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tab_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
wii3rdo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ASA MULVANEY MAKES ME SO FUCKING FERAL OH MY GOD š«š«
ahem, anyway. š
WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN? iām so fucking serious when i say: every SINGLE book hits harder than the last! thereās a pattern to the flow (unraveling) of the story, but thereās certain elements about each story that make them distinctly different according to the mcs.
i love seeing how much the Mulvaney family has grown, and seeing different sides to each character whenever i read their story? š„° it makes them REAL instead of whatever two-dimensional view of them i had prior to their story.
Zane is such a national treasure. maybe iām biased because heās a journalist and journalism is my major, BUT THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW š¼
but let me shut up so i can get started with Avi and Felixās story š«”š¤
ahem, anyway. š
WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN? iām so fucking serious when i say: every SINGLE book hits harder than the last! thereās a pattern to the flow (unraveling) of the story, but thereās certain elements about each story that make them distinctly different according to the mcs.
i love seeing how much the Mulvaney family has grown, and seeing different sides to each character whenever i read their story? š„° it makes them REAL instead of whatever two-dimensional view of them i had prior to their story.
Zane is such a national treasure. maybe iām biased because heās a journalist and journalism is my major, BUT THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW š¼
but let me shut up so i can get started with Avi and Felixās story š«”š¤
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder
frantic_vampire's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I donāt think I can express just how much I love this series! And this book in particular was so good. I loved that while itās very dark, it has its light and funny moments too. Asa and Zane fit so well together and I love that they were both ridiculously smitten with each other.
One of the things that I liked about this book was that it didnāt shy away from some really dark topics. Like suicide, family trauma, and mental health, to name just a few. I also loved that Asa was so caring towards Zane, especially in some very vulnerable moments. They were both such sweethearts when they were around each other. This one is getting five stars. I canāt wait to dive into Aviās book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
skullqueen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
4.5
How is every book in this series so perfect??? Asa and Lois are perfect!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Self harm, Suicide, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Torture, Blood, and Kidnapping
aylen_96's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, and Murder
alexandryareads's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol
jessie_h's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Y'all. This book! It is my favorite in the series so far! There is just something about Asa and Zane's relationship that won me over. Also, the mystery in this one was a head trip. I can't wait to see Avi and Felix's side of the story!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol
booksbutmakeitgay's review against another edition
fast-paced
3.0
*trigger warnings: graphic unaliving event, suicidal ideation, psychological torture, consensual kink/fetish play, predator/prey, vomit, multiple hp references*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Classism
thedisreputabledog's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book was a Holy Shit, WTF just happened, roller coaster let's ride it again really good time. Asa is the embodiment of the "what have you got there" meme (knife and ostrich). I had no idea what to expect from him. To me he has read the most like a psychopath of all the brothers. Loved the primal play. Really enjoyed this one. The family that slays together stays together ā¤ļø
Read the CW/trigger warnings.
Read the CW/trigger warnings.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide and Blood
aromarrie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
iām honestly just in complete shock rn at how much i loved this book , iāll be more coherent once i get out of work later.
update: sigh. okay. first things first, i went into this book with sort of low expectations because of the fact tha i saw a couple reviews that expressed how some readers felt pretty lacklustre about asa & zane's story; how even one person dnf'ed because it just wasn't hitting the right chords for them. there also was some disappointment on my part because there's a certain pairing that is teased at near the end of moonstruck that i was expecting to play the starring role up next in this series, but then i found out that we would be reading ab0ut asa and zane first. both of these expectations ended up having me feel like i was treading through uncertain waters, in danger of losing my momentum in this series and having to slog through this book just to get to the next. so you can imagine my complete surprise when i actually ended up absolutely tearing through this fourth installment in a very dark & thrilling romance series with incredible depth for its main characters.
asa's character, specifically, really threw me for a loop because i had always been so curious about him & avi--twins, who unlike the rest of the Mulvaney family, do share blood and have been connected since the day they were born, literally a mirror of each other. finally having the opportunity to get inside asa's head and learn about who he really is beyond just being a vengeful psychopath, beyond being joined at the hip to his twin brother, it made the story more interesting as we were seeing him evolve in this new dynamic he shared with zane, a prospective crime journalist who is absolutely inconvenient for the Mulvaneys as they are way too far gone in their crimes up to this point in the series to have someone like him end up joining their mix. and yet he does, and he's so good at it, too. i found zane's pov to be kinda refreshing, because yes he was a completely new character, but he has always had his eyes on the Mulvaney family for a long time, finding connections to these murders that we know as the reader, they were certainly involved in from previous stories, but the public doesn't--and yet zane seems to be the only one who sniffs them out. his theories at the beginning are more than superficial and he doesn't even realize how far he was from reaching any sort of conclusion about this family until after he hooks up with asa, but he does still have a very keen eye as someone who's getting into journalism, and he's also very determined.
it's this kind of passion & intellect that draws asa to zane like a moth towards a flame, and it leads to such a wild & pretty fucking dark romance that on the surface, exploring their kinks and all, was just on a whole other level of intense. i thought that the previous books were something, but then i read this and i was just like "holy shit", and i actually loved this story all the more for it?? i love asa & zane's relationship, i love how they have a lovers to frenemies thing going on that quickly jumps back to lovers--i love how even as violent and obscene it is the way that asa treats zane during sex, the author didn't hesitate to show how in this display of passion, it was possibly the most gentle & assuring that asa could be as it meant way more to zane than anything else. just like we know from some of our previous main couples, zane himself has also had to face his own rough past where he lost his older brother to suicide and had parents who treated him like he was barely a speck on their radar. being pushed to the background so often with no one to be there for support, the dominant way that asa holds himself when he & zane are being vulnerable with each other, the way he pushes zane to just be more and not simply stay silent because he has so much to explore inside himself--it develops zane in a way where the prospective journalist who approached asa despite all his fear just for the chance to get a big scoop ends up becoming a a huge media icon that proves him an essential part of the Mulvaney clan because his way with words and selling a good story is a weapon he can carry well on his own.
i said before regarding this series how one of my favorite things was in how much depth there was to our main characters, but i really have to toast to the mysteries that play at the center of each romance, this one on yet another level of fucked up that pushes zane into the mix when he learns that his brother's suicide could've been about something bigger. learning all the details of it the more i read this story, the more sick i felt because this game that was involved preyed on the minds of people who quickly become husks of themselves over a short period of time, so lost in the reality that was created for them just for the sake of losing themselves inside it, so lost that their only way out was to simply kill themselves....it was just a level of intensity i wasn't anticipating and yet feel like i should've for the way that this story stretches beyond its limits as the author takes it to new heights.
this counts not just for the mystery but the romance, the characterization, the writing--all of it was so addicting to read, i couldn't put it down for more than a couple of minutes. i loved everything about it, even from the beginning, because even as apprehensive as i felt about how i might feel for the story, the chemistry that there was between zane & asa was absolutely incredible. it meant something to me to see how asa connected to zane in a way that even he didn't know how to navigate it despite all his confidence, because this was something completely new for him. and yet not for a single second does he hesitate to prove to zane that they're a package deal of their own, a complete whirlwind that's so different from the certainty that's always been asa & avi as a pair from the day they were born together. with zane, it's a connection that's not tethered by blood and being one half of a whole, but simply something born from interest, something like as i said earlier, drew asa to zane like a flame, and it ignites a romance that sets itself in a glory of fire--and asa was as obsessed with this feeling as zane was to him. they really are a huge power couple, and i'm obsessed with them for that.
update: sigh. okay. first things first, i went into this book with sort of low expectations because of the fact tha i saw a couple reviews that expressed how some readers felt pretty lacklustre about asa & zane's story; how even one person dnf'ed because it just wasn't hitting the right chords for them. there also was some disappointment on my part because there's a certain pairing that is teased at near the end of moonstruck that i was expecting to play the starring role up next in this series, but then i found out that we would be reading ab0ut asa and zane first. both of these expectations ended up having me feel like i was treading through uncertain waters, in danger of losing my momentum in this series and having to slog through this book just to get to the next. so you can imagine my complete surprise when i actually ended up absolutely tearing through this fourth installment in a very dark & thrilling romance series with incredible depth for its main characters.
asa's character, specifically, really threw me for a loop because i had always been so curious about him & avi--twins, who unlike the rest of the Mulvaney family, do share blood and have been connected since the day they were born, literally a mirror of each other. finally having the opportunity to get inside asa's head and learn about who he really is beyond just being a vengeful psychopath, beyond being joined at the hip to his twin brother, it made the story more interesting as we were seeing him evolve in this new dynamic he shared with zane, a prospective crime journalist who is absolutely inconvenient for the Mulvaneys as they are way too far gone in their crimes up to this point in the series to have someone like him end up joining their mix. and yet he does, and he's so good at it, too. i found zane's pov to be kinda refreshing, because yes he was a completely new character, but he has always had his eyes on the Mulvaney family for a long time, finding connections to these murders that we know as the reader, they were certainly involved in from previous stories, but the public doesn't--and yet zane seems to be the only one who sniffs them out. his theories at the beginning are more than superficial and he doesn't even realize how far he was from reaching any sort of conclusion about this family until after he hooks up with asa, but he does still have a very keen eye as someone who's getting into journalism, and he's also very determined.
it's this kind of passion & intellect that draws asa to zane like a moth towards a flame, and it leads to such a wild & pretty fucking dark romance that on the surface, exploring their kinks and all, was just on a whole other level of intense. i thought that the previous books were something, but then i read this and i was just like "holy shit", and i actually loved this story all the more for it?? i love asa & zane's relationship, i love how they have a lovers to frenemies thing going on that quickly jumps back to lovers--i love how even as violent and obscene it is the way that asa treats zane during sex, the author didn't hesitate to show how in this display of passion, it was possibly the most gentle & assuring that asa could be as it meant way more to zane than anything else. just like we know from some of our previous main couples, zane himself has also had to face his own rough past where he lost his older brother to suicide and had parents who treated him like he was barely a speck on their radar. being pushed to the background so often with no one to be there for support, the dominant way that asa holds himself when he & zane are being vulnerable with each other, the way he pushes zane to just be more and not simply stay silent because he has so much to explore inside himself--it develops zane in a way where the prospective journalist who approached asa despite all his fear just for the chance to get a big scoop ends up becoming a a huge media icon that proves him an essential part of the Mulvaney clan because his way with words and selling a good story is a weapon he can carry well on his own.
i said before regarding this series how one of my favorite things was in how much depth there was to our main characters, but i really have to toast to the mysteries that play at the center of each romance, this one on yet another level of fucked up that pushes zane into the mix when he learns that his brother's suicide could've been about something bigger. learning all the details of it the more i read this story, the more sick i felt because this game that was involved preyed on the minds of people who quickly become husks of themselves over a short period of time, so lost in the reality that was created for them just for the sake of losing themselves inside it, so lost that their only way out was to simply kill themselves....it was just a level of intensity i wasn't anticipating and yet feel like i should've for the way that this story stretches beyond its limits as the author takes it to new heights.
this counts not just for the mystery but the romance, the characterization, the writing--all of it was so addicting to read, i couldn't put it down for more than a couple of minutes. i loved everything about it, even from the beginning, because even as apprehensive as i felt about how i might feel for the story, the chemistry that there was between zane & asa was absolutely incredible. it meant something to me to see how asa connected to zane in a way that even he didn't know how to navigate it despite all his confidence, because this was something completely new for him. and yet not for a single second does he hesitate to prove to zane that they're a package deal of their own, a complete whirlwind that's so different from the certainty that's always been asa & avi as a pair from the day they were born together. with zane, it's a connection that's not tethered by blood and being one half of a whole, but simply something born from interest, something like as i said earlier, drew asa to zane like a flame, and it ignites a romance that sets itself in a glory of fire--and asa was as obsessed with this feeling as zane was to him. they really are a huge power couple, and i'm obsessed with them for that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol