Inevitable Destruction

by Marie Ann

The depth of your darkness swallowed me whole


The precarious stability I built for myself vanishes with one look at his pretty face. Years of endless remorse, shame, and outrage; amplified by him —the son of the two people who ruined my life.
And now that it’s all been brought to the surface, I can’t deny it any longer.
Dominik Reed needs to pay for the sins of his parents.
What I didn’t expect was the deep-seated ache he draws out in a virulent, carnal need to claim and destroy him simultaneously. Every attempt to resist my impulses are in vain.
I can’t fight what’s inevitable.


Years of sobriety, wasted after the loss of the girl I thought I loved. It turns out love doesn’t exist. Only pain. Loss. The white static of chaos we’re forced to live in—and I want nothing more than to feel nothing. Be nothing.
Amidst my downward spiral, a domineering cop I crossed paths with months ago forces himself into every facet of my life, stirring up everything I forced myself not to feel.
Rhett Boyd has a sick obsession with me and my pain. And in return, my disturbing, twisted desire gradually turns into something deeper, something… more.
Until I realize the truth.
I’ve always been destined for destruction.


Inevitable Destruction is a dark enemies to lovers MM standalone romance.

Genres: M M Romance, Dark, Dark Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Romance, Addiction, Mental Health

486 pages, Paperback

Published June 29, 2022

About the author

Marie Ann is a writer of the weird and unorthodox who loves spending their free time reading fanfic and bingeing their favorite shows and movies.
If you liked what you read, stalk them!㋛︎
www.authormarieann.com

Reviews

[Crystal (Crystalreads2) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inevitable Destruction is one of my most anticipated books of the year, and I was far from disappointed. I couldn't wait to read Dominik's journey after Essa. No worries, the this book can be read as a standalone. I recommend reading The Monsters in Us Duet for the best reading experience.

My mind is blown away, and this book is a masterpiece. It’s touched not only my heart but my soul. It’s one of those books that will stick with you for a long time to come.

If you follow me, you know I have zero triggers. I never read trigger warnings. There is one scene I cried like a baby. It will be triggering to others. Read and take the trigger warnings seriously. Inevitable Destruction is heavy on drug addiction. It’s not for everyone, and that is okay.

Everett and Dominik have a unique bond and history. Everett has plans for Dominik to pay for the sins of his father. He doesn’t expect everything, including emotions, with his plan.

So many times, Everett pissed me in the name of revenge. Everyone deals with trauma differently. Poor Dominik has so much to deal with. He was already broken, fighting his demons in an unhealthy way when Everett entered his life.

Words alone can’t articulate how perfect this book is. Everyone can see a connection between the two, even when they deny it. The author poured all her raw emotions into this one, which shows. I couldn’t out the book down. Inevitable Destruction is one of my top reads of the year.

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very heavy read, the way I like it, but there was something that annoyed me a lot taking me out of the story very often.

****** Spoilery quotes ahead: *******

⚠️I clench my jaw, the popping and grinding of my molars sounding through my head...
⚠️I slam my jaw shut when a deep ache radiates through the back of my jaw and down my neck from clenching...
⚠️I grind my teeth at...
⚠️Grinding my molars together...
⚠️I match his stance and grind my teeth together...
⚠️I grind my teeth in a desperate attempt to rein in my anger...
⚠️I snap my jaw closed and grind my molars together

There were 30 sentences similar to that, using the "grind/grinding" word.

I also didn't get how or why they fell in love, and that's a crucial thing in my romance.

[Renae Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

** I reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Inevitable Destruction is a powerfully written dark romance between an addict and his tormentor and their unlikely love story. What I appreciate so much about the writing of this story is how it allowed me to empathize and understand how pain and trauma can lead people to do such drastically harmful actions to others and themselves. Everett and Dominik are two very flawed people who are inexplicably lost in their life and due to fate they wind up in the other's life.

This author is so talented because she allowed me to root for the villain of this story, it was hard to read many of the actions Rhett took to seek his revenge, but his POV allowed me to see how he was so tormented by the actions of others and wanting his version of justice. Seeing his inevitable fall for such a broken character in Dom was so fascinating to see develop.

Inevitable Destruction is a very powerful story that is not an easy read, due in part to the subject manner, but it is such a thought-provoking read that I appreciated seeing the arc of the two main characters and how even in their darkest moments they had such real feelings for the other.

This is an intense story, but I was so proud of the HEA because of how well earned it was.

[Emna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't ask me if I'm okay .... because im NOT

[Mica ♡Hopeless Deviant♤ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not going to lie, I heard dark, enemies to lovers and daddy kink and I was sold! But seriously, FUCK this!!!

Inevitable Destruction was bloody difficult to read and it was freaking painful😭

The daddy kink was practically nonexistent between the MCs, Rhett was an asshole and Dom...I don't know what to say about him. I wish he'd gotten some help earlier on but I'm so proud of him for actually making the decision to go.

I do feel like the obsession and them realizing they were in love part was...odd. I wish more time was spent on that because my man went from being shot up for a few weeks to realizing he was in love and for such a heavy story I wanted more. Probably could have been done if there weren't as much detailed scenes of the MCs fucking other people🙂 but that's just me!

I wish I could be happy for their HEA but I'm not sure how I feel about it right now. One thing I do know is that I will not be returning to this book😒 But the author did a great job in twisting my emotions, so kudos for that I guess😭

[haletostilinski]

Yeah, I don't feel like I can truly rate this book as I skipped and skimmed a lot.

I think the problem was that not only did it take forever for these two to even meet, once they met it took forever for there to be anything other than hatred. Also there were multiple scenes, multiple times, of the two MC's with others, and the scenes were very detailed. There's only so much of it I could take.

Rhett was...hard to like. I really only started to like him at the very end, when he realized what a horrible thing he'd done and how he broke at that, and how he saw things once he was out of his hate spiral. But that happens only toward the 80% mark. It takes that long for him to snap out of his revenge scheme.

Now, he has moments here and there - and maybe he had more that I skipped/skimmed over, idk, but of what I did read, he was still determined to go through with destroying Dominik and still had pretty dark moments.

Now, I don't need the character not to be assholes in order to like them. Or even do some dark shit. Even to the other MC, but...it was hard with Rhett for several reasons. Maybe if Dominik himself had done something to him, I would have understood more. But he didn't, so Rhett's logic made no fucking sense.

➤ Not only did he realize that Dominik had nothing to do with his dad's murder, he also just didn't give a fuck. He even thinks about how he didn't have anything to do with it, but it just "didn't matter anymore, they were way past that" and why? Why???

➤ He goes way beyond just...say, like beating Dom up or saying nasty shit to him or trying to sabotage a job or relationship or whatever. All shitty things, but not quite over the line. Nah, he has to go and be manipulative, conniving, borderline abusive and just an all around shitty person not only to Dom, but to everyone around him, even his supposed best friend, Jamie.

➤ He literally abuses his power as a cop on Dom, he threatens Dom's drug dealer into not dealing him drugs anymore, not out of the goodness of his heart, oh no, but so that Dom can only get drugs from him, and becomes dependent on him for them, and coerces Dom into having sex with him for said drugs.

➤ Not only that, but he intentionally pushes Dom to the very edge, the true rock bottom, and then seems shocked that he literally almost dies and goes through horrendous shit, more horrendous than every before, because of it.

What was hard for me, as I was skimming, was to see how this could be looked at as a romance. How Dom was gaining feelings for such a bad person.

Rhett had some messed up, twisted lust for Dom, and all that, and he did start to ~feel things for him, but he was so consumed by his hatred and need for revenge at the same time it was hard to get the sense he was falling for Dom at all.

It was only near the end of their twisted thing together and shit really started to hit the fan that I got a sense of real remorse, guilt and feelings from Rhett towards Dom.

And again, you could possible take this all with a grain of salt, since I skipped and skimmed so much. But from what I read, this was the sense that I got.

Also it waits until around 80% for things to reach their climax, and that leave only 20% to right the rock bottom they both reached, and I don't think it did that recovery justice, imo.

I would have rather first like...50, 60% of this had been the destructive, horrible reaching rock bottom part, and the last 50 to 40% was the rebuilding.

So much time was wasted, in my opinion, in the beginning on setting things up and having so much internal thoughts and monologues and scene with so many other characters, all the unnecessary sex scenes with others, that if you took that out, that would have made this short enough for the recovery period to be longer and better fleshed out.

Instead all there is, the most horrible shit happens around 80%, Dom goes to rehab, he's there for 5 months but we only get a sense of what he went through in short letter for each month he was there, then once he's out it's been a month and he's with Essa, who is an MC from a previous book who he was previously in love with, and her guy, and then he leaves to go back to the town and then we get Rhett's POV, where he's definitely a changed person, but it's not enough for me.

Because all we get is this one chapter after it all from his POV explaining what he went through in those 6 months, and how his outlooks changed and how much remorse and guilt he has, and also hatred for himself he has.

Which is nice and all, but it wasn't enough. For all that Rhett did, I wanted to see him wallow in misery more, I wanted to see him truly going over everything he did and how horrible it was.

Now, for what we got, we got some good angsting over what he did and hatred for himself, but I just wanted more of the ending Rhett than the first 80% we got of him. If we had gotten more of HIM, then I feel I would have been more understanding towards him and liked him a lot more, maybe even loved him.

But as it was, we get that short chapter, Dom comes back, they meet up and get back together. They do talk and it is good, but it wasn't enough for me.

That 10% of them together was actually pretty damn good! But that's the rub, it was only 10%. Before all I felt when skimming through this was some of the sex was hot.

I wasn't feeling the romance, the feelings, at all. I needed more.

One of the big reasons I can't rate this, is the skimming because there was just *too much* I didn't care about in this, that I probably missed a lot.

So again, take this review with a grain of salt. I didn't read everything in this. Ultimately it just didn't work for me.

And it wasn't necessarily the darkness in this. I've read dark shit, and while this was definitely on the higher end of dark and angsty, I've still read some horrible shit. It was more just the characters - Rhett mainly - and their motivations and actions. And the overabundance of inner monologues I just didn't care about, and too much focus on others things, other sex scenes with other people, etc, that just didn't work for me.

Again, one sex scene or even two before they meet or get together is fine, but several, and so well into the story? Nah, no thanks.

One more thing - the little time at the end for the upward swing of things left little time to really get into Dom's addiction and his recovery and how he found the strength to hold on and not take drugs when for 80% of this he gave in so so easily and craved it so much.

Also I saw a few times Dom say that Rhett was the bigger addiction than the drugs, but then a few times he thought about how the drugs were his bigger addiction, so that contradiction confused me on which one really was the bigger addiction for him....

Overall, not for me, and it didn't quite work out. Near the end, I liked it and could have seen loving this if it had been done differently.

But that's just me, someone who didn't read this all the way through...

Better luck next time, I suppose.

[zaxy · Rating 1 out of 5]

dominik only cares about Essa and drugs. the whole Essa obsession rubbed me the wrong way. in the beginning he fucks random chicks thinking about Essa. And Rhett fucking that boy thinking about Dominik 🙄🙄🙄 what a mess. I don't like this kind of shit in my MMs books.

[Ro {semi-hiatus} · Rating 1 out of 5]

i have a big fat fucking problem with the mcs having copious detailed sex scenes with characters who aren't each other. boo hiss, two thumbs down, actually irritated. none of the romance made up for the bitter taste that all left in my mouth i should have DNF in chapter ONE.

insanely toxic and i hate, loathe, despise Rhett.

[Simona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark but love it nonetheless

[Valentina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorrowful

A favorite character from the Monsters in Us duet, Dominik: wayward, intractable to his pain, lives his life in a physical stream of drug-induced consciousness. One thought resonated: Numb the pain. Dom was a sorrowful and haunted character, and this story not only depicted his desolation, his hopelessness, but also the toxicity he lived (suffered, really) from a cop, Rhett, seeking retribution for perceived injustice to his family, his father. But the truth is harder to bear, the truth that neither was the blame, and the one that is most in need of care must first take care of himself.

In this story, I suffered with Dom, lived through the film of his depression, and was empathetic to his constant desire to end it all. The drugs and coping vices. So much pain and seemingly so little love or unmedicated solace -- until he met Essa, who was meant for another. Then his world upends when Rhett decides Dom must pay for his parents' mistakes.

This book read as if reading someone's inevitable fall against an undeterred force, in this case, Rhett's navigating his journey there. And in fact, I found Rhett was too much for me. His reason for revenge I could never get on board with; and his use of his position of power to wreak havoc on Dom: The coercive exchange of sex for drugs, the administration of drug, essentially destroying him by preying on his weakness, was reprehensible. While I thought this book captured the pain of Dom's depression mingled with issues of self-worth and drug addiction, it was unbelievable for me to accept their love.

Dom was a lost soul, a weak person sure, but I couldn’t accept Rhett, couldn't forgive him. He was the chariot to Dom's problem. I found Rhett redeemable too late while, beautifully, Dom could forgive him, loved him in fact. So desperate was he for love, Dom's love seemed, to me, forged through dependency, giving Rhett his all. Rhett simply did not deliver recompense to balance his actions or elicit forgiveness.

There was certainly an attraction between the two, an awakened one for Dom and a denied one from Rhett until their love. A very spicy book indeed and some daddy kink at least initially, until Dom.

I enjoyed the side characters: Rhett's partner Jamie -- his reality check; Rhett's former love -- Daddy kink; and my favorites, VinEssa. The drug and smoke-filled scenes fostered a tenebrous ambience of mental decline.

Stylistically, the writing was striking in the sense of its rendering of complete mental despair. It was psychologically dark and so sad in depicting such self-inflicted and assisted persecution. Simultaneously, it read rather telling than showing, particularly with all the passages of inner thought. Also, it was very long in covering the same, arduous theme, day after day, of destructive drug use and Rhett's mistreatment of Dom. While I appreciated the ethos of the book, some balance of levity, light would have served, at a minimum, for contrast.

I would have absolutely found Dom love elsewhere. His character so grew on me, but in the end, the characters chose.

[witchy_book_babe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more I reflect on this book, the more I realize this is an Infinity Star book for me. Which for me, equates to a story so phenomenal, so original, so deep, so completely immersive that I forget that these are fictional characters that I can't imagine reading another replica of it ever again. There are a few select books that I hold this honor to, or really the honor is actually all mine to have. For an Author to have grabbed me by the throat and pulled me through the pages, allowing me to experience the world so vividly, is truly something I cherish and do not take for granted. As this is my first book by Marie Ann, I am just beyond impressed and she's become a new trusted Author of mine!


How can I possibly talk about this story without giving anything away. Well, I suppose that I can begin by saying this is not a light read. The first thing I thought of is all those "Trending Video's" speaking about wanting a Villains POV/Villain book . There is a character in this story that has absolute Villain Energy, he is a Morally Black Character. Which is what I'd define as having no goodness whatsoever in themselves. I was challenged in numerous ways with this book, not only with certain area's in the plot, but mostly with this Morally Black Character. Marie crafted him so beautifully, I found myself chewing over many of his actions/mannerisms....but that was the crushing beauty of Marie's craftmanship.
This isn't a Prince Charming kind of guy...he has no moral compass. He has a black heart, with a cruel nature and purpose. I found myself really mulling over him and I loved his journey. A Villain may always be a Villain, but in this story I appreciated how Marie made this particular character able to find the person for him. There is no random washing or "re-birth", where you're going to see this certain character change his ways like in most HEA's. He goes through his journey and is accepted, flaws and all by his person. And that's honestly just one part of the beautiful dark theme in this book.


Now, the second character I want to talk about, as much as I can. Is someone who I instantly would go to war for. He stole my heart immediately. I personally connected with him and felt him so tangibly through the pages. There is pain on so many different levels and I felt as if I was just holding his hand, hoping and wishing for him the entire time.

I don't want to go into much detail, in order to protect this story. Reading everything that happens for the first time is a gift I don't want to spoil. There is so much raw and honest pain associated with this character, and it's absolutely not going to be ok with certain audiences. But, for those that can understand this dark path this character is stuck on...I hope that you feel the same feelings that I did. I hope that Marie's words can be accepted and appreciated as they are meant to be.

Ultimately, this story is full of Triggering content. I understand it's not something that can easily be recommended. But, if you're able to typically go into books blind, understand that this book is an MM Dark Romance with a Morally Black character, with the knowledge that there will be lots of pain before you reach that other side...this book made me feel, tremendously so. And I am more than happy to tuck these character's into my heart for safe keeping.

Just a few quotes that I feel safe in sharing🖤:

"The person who saved you unwittingly stole your mortality, leaving you on Death's doorstep once more."

"They saved themselves while killing you in the process."

"The more clothes I have on, the more I can hide behind. The less people can see."

"I'm not strong....I never have been. Pretending is the only thing I know, and I'm just tired. So, please. Please."

"I've felt death's shadow for far too long, my constant companion throughout the years."

[SARAH--BOOKLOVER ( ❛ ω ❛ ) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish i can say i didn't finish this book , but unfortunately i did , so let me share my opinion with you , i hate the characters , i hate the story, and i hate myself for finishing this shit , Everett need to go to jail for what he done . He hurt and gave drugs to someone who is an addict and need help , Surprise surprise he is cop , and he want to take revenge for father who couldn't keep he's dxxk for himself, and start sheating with his best friend'wife , and when dominik's father found them in thier bed , he killed them both , and himself too . So is this really worth getting revenge for ? , And the funny part is when start to feel liiiittle human he told his partner (which she is a cop too ) , she told what all happened is not his fault , and he shouldn't blame himself . WHAT THE FXCK SERIOUSLY 😒 ? She need to go jail too, i mean what the hell is this shit , and then boom he is finally human , and in love too , that's not love that's a madness , and then there is happy ending ? Am i happy for them ?, no am not 😠
But because am a nice person i gave this book an award which is. ( THE MOST SHITIEST BOOK I'VE READ IN MY WHOLE LIFE) , punto final .

[Koe · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is so fucked and not in the 'omg he does fucked up things but I love him' way.
Rhett is a full on psychotic despicable rapist, and that's all there is to it. You can't dress this up as 'dark romance', I'm sorry. I'll read dark romance all day, but I draw the line at rape.

Him being that insane over the fact that someone killed his dad is so stupid. If it was his lover or child, that would make a little more sense. Also, the only thing we know about his beloved father is that he was a homewrecker and had a lighter. That's not enough for a reader to care about the dad or to understand Rhetts pain and how important his dad was to him.

- Constant random song titles popping up everywhere was annoying and unnecessary
- How old is Dom
- How are there no cameras or other cops in a police precinct
- How and why can a cop go to frat parties
- Constant reminders that Rhett pops his jaw and smokes cigarettes
- Dom has been an addict for 5 years but is still muscular even though he never eats or moves
- it's ALWAYS raining

[yaishin · Rating 2 out of 5]

i was about to give up on this book not even 25% in because it was just Dom being miserable and Rhett being rage-ey the whole time🙄. it kinda got better in the sense that there was finally a storyline but the whole book was way too depressing.

most of the fault for the shit that happened to Dom solely rests on Rhett but not one person is actually willing to say that either🙄. Dom says at the the end that he understood why Rhett did what he did but tbh i didn't (might be that I've never gone through it but I'm sure people have evolved out of using an outdated idea like punishing a child for the sins of his father?😭).

the fact that he's a police officer😕 and people actually wonder why no one trusts the police nowadays.

i appreciate the fact that Dom has a nickname but GOD, I'm sorry but beauty boy is downright terrible😵.

[Aimora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy angsty drug addict and power tripping cop.

[Miki_reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I hate that I love you, that you made me fucking need you.”

Im not gonna lie these two are incredibly fucked up.

I really struggled with the why and how of these 2 falling in love, especially from Dom's point of view. Dom is a broken addict who is more reliant on Rhett than anything and his "love" for him really came out of nowhere for me. Rhett is extremely hard to like for like 85% of this and he deserved to feel like shit tbh. He did make me laugh a few times though because the man was UNHINGED. Dom, on the other hand is a sweetheart and I was rooting for him.

I still don't know how i feel about this if im being honest. What I do know is that Rhett better crawl across glass for the rest of his life to make it up to Dom 💀. He did go from a black flag to an orange flag though so maybe they will live happily ever after.

I'd highly recommend reading the TW for this one. It had it all, and as someone who has a needle phobia I really should have checked that shit first.

Ratings
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶🌶🌶

[Alastair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong start strong middle and then just kinda.. meh?
Some things were repeated ad nauseam.
But wow super fucked up
Hea tho

[Tania ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

« It’s fascinating how something so… beautiful can be so destructive. I guess there’s a certain beauty in destruction. »

« He was never the destruction, I was. And together, we fucking imploded. »

I am very divided on my reading. I have to admit that I was really into it. I read without being able to stop. Which is unusual coming from me since I don't really like books with a character who is too negative and too broken like Dominik is.
In a way, I liked my reading. It's dark, deep. And honestly, I love Marie Ann’s writing style.
On the other hand, I didn't want HEA for Rhett and Dominik. Or at least, not the two of them together. I would have preferred Dominik to be without him. I couldn't describe their relationship as love. For me, it's anything but love.

Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed reading this story, their story. It's just that I wish they didn't end up together. They met for the wrong reasons and Dominik became attached to Rhett for the wrong reasons and vice versa. I don't see love, I see something unhealthy, of need, of obsession. They didn't have any good times together. None. So it's hard to understand why Dominik might feel something close to love for Rhett. Even Rhett for Dominik since he just knew him so broken and lost.

Overall, I really enjoyed this poetic reading filled with wonderful metaphors. But my reading would have been even more enjoyable if Dominik had been in rehab but never returned to Rhett and if Rhett get some therapy. I think that would have been the real HEA for this story

3,20 ⭐️

[bookishthingsandcoffee♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was soo fucked up...I
Anywho did I read it in one sitting? Yes I did. I love me a good fucked up dark romance read.
I was sucked into the book from the very beginning. Marie Ann's writing keeps getting better! The spice, the fuckery, the tension, and everything else was just perfect!

[Mandyloves2read · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was dark gritty raw and dirty the characters are twisted this story is everything I love about Marie Ann’s writing! Wow what a emotional twisted and ugly ride this was you need to check your trigger warnings and buckle up because you’re in for one helluva a ride! Hands down best Marie Ann book of the year !

[Maddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

Okay babes - this one is dark and super heavy.
Its the darkest book I’ve read in a while and not because of violence or gore but mostly because of the way one of our MCs is treated by the other.

Rhett is seeking revenge for his father’s death, and he becomes fixated on the idea that the person who deserves to pay is Dom. Turns out his obsession with Dom goes a little further than just revenge.

Watching Rhett’s plan play out is legitimately heartbreaking and difficult to read. Following an addict in a downward spiral who is being fully taken advantage of by someone is beyond rough, and this author really makes you feel it. In the end I can’t even tell you for sure if I fully forgave Rhett but I do think that Marie Ann did a great job of mending my battered heart by the last page. For such a heavy book it really delivered for me on the HEA.

This author is just fantastic writing characters who are fully flawed and deeply fucked up and Dom and Rhett will stay with me for a long time.
I wish that we got a little more time with them together, but what we did get was far too hot for its own good.

Anywho, y’all might want to go into this one prepared - and I highly recommend reading Creep and Monster first - but definitely worth the read if your here for something extra dark.

[Tiffany💋 · Rating 5 out of 5]

🖤Inevitable Destruction ⚡️

5/5✨

Oh my god, this book was painfully beautiful a masterpiece.

Okay so I started reading this a few days ago because I wanted to read 2 books at the same time but eventually finished my paperback first. Then I found out I had COVID so I was not feeling good physically and mentally my anxiety got really bad and this book really wrapped me up in a blanket if that makes sense.

This book has tons of hard topics to talk about so read the trigger warnings, mainly this a Dark Romance that deals with addiction and guilt. Its difficult to describe how this book was amazing but basically these feelings and thoughts the characters go through in their personal battle are so REAL that it hits home no matter if you don’t struggle with addiction. Marie is able to hook you into these characters so well that you feel what they feel and I think that is truly beautiful and highlights her talent. To see Rhett & Doms fight for love and acceptance shows that our personal struggles no matter how bad have a way out even when you feel there is no possible way. Dom & Rhetts love story is an example that we are worthy of something better.

[Krys (spicy.spine.breaker) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joke’s on us all though, I suppose. I died long ago. I only fooled myself into believing I was alive.
Damn. *Peak* toxicity. 3.75 🌟

I had a hard time connecting on in about half way through or this would be higher - that's said if you're into the darkest most corrupt of the dark like I, MAN did Marie Ann come through for us. Heed the CW this is full of the worst of two people MORALLY BLACK NOT GRAY.

FRTC

[Kseniia ✨️ · Rating 1 out of 5]

➸dark mm
➸toxic relationship
➸revenge
➸emotionally wrecked

This book is so fucked up and twisted. I can barely call it romance. I have no idea how Dom could love such a bad person as Rhett. To me, it's not love, it's toxic possession/lust with lots of noncon. Yeah, most of sex scenes are rape.
Rhett is so horrible. He sucks as a friend, as a partner and as a man. I hate him with all my heart for what he did to Dom.
I need Dom to find peace. And I need Rhett to FUCKING DIE OR LIVE HIS MISERABLE LIFE IN JAIL. Dom deserves better💔

- Slow, repetitive and way too long.
- Where is the punctuation? You never know where the dialogue will end.
- A lot of descriptive sex scenes with OP. Before and DURING their "relationship". So, Rhett is not only a rapist, but also a cheater.
- What the hell is wrong with the cops in this town? No one cares about 💊dealers.
- The sun is forbidden in this town. It rains ALL THE TIME. I got why Dom is so depressed.
- Dom has been addict for years. But he is described as a muscular pretty boy though he hasn't eaten or moved for a week, only consumed vodka and pills. WTF?! In what universe it can be sexy?

[Aribel Mejia · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

It's been a week since I finished this book and it's still quite fresh in my mind, I think this speaks quite well of this book, it was a roller coaster of emotions reading the story of Domikik and Everett, how two people so broken, meet , they hurt each other, they need each other and then they forgive each other, it was absolutely beautiful, I felt these characters so broken but at the same time so beautiful, I imagine them being happy for the rest of their lives.

I want to flatter the author because having the courage to give us such a complex book knowing that she is going to be judged for it is something braveto do, without a doubt one of the best books I have read this year and I am dying to read more from this author.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hands down one of the most difficult and emotionally draining books I have ever read. It was relentless and heartbreaking and nauseating at times.

Everett and Dominik were two brutally flawed and broken men. Each living on the cusp of hope and the void of overwhelming depression. Rhett was dependent on his rage and revenge. Dom was an addict and almost entirely alone.

Rhett’s infatuation and compulsion to destroy Dom due to his own fathers murder was sickening. He had lost himself to this personal vendetta, along with his morality.

Dom was a shell of a human. He was always living for his next high. The constant abandonment he had to face was soul crushing. Between the neglect and then death of his parents, as well as his ex girlfriend leaving, all he wanted was for someone to want him. He used drugs and alcohol to numb his never ending pain.

Rhett took Dom’s pain and made it a twisted game. He ensured that Dom would be reliant on him entirely. The coercion and manipulation was so hard to read. Rhett knew exactly was he was doing and Dom simply wanted to escape.

While they did find forgiveness and their HEA, it was brutal and horribly traumatic to get to that point. I needed Dom to find peace and love. I needed Rhett to redeem himself which he never did. He is maybe the worst MC I’ve ever read. There is nothing good about him even at the end. Dom deserved better than Rhett. Rhett deserved prison. Check the TW for this one!

[FeFe · Rating 5 out of 5]

1st person/dual POV
Spice: 4.5/5

Emotional. Damage. 😭

I don’t think I’ve ever had a book effect me like this one did..
From the beginning of the book I thought I knew who’s side I was on given this is enemies to lovers - I judged that way too soon. I quickly discovered that all of my emotions were circling around a completely different character. The term morally grey is quite a slippery slope in this book because there are points where one of the characters slips clean off that slope before somehow climbing his way back up and dancing on that edge all over again.
I don’t know that I’ve ever finished a book with all these kinds of feelings towards one of the main characters and still absolutely loved it the way I did. The way this is written though is what takes it beyond words on a page/screen. There is So. Much. Detail. Be ready to be transported into this town and find yourself standing right next to each of these people. The pictures painted within these words are so vivid I can see them every time I close my eyes, and then it’s even more clear in my imagination. Haunting.. that’s one way to describe the scenes that played out in my head as I read them.
It’s hard not to get pulled in so emotionally that your chest hurts. Trust me - I cried so much and so hard from all of the pain endured, from the situations that came about, and the journey this took me on. But at the end of the day, and the end of the book, all of it was more than worth it to see how they make it to the other side.
One last thing - when you hear or see a warning that this book is DARK please, please do not take that lightly. I have basically zero triggers. I have read some pretty messed up stuff in my books, but this one hit me in the chest so hard I wondered a couple of times if I could actually keep going. It had me so emotionally raw that I don’t know if I’ll ever get over it. I’m still just in awe of this book.
Again check the TW/CW, and thoroughly, because this is not a sunshine and rainbows romance. It’s not even your standard enemies to lovers because it goes so beyond that. It’s definitely a book that needs to be read if you can handle the dark content in it though. Hands down one of the best books I’ve read this year and one of the most vivid and descriptive books I’ve read in a while. This is my first book from this author and it has me very excited to see what other work she has out there.

[Showarst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay....whew. This was my first book by Marie Ann, and I went into it not knowing what to expect. I read the blurb and was like 'Oh, enemies to lovers, I've read lots of those.' But I was wholly unprepared for this book. It was like an emotional wrecking ball destroying me. This book made me very uncomfortable. It made me sob during a life-changing moment for Dominik. It made me seethe with anger and frustration towards certain characters. It made me smile at the end when it seemed to finally bring some peace and happiness into Dominik's life. It made me feel and to be honest, I am still sorting through all of these emotions.

Which made it very difficult for me to rate the book once I finished. Usually, I finish a book and can instantly rate it based upon my emotions. But this one....

Did I enjoy it? Well, I didn't enjoy watching one character literally destroy another's life. The downward spiral and complete helplessness felt so real.

Would I read it again? Maybe...if I am in the right headspace. It's not my usual light feel-good rereads. I'll have to wait until I'm ready to have my heart ripped out, torn into little pieces, stomped on, set on fire, and then slowly pieced back together.

Will I think about this book often? Definitely yes. I don't really know how I will ever forget Dominik and Rhett.

So that's how I came to rate this book as 5 stars. How could anything that affected me so much be less? I am going to try to summarize a few of my thoughts below. Warning: I have some very strong feelings about side characters that may not agree with everyone else. :)

1. Please read the TW/CW. They are your friends. There are many scenes of intense and graphic drug use.

2. Dominik- easily my favorite character. His life has been a dumpster fire. Yes, he caused some if it himself by giving in to his addictions, but for the most part he was a lost person searching for one person to just care about him. Reading his thoughts and watching him self-destruct was so hard. There was one scene in the book towards the middle where Dom participated in his own demise because he was just so tired of it all. Where he guided Rhett in how to destroy him. I was literally sobbing and just kept willing the characters to change the course of what was happening. "I hate that I love you, that you made me f-ing need you." And the thing that finally broke him? Chilling.

3. Everett/Rhett- Honestly I disliked this mf for most of the book. His anger at a situation which did not involve Dominik in any way just made me hate him for most of the book. Watching him set out to use Dom's addictions against him was infuriating. His treatment of Seth and Jamie and maybe even Jay was also maddening. Most books claim to have a dark character, but Rhett was definitely dark. When he finally broke at the end, I was actually happy because he deserved all that pain his actions caused.

4. Jamie...her character sort of disappeared. And when she did finally turn up and Rhett told her everything and she said, "It's not your fault." I was like, "Oh no, honey, it is completely his fault. He's not blameless." It made me really dislike her as she enabled Rhett to be an absolute dick. How could she listen to everything that he did and truly think that he did nothing wrong? Pathetic

5. Essa/Vincent- Okay, my view of these two may be skewed by the fact that I've not read their books (and now I hate them so much I probably won't). If Essa truly was a friend to Dom then why was she not checking in on him during this time? She shows up at the very end like some pseudo-savior and telling Dom what he should do because she cares. Huh? If you truly cared, maybe you would have talked to him before he hit rock bottom. She seems to have used Dom to get better and then discarded him. And Vincent....What.A.Prick. When he gave Dom the ultimatum at the end, I wanted to poke his eyes out. FU, Vincent. These two narcissists fully deserve each other and I hope that Dom never sees them again. Like I said, my views may be different from others on these points. I do want to say that Essa/Vincent are NOT responsible for Dom's addictions, but Essa is responsible for not checking on someone she claims to care about who had addiction issues.

6. I really enjoyed reading Dom's journal the last few chapters and seeing how he was feeling about things. I don't want to say too much about it, but it was much needed for me to read this.

So there we go. I think any book that can instill such extreme emotions should be read, but only if you are completely prepared for it and have read all the TWs. Marie Ann has a talent for making the reader take the journey with the main character. I will not forget this story or characters.

I received an ARC from Marie Ann for my honest review

[Emily M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes you read a story and it just latches on to you, makes it so you can’t move on, makes it hard to consider reading something new or moving on with your normal, fortunate, light, easy-going life. This is that story. Dominik and Everett’s love is raw, emotional, deep, and at times, so very toxic and intense. Everett is a local cop. Dominik is a local junkie. Everett cannot stand Dominik, to the point of pure, dangerous hatred. Dom has zero idea why this prickly cop who claims to hate him so much suddenly is giving him so much attention and suddenly feeding his addiction. Dominik will do anything, truly anything, for his next high, and that includes going along with whatever Everett wants - sexual or otherwise. As you can imagine, watching someone go through the highs and lows of addiction is terrifying, it’s stressful, and it’s all consuming. Imagine if you happened to be falling in love with the person feeding your addiction - and unbeknownst to you, they are falling in love with you too. That’s all I’m going to say about this story because truthfully, I’ve already said too much. This story is dark, and it’s so incredibly well written that you can feel Dominik’s pain and struggle through the pages, and you can feel Everett losing control of the situation right alongside him. God, this story is fucking intoxicating, these men are beautifully broken, and the spice is off of the fucking charts - every. single. chapter. This book destroyed me and put me back together. I think I highlighted every single page of this book. It’s a wild ride, but it’s oh so worth it. I adore these men and I adore this story. 💚

Note: Dominik and Everett both struggle with varying forms of addiction (drugs, alcohol, and even an unhealthy addiction to each other). This story does not hold back. If that is a triggering topic for you in any way, tread lightly.

[Annie (_anniereadsbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

heavy and intense are the best words to describe this book, so even though Marie Ann’s writing was phenomenal in this one you 100% need to heed the trigger warnings.

Rhett was a hard character to even like. there were times i found myself liking him and then he went all Rhett and i remembered that I didn’t like him. He was so dead set on revenge and getting his version of justice. He is very, VERY flawed.


And Dom, my sweet baby Dom. I’ve loved him ever since Monster. perhaps that made reading this story much harder for me, because Dom’s pain is at the forefront of the story. His part of the story is raw and I felt like I suffered with him. I love Dom and wanted him to have his HEA. personally, I would have been happy for him getting his HEA with anyone, it didn’t have to be Rhett, because I loved him. But his character chose Rhett.

As I mentioned, this book is heavy, dark, hard, and not for the faint of hearts. definitely check the TW.