my forever, Freckles?" What is forever if it's not with him?”

“Feelings suck sometimes. They’re my best friends, but they’re also my worst enemies.”

"It’s like a mixture of love and not being able to breathe unless she’s around – thoughts that run wild wondering what she’s doing, where she is, if she’s thinking of me. It’s the butterflies that flutter like maniacs when I know I’m going to see her soon. The Stacey Rhodes Effect."

[manas (traveling) · Rating 5 out of 5]

➳ I AM UNWELL ☆

“shut up.” i shut up.

this was so fucking good. the way leigh rivers was able to encapsulate all of this is so impressive. usually when the main characters barley interact, i rate it one star, BUT it works so well here. i need her to stop writing sweet home alabama content, and write more of this. the edge of darkness trilogy will go down as one of my favorites.

⌞stacey⌝

she is such a strong FMC. again, i am taken aback that this is the same lady who wrote and glorified the incest shit-show, that was little stranger. stacey's new relationship with tobias was everything and her determination and development was so well done. i appreciate that she was not a doormat with no personality, and had so much depth. might be a bold statement, but stacey is a top 3 favorite dark romance FMC.

⌞kade⌝

god stop making this poor man suffer, please. i need this man happy in this last book because he has been tortured enough. when everything was finally revealed, i think a part of me died omg. one of the few dark romances where the MMC takes the back seat but still shines. every flashback KILLED me so bad. the mental health representation for kade’s character, was so topical and adequately portrayed. i love him so much. father tobias is also so fucking hot.


thank you vee for being my emotional support buddy reading bestie.

[Fiza · ia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waiting for Youssra to send me bleach to drink
__________

Bullied to br with Tonya

[a. · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.00 / 5

things would be so much better if they stopped fucking for once and talked it out.

[winnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Are you going to be my forever, Freckles?”

2.5 stars.

The first book was so much better than this one.

After the ending of Insatiable, I thought we'd be seeing more of Kade and Stacey together, but instead, we only got suffering. Kade is being tortured during 99% of the book, while Stacey is being tormented by Chris and also hunted. Idk what else to say, there's just suffering and when your card declines in therapy they make you read this book.

I also feel like this sequel was darker, at some point I had to put the book down because I couldn't stand the fact that Chris kept abusing this girl. I can't stand how Kade didn't hear her side of the story, how EVERYONE found out but him, and he was like the last to know. It just made me sick.

When it comes to the characters, I have no attachment to either of them, they are a good ship, and the first book served the cutest quotes in the flashbacks and a great smut. But that's it for me.

[Kristina Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.5 stars (rounded up)

I absolutely devoured this book. It was so devastating, and at this point I am completely invested in Stacey and Kade.

Leigh Rivers took everything that worked in Insatiable and turned the volume all the way up—higher stakes, darker tension, sharper twists, and a story that completely refuses to let you breathe. This isn’t just spicy or shocking for the sake of it; it’s layered, intense, and emotionally gripping in a way that kept me glued to the pages.

What really stood out was how much the plot deepened. The world feels richer, the characters more complex, and the relationships more unhinged in the best possible way. Every reveal felt earned, every moment of tension landed, and the pacing was relentless. I kept thinking, okay, surely it can’t get more unhinged than this—and then it did.

The character work is phenomenal: messy, morally gray, obsessive, and raw—exactly how I want my dark romance characters to be. I especially love Kade’s soft spot for Stacey, children, and dogs 🥹. The emotional pull surprised me just as much as the intensity, and by the end I was fully feral, emotionally compromised, and already desperate for what comes next. I could not put this book down toward the end, and that ending absolutely shook me.

Highly recommend if you have a taste for dark romance—but definitely check the trigger warnings, because this book gets DARK.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 heartbreaking ⭐️

Why do I do this to myself? Probably because Kade and Stacey are one of my favorite fictional couples of all time.

If the first book was dark, this one is pitch black. At times, it felt like I was enduring every bit of the trauma right alongside them. The last quarter of the book kept me up way past my bedtime because I had to know how it ended. And then Leigh Rivers went and threw in that gut-punch of an ending. Talk about emotional damage. I’ll just be over here picking up the pieces of my shattered heart. I’m definitely going to need a moment to recover before diving into Restitution. ❤️‍🩹

[veerali · Rating 5 out of 5]

— ( ♟️ ) 2nd read • 5 blade piercing the soul stars ⊹

diving back into this book was like being run over by a truck—hello, old wounds! but i actually enjoyed it way more this time around (laughs in pain)🕺

thank you manas for reading this with me ily x


— ( ♟️ ) 1st read • 4 stars ⊹

꒰ 🖇 ⊹  ׁ݂ "Are you going to be my forever, Freckles?"

disturbed, tortured, wounded, shook, pained, buffeted, burned, crushed, disfigured, bruised, contused.

⊹ 🪡 tropes
⤿ psychopath x dancer
⤿ enemies to lovers
⤿ best friend's brother
⤿ second chance
⤿ forced proximity/one bed
⤿ touch her and die
— TW/CW: explicit sexual content, exhibitionism, sex while shooting someone, sex next to dead body, borderline stalking and invasion of privacy, breath play, primal play, gun play, light spitting, praise, degradation, implied cheating, a lot of hand necklaces, death, blood/gore, drug use and withdrawals, forced sexworker, psychological and physical trauma, physical and sexual abuse (not between mcs), slight breeding kink, hate-fucking, rape and gang rape, attempted suicide, drugging, forced cannibalism, character death, accidental somnophilia, seizures, mentioned but not detailed CSA.

꒰ 🖇 ⊹  ׁ݂ "She's like my own sunrise. Beautiful. Perfect. She fills a part of me that's been empty and dark for as long as I can remember."

the love story of kade and stacey is one that will linger in my heart for years to come. it began as a beautiful tale, filled with innocent glances, sweet smiles, tender kisses, and gentle touches. their soft-spoken promises and declarations of love felt like something straight out of a fairy tale.


however, as time moved on, their love transformed into something fractured and haunting. what was once a powerful and passionate connection has now become a source of deep sorrow, irreparably damaged. kade and stacey crafted their own unique fairy tale—one that is raw, genuine, and intensely emotional.

꒰ 🖇 ⊹  ׁ݂ "The butterflies have never vanished. They've been there since he called me "Freckles" for the first time and stared into my soul like he wanted to fix me. Like he could see the fractures ─ the shards of glass that gradually fell from my heart with each deep breath. As if danger I was in at home was written all over my face, and Kade wanted to keep me safe from all of it."

brb crying.

i love how stacey reinvented herself despite everything she's gone through. a true bad bitch.

this book absolutely wrecked me in every possible way. i was left howling, sobbing, and shaking with all the feels. the agony and turmoil oozing from the pages were so intense, i felt like i was drowning. the author didn’t hold back on the most horrific and unsettling moments, and each chapter hit me like a gut punch. the events in this story were downright revolting and triggering, forcing me to set it down multiple times just to catch my breath. it really twisted the boundaries between depravity and what it means to be human.

LEIGH RIVERS YOU'RE PAYING FOR MY THERAPY.

kadestacey deserve their happy ending!!

p.s. this book is a lot darker than the first one, contains a series of flashbacks, and ends on a cliffhanger.

[anna ☆.｡.:* · Rating 1 out of 5]

if i could give this book 0 stars i would but oh well! atrocious writing, questionable things mentioned, a russian mafia prince getting kidnapped by the head of the scotland police? are u being serious in what world would this happen

[♡✿Mania⁠✿♡ ꒰Slow꒱ · Rating 3 out of 5]

✯✯✯ ✯ ⅖  HEART BREAKING STARS   જ⁀➴4.25⋆.ೃ࿔✰ ˎˊ˗
╰┈➤「🖇️ ❝ Are you going to be my forever, Freckles?❞
What is forever if it’s not with him? 」

🚬I miss you, I'm sorry: GRACIE ABRAMS
0:24 ─●──────── -2:56
↺ |◁   II   ▷|   ♡
꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋💜 ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ 💜. ⭑꒷꒦
You said, "Forever, " and I almost bought it
I miss fightin' in your old apartment
Breakin' dishes when you're disappointed
I still love you, I promise
Nothin' happened in the way I wanted
Every corner of this house is haunted
And I know you said that we're not talkin'
But I miss you, I'm sorry
꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋💜 ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋💜 ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦

🗝️ CONTENT WARNING
⤷multiple counts of sexual assault ⤷domestic violence ⤷incest
⤷sexual and physical abuse ⤷Rape ⤷Gang rape ⤷Child abuse ⤷Trafficking, ⤷Pedophilia ⤷forced abortion ⤷drugging ⤷gore  ⤷extreme physical torture, ⤷child loss in the second trimester ⤷attempted suicide ⤷miscommunication
⤷phycological and physical truama ⤷forced sex workers. Yes bothof our MC'S were victims of many heinous tws mentioned above.

「🖇️❝ Each day has been like an episode of a horror movie, and I’m the main character. ❞ 」

⋆˙⟡ — major spoilers ahead ‼️‼️

*ੈ✩‧₊˚--𝕆𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤

Pain after pain, it never ends. Stacey and Kade can’t seem to catch a break. Just when it feels like things couldn’t possibly get worse, the unimaginable happens. I’m completely lost for words. This book is truly not for the faint of heart 😭 when I tell you it's heavy trust me it's HEAVY I cried so so much while reading it— like i swear I've never felt so tired from crying my head was hurting and my anxiety was sky high .

This book is messed up, and there's no interaction between Kade and Stacey in the present timeline except for a few.

When Tobias escaped the institution I swear that was the only moment I actually felt pure joy throughout the book like i was actually squealing lirt CAN'T FUKING WAIT FOR THIS AMERICAN PSYCHOPATH TO SAVE HIS BABIES — KILL AND TORCHER THAT BITCH, HER PIG OF A HUSBAND AND CHRIS....LIKE DADDY TOBIAS IS MY ONLY HOPE NOW 

Like Tobias, barry and base might just be one of my favourite side characters ever.

I need a Luciella and Base book! I badly need their POVs and story.

The calm before the storm was real. That last chapter had me speechless. I physically gasped Running to the next book even tho ik it's gna kill me

❝𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘺 𝘍𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘴. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘺 𝘍𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘴. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘺 𝘍𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘴.❞

I CANNOT. ISTG I CAN FUKING NOTTT

*ੈ✩‧₊˚-- ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤

⊹🌂.ᐟ.ᐟ𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒚

꒰⁠ Elastic Heart — Sia  ꒱

・┆ You did not break me
I'm still fighting for peace
I've got thick skin and an elastic heart
But your blade it might be too sharp
I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard
I may snap and I move fast
But you won't see me fall apart  ┆・

My freaking baby, I love her so much that it actually hurts my heart .Like there were sooo many times I just wanted to jump in the book and hug her. Ohhh GAWD, she suffered HORRIBLE abuse from her bish of a stepbrother since she was just 14. After discovering she was pregnant, that piece of vile trash brutally assaulted her and took the life of her baby daughter. But that wasn't enough for the disgusting pig; he went on to gang-rape her, drugging her in the process. Jason, Kade's brother, forced them to have sex, recorded it, and sent an edited video to Kade, making him believe Stacey had cheated on him. As if that wasn't horrific enough, the sick bastard continued to drug and rape her repeatedly, even when she was unconscious. She didn't even realize that her stepbrother had raped her until the horrible truth was revealed to her. she is such a STRONG FMC cuz yk why even after all these horrendous things she still puts OTHERS FEELINGS BEFORE HERSELF. again, i am taken aback that this is the same lady who wrote and glorified the incest shit-show, that was little stranger. I appreciate that she was not a doormat with no personality, and had so much depth and THE HEART  ON THIS GIRLLL— I SWEAR I CAN NOT OMG MYSHAYLA. Litr one of my fave dark romance  fmc's ever.

「🖇️ ❝ Feelings suck sometimes. They’re my best friends, but they’re also my worst enemies.❞ 」

⊹🌂.ᐟ.ᐟ𝑲𝒂𝒅𝒆

꒰⁠ Franklin House — Brenn! ꒱

・┆ You needed saving, but I could not save you this time
All I did was break you forever
I will survive, but I'll never recover
I will get by, but I'll never get over  ┆・

Oh god, I don’t even know where to start. Just thinking about all the awful things he’s been through makes me sick to my stomach. Please, I need this man to be happy in the last book—he’s suffered enough torcher already .Kade Mitchell, driving while being at the verge of death— bawlling after being forced to watch a 3 hour long video of Stacey being gang-raped repeatedly ( he was gaslighted into believing that she cheated on him) he ended up crashing his car but kept desperately crawling to somehow reach her  while on the brink of death, professing his love for her and begging for forgiveness—this will haunt and truamtize me forever. I am genuinely not okay.

「🖇️ ❝𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡.❞ 」

「🖇️ ❝ Please... forgive me.❞ 」

「🖇️ ❝I n-never stopped loving you.❞ 」

When everything was finally revealed, I swear a part of me just died omg. This is one of the rare dark romances where the MMC takes a step back but still absolutely shines. Every single flashback wrecked me. The way Kade’s mental health was portrayed felt so raw and real—it broke me in the best and worst ways. I love him so much. And those chapters where Stacey finds out she’s pregnant and then loses the baby? God. Kade’s POV about his unborn daughter, how he bought little things for her and imagined being a good dad and partner—it shattered me. I was sobbing like a banshee, especially knowing what was coming.

「🖇️ ❝ For the next two years, I die a little more each day, until the version of Kade Mitchell I want to be turns into a ghost. My soul is shattered and broken, and I lose all the pieces, unable to glue it back together. ❞ 」

「🖇️ ❝I’m going to be a girl-dad. A mini-Stacey by my side – my little
princess.❞ 」

「🖇️ ❝ Regardless, hi.” I wrap my arms around the back of her thighs as we lie in bed. “I’m going to be your daddy; do you know how lucky you are?
I’m pretty messed up in the head, but I’ll go for more therapy before you arrive, I promise. And I’m going to spoil the life out of you, then we’ll gangup on Mummy with Nerf guns.❞ 」

.......

「🖇️ ��� 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘋𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘺’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬.❞ 」

(I AM DEFINITELY NOT FUKING CRYING 😭)


⊹🌂.ᐟ.ᐟ 𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒆

꒰⁠ The greatest—Billie elish ꒱

・┆ Made it all look painless
Man, am I the greatest ┆・

I swear my gut twisted and bile rose in my throat when I found that the vile pig and her just as vile husband got there filthy clutches on my pookie too — I was actually sobbing.
If soulmates existed in friendship form… it’s Kade and Base. That bond is everything. They’re brutal, they’re loyal, and they hold each other when the world stops making sense. He’s the one thing keeping Kade from collapsing entirely, and that loyalty is so fucking powerful and it makes me so fuking emotional.

「🖇️ ❝ you die, i die.❞ 」

⊹🌂.ᐟ.ᐟ  𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂

I'm gna be honest I have VERY mixed feelings about her cuz wdym your best friend litr tells you an extremely vulnerable moment that her stepbrother has been ABUSING AND TORCHERING HER — but your first comment is that why didn't she tell you that she had 2 BROTHERSSS— like tf I CAN NOT WITH VICTIM GUILT TRIPPING. Also she treated base horribly like whyyyy but now she got sold tooo so I can't help and feel bad for her aswl.


👾 𐙚⋆.˚ 𝓚𝓪𝓭𝓮 + 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓬𝓮𝔂 ⋆.˚ 𐙚 👾

꒰⁠ The exit—connan grey ꒱

・┆ Feels like we had matching wounds
But mine's still black and bruised
And yours is perfectly fine
Feels like we buried alive
Something that never died
So, God, it hurt when I found out ┆・

Firstly let me start by saying this — the romance between our MC'S isn't really dark (which I love btw) — it's actually the vile situations that there in.

PURE. PAIN. like I’m actually unwell 😭😭Finally reaching that scene where they see each other again—Stacey finally ready to tell him everything—only for Kade to just walk away?? I wanted to SCREAM and throw my book across the room  but also?? I get it. they’re both so broken and lost after everything they’ve been through, you can feel how much it’s changed them. they’re grieving, shattered, hurting and trying to figure out how to keep breathing, let alone move forward—yet that love? it’s still there. and that’s what’s destroying me the most.

my heart is in shambels for them, and then the FLASHBACKS?? they were killing me omg they made my heart swell and then instantly sob because you know what’s coming
Kade and Stacey are so strong yet so tired—their love just jumps off the page. it’s raw, consuming, and heartbreakingly beautiful 😭 I just need them to find their way back to each other—they deserve peace, they deserve everything .

「🖇️ ❝ I don’t think it’s even a case of being in love with her anymore. Is there an emotion that’s stronger than love? If not, I’m creating one. It’s like a mixture of love and not being able to breathe unless she’s around – thoughts that run wild wondering what she’s doing, where she is, if she’s thinking of me. It’s the butterflies that flutter like maniacs when I know I’m going to see her soon. The Stacey Rhodes Effect. ❞ 」

「🖇️ ❝ There’ll be no other ending for us, Freckles, because you’re fucking it for me.❞ 」

「🖇️ ❝I thought I was broken, that my emotions were limited, but I just hadn’t met you yet.❞ 」

「🖇️ ❝ I love you, Kade. I don’t think I’ll ever not love you.”
“Think?” I snort, my eyes closing. “You’re stuck with me, because I
know I could never not love you.❞ 」

「🖇️ ❝ I keep reminding myself that I’m doing all of this to protect her. Because not only is she my weakness, but she’s also my strength – my main reason for continuing, the air to my fucking lungs. When I’m around her, I feel like the person I was before – the teenager who fell in love with a beautiful girl and had no idea how to handle the emotion. The kid who always looked at her, even before I kissed her for the first time.❞」

             ────୨ ⋆.end ⋆.ৎ────

➴ inistaible ꒰⁠ 3☆꒱
➴ restitution ꒰⁠ 5☆꒱

---˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙⊹❀♡❀˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙⊹------˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙⊹❀♡❀˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙⊹---

The only way to describe this book is gut wrenching P.A.I.N..rtc!! (soon... I need time to emotionally recover — atleast try)
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

𐙚⋆.˚🗝️ Pre-read #2
  ⤷I can't stop thinking about what happens so picking it back up send prayers cuz I don't know how I'll survive this book.

     ────୨ৎ────୨ৎ────୨ৎ────

Soft dnf@45%

  ╰┈➤This is too much even for me. I promise I'll get back to it but for now I need to stop for the sake of my mental health cuz I actually feel sick to my stomach and am numb from crying sm so I'll js keep praying that my babies are safe until I pick it up again.

   ˚‧ ︵‿₊୨୧₊‿︵ ‧  ˚ ࣪ ୨୧  ˚‧ ︵‿₊୨୧₊‿︵ ‧ ˚
👾𖤐.ᐟ𝑷𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 ﾉ⁠
  ⤷The ending of the last book made me spiral and saying that I am freakin scared to start this is a damn understament! I've read the tw's for this one and holy moly I feel sick to my stomach. Send prayers cuz I js know that this book is gna destroy me.

[aira · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Are you going to be my forever, Freckles?”

Tobias Mitchell served so hard and this isn't even his book. Can't say I'm disappointed with his presence because I was really only here for him. If I was rating this book based on how much I enjoyed reading about Tobias, I would give it 5 stars for sure, but for the book in general, 2 stars sounds about right.

Oh, I also love the little bits about Base and Luciella. Honestly, these side characters are doing more for me than the two main characters. These two better get a happy ending somewhere or I'm going to throw hands.

I couldn't care less about the two main characters and I know that sounds bad, but Stacey and Kade are just weird. Like yes, on one side I feel really bad for them and what they are going through, both individually and together, but on the other side, when they are together, all they do is fuck. It got annoying after like the 4th time. I had a box of tissues next to me because I thought I was going to sob, but I didn't use a single one. Instead, I got the ick with these two. I have to admit I did skim a little here and there, especially when it came to Kade and Stacey.

Honestly, Tobias, Base and Luciella are my only motivation for this trilogy. Onto to the third (and final) book.

-------

pre-read: I'm just here for Tobias Mitchell and I'm not ashamed to admit that!! 🫣

[Momma Eureka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not crying! You are crying 😭

THIS BOOK BROKE ME ! I’m done, dead, deceased!

This continues the saga love story of Stacey and Kade and I just need to say that I did read this entire book with either a scowl on my face or tears in my eyes. I didn’t smile once, there is absolutely nothing you can smile about. Their story is the saddest fucking shit. I am in pieces and I can not even fixed my heart before going to the third one because I NEED to finish, I need to inject this book into my veins, snort up my nose, I need to open my head and scribble into my brain (well that was a bit dramatic, but I am nothing if not dramatic)
I swear I am not saying a single thing in this review that can spoil anything, but I got mad, sad, angry and furious and sobbing all in a span of a few pages. I don’t know how this couple can ever find happiness even with any happy ending the author fix for them, because how can one’s mind ever get over all of this ? OMG I am in shambles 😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩

[Keya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I genuinely don't have any words right now 😭😭 I just want to run and give these characters a big hug, they deserve so so much better. There wasn't even one point in this book where my heart was not breaking 😭
Also this had the most unexpected last words ever 🤡 RUNNING TO THE NEXT BOOK NOW 🏃‍♀️‍➡️🏃‍♀️‍➡️

***

please please PLEASE stop me from getting into a slump 🙏

[Karen karenreads · Rating 1 out of 5]

UPDATE: Everybody and their mother is talking about this book and I'm starting to low key gaslight myself. Was this book as ridiculous and inconsistent as I remembered it, or was I too caught up in the details?

Should I give it another chance?

I'll update soon.
—

We don't expect realism in dark romance books, yes. But enough is enough, I can't ignore everything anymore!

I don't understand why this book is so bad when the first book started great and ended in a very nice place. I had to leave it at around 50%.

First of all, Doesn’t they have any records in this town? Birth certificate? High school yearbook ? Where does he work? How in the hell there is zero evidence he exists? BUT ONLY WHEN KADE LOOKS otherwise all town knows him that’s totally normal.

How believable is it that the town police and every other human being knows about Chris, her step sibling EXCEPT Kade and his family and every single man connected to him. They know each other since 14 but her friends and her lover who have been with her for years don't have any idea about a step brother?


After a while, I feel like I'm being made fun of. Kade can constantly watch the girl, he is a psychotic hitman who has entered his house many times, but for some reason he doesn't know that the girl has another sibling?

A girl who has never thrown a punch in her life can kill three grown men in minutes (under the influence of drugs) but she can't do anything to her sibling.

Where are these people's mothers?

Why does Kade's mother Aria accept these events as normal?

At the same time, she doesn't know anything?

Who THE FUCK is Barry and WHY every single adult welcomes him in their house no questions ask?

This book could have been at a much different point.

[maria (will I fully comeback?) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need time to process what just happened in this book🫨 RTC


ᝰ.ᐟ pre-read: ᯓᡣ𐭩୭˚.

I don’t think I’m ready to read this one🫣 the first in the trilogy was an emotional roller coaster but I need to know what’s going to happen after that cliffhanger.

[madi · Rating 3 out of 5]

⋆˙⟡ — 3.5 stars
𐙚 spoilers ahead‼️‼️ ♡

♡ ⋆｡˚ thoughts
this series just keeps causing me more and more pain 😔 i had to take so many breaks because some parts were just too much. and that ending?!

♡ ⋆｡˚ characters

♡ ⋆｡˚ stacey
i just wanna hug my baby ☹️ having to read about everything she went through because of chris absolutely broke me. i was sobbing. she had no peace, chapter after chapter was just her being manipulated, punished, and pushed to her breaking point. the part with her baby girl?? i was in literal tears. she was sixteen weeks... and all because chris found the ultrasound photo. he’s evil. stacey is such a strong character though, even when she felt broken, she still fought in whatever small ways she could. i love her so much.

♡ ⋆｡˚ kade
my sweet baby 😭 he was going through so much in this book. being held captive, abused, and manipulated, it was so hard to read. but what hurt the most was how he blamed himself. everything with bernadette tore him apart mentally and physically, and the way he kept thinking he wasn’t enough or that he couldn’t protect stacey made my heart ache. even in his worst moments, you could tell how deeply he loved her 😞

♡ ⋆｡˚ their relationship
pure pain. finally getting to that scene where they see each other again and stacey is ready to tell him everything—only for him to walk away?? i wanted to scream. but also, i get it. everything they’ve been through has completely changed them. they’re both grieving, broken, and unsure of how to move forward. but the love is still there, and that’s what’s keeping me going. i just need them to find their way back to each other. they deserve peace.

♡ ⋆｡˚ final thoughts
i’m terrified for the next book. like i already know it’s gonna wreck me 😭 but i’m also so excited to finish this trilogy. thank you sm to my bsf vee i loved reading this with you 😽💓

₊˚ ‿︵‿︵‿︵୨୧ · · ♡ · · ୨୧‿︵‿︵‿︵ ˚₊

𐙚⋆°｡⋆♡ pre-read ♡⋆°｡⋆𐙚
⤷ continuing this with vee 😼 i’m so scared for this book… but let’s see what happens.