Reviews

Dark Things I Adore by Katie Lattari

bookswithbailee9's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

ejkwrites's review

2.0

The very definition of slow burn! I was not immediately pulled in by this read…I found the multiple characters and timelines difficult to follow at times. Once you get used to it, you almost get familiar with each character’s voice. It must be quite difficult to do as a writer but it has been done this seamlessly. I, also, found this story to be about 100-200 pages too long. And if this length felt right, more character background or development is desired. The end of the book is where the pace increases dramatically which sucked me in until the very end. Some of the plot twists were very predictable but there are a few that are jaw dropping. Overall, I like this read. I’d definitely recommend this as one to be sipped and savored versus chugged. Enjoy!

csbrown's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.5

emily__kay's review

dark

3.0

shaunelly's review

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Suicide

anakelly21's review

4.0

ok so i read 80% of this book in 3 days and then THOUGHT i figured out the plot twist so i got bored and stopped reading BUT there is an insane plot twist on the literal last page LIKE GUYS u need to read the epilogue you’re not smarter than Katie Lattari i swear !!!!!!!! it’s crazy !!!!!! if you like Gillian Flynn fuckinnnnn pick this shit up

allisonrae13's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

ghostlyweeds's review

2.0

This may have been the first book I’ve read (in my recent memory at least) that isn’t a who-done-it but a why-done-it and I’m not sure I’ve enjoyed this experience. For one, I think because I knew what was going to happen (only one “twist” caught me off guard), just not why, it made the pace of the book feel very slow. I felt so tempted to just skip to the end just to be sure my guesses were correct. Secondly, I didn’t particularly like any of the characters, which I’m assuming you aren’t really meant to but it made it hard for me to feel invested in the book because honestly, I didn’t care about anyone. Lastly, while what Max (and Marcus) did was atrocious and vile, I feel like Juniper could have been the worst out of all of them. SHE KNEW!!!! She KNEW what happened, she even saw the slow descent of Coral and DID nothing. And not only did she keep this secret she continued to stay friends with Max?! To give him a fucking job?!! And even at the end, she still thinks of him in her head as “my dearest friend”…. WHAT. THE. FUCK. It was disgusting and honestly I can’t believe that Audra hadn’t targeted her too, I was kind of rooting for her demise as well.

elynne's review

dark tense fast-paced

5.0

okevamae's review

5.0

Dark Things I Adore is told from multiple POVs across two time periods: in 2018, Max, the egotistical and predatory art professor with a dark secret in his past; his student Audra, who unbeknownst to him, knows said secret and is secretly planning his punishment; and Juniper, in 1988, living through the past Max thinks he’s left buried long behind. There are also bits and pieces of diary-like, stream-of-consciousness notes by a fourth character, Cindy, also from 1988.

The writing in this book is just beautiful, even poetic in some places, particularly the vivid physical details and descriptions of color, reflecting the artistic eye of its multiple narrators. The suspense builds slowly to a tense conclusion with a number of twists that I did not see coming. I felt that one twist - the reveal of who Audra really was - was so obvious as to not even count as a twist – but there were still plenty of surprises.

If you like dark psychological suspense and drama, definitely give this one a shot.

Representation: black and lesbian side characters

tw: psychological abuse, self-harm, mental illness, suicide

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.