Status Updates From Bedlam (Young Decay #3)

I just don't know that this series needed like

An overarching mafia plotline??

Okay well

1. Other people should ALSO not use substances to numb their emotional pain actually that's literally how you develop an addition like this
2. Your AA sponsor is NOT equivalent to a qualified and liscenced therapist girl you need both
3. GO TO THERAPY

See I knew this author wasn't going to be able to handle substance abuse disorder in a tactful or meaningful way but

What if we didn't demonize pain medication and pain patients actually

Like I'm sorry but you cannot talk about doctors "handing out pain meds like candy" when the character being given pain meds had A FRACTURED PELVIS

I just feel like this book has enough going on that you don't need to add another insane stalker actually

Oh gd noodle arms are back

This bit is making me nuts bc what do you mean their security hacker can look at strangers' DMs but can't figure out how to drop an IP ban and set the twitch chat to followers/logged in users only?

This is clearly INTENDED to be sexy but it is literally just a rape scene so it

Isn't

It's gross

Look man I know dating apps have weirdos on them but I just do not believe there's this many cis men pretending to be women to catfish lesbians

Most of them just contact you anyways and say insane shit.

Like cis men just don't really bother pretending to be women to be predatory weirdos towards women. A lot of them just do it with their whole face and government name

I think my issue with this and other "dark romances" is that all of the weird fucked up shit gets treated as So Normal

Like sure they SAY it's fucked up but no one ever actually ACTS like it is

Every single time it just reads like the author went “oh right gotta remind the readers they have adhd” which

If you've written an adhd character in a way where they have adhd you shouldn't have to remind me every five minutes in some kind of annoying way

So either you have no confidence in your reader’s ability to pick up on subtext or you didn't write characters with adhd

Another extremely hamfisted attempt to convince me that the Reed and Wren are an AuDHD couple when they both read literally so allistic and not adhd that it's PAINFUL

The author is so clearly Too On TikTok

I will hand it to the author, this one does actually fall into the Dark Romance subgenre unlike the first two which were more just

Regular romances but also The Mafia is there or The Characters Have Trauma and also a City Counselor is A Violent Abusive Weirdo

This girl is really making all the worst possible decisions for someone attempting to maintain sobriety to make