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msimpson's review
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking, Murder, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Violence
jojesweden's review
I really don't get the high rating and the praise for this author. Don't get me wrong. I'm not turned off by the darkness or the steam, I'm used to dark romance and knew what I was in for in that regard. No, it's just the poor quality of most of the writing that puts me off.
The often flowery language hides a story and set of characters that the author herself doesn't really seem to know what to do with. Either that, or everything is purposely vague in order for us to share in the confusion of the FMC. The problem with that theory is that she really isn't that confused about anything other than the MMCs behavior. She knows a lot more about what's going on than we as readers do, and while that sort of narrative approach can be done well (e.g. in Royals of Forsyth University, for something with a lot of shared themes with Sicko but done miles better, even though that isn't really a masterpiece either), this just feels clunky. Like the author is a five-year-old awkwardly hiding something behind their back trying but failing to not smile guiltily, rather than a skillful storyteller weaving an intricate narrative where mysteries are hinted at and arise naturally. Like she's saying "Look what a big thing I'm not telling you about! Isn't it MYSTERIOUS? Huh? Aren't you curious about this BIG SECRET THING THAT WILL DEFINITELY BE EXPLAINED IN A SHOCKING TWIST! BE EXCITED!"
So, the MMC is a "sweet boy" who badly bullies his younger foster sister (the FMC), controlling her whole social life, has had repeated run-ins with the law for fighting and then almost kills a guy during a drunken brawl. Then he disappears for 4 years and comes back as "Sicko" who badly bullies his younger foster sister, controlling her whole social life, has had repeated run-ins with the law and is now a member of a 1 % biker gang who probably has killed someone during a drunken brawl and has definitely killed people under other circumstances. And he's apparently completely different from before, despite behaving exactly the same and having followed a very natural progression given his personality. But we're told he's a completely different person and the narrative seems to rely on that premise so I guess he is? Maybe the author is implying that it's only the FMCs perspective that has changed in 4 years, but if so, jeez is it blatant.
Oh, and he's so edgy I almost cut my eardrums listening to his internal monologue. Non-funny charicature? Had it been done ironically, maybe it would've been fine. Like this? Mr Edgy's f*cking use of the adverb "f*cking" and other f*cking forms of the word "f*ck" a couple of f*cking times per f*cking sentence even in internal f*cking monologue gets truly f*cking irritating and only comes off as trying too f*cking hard. I don't have a problem with the word or it's use (censorship only bc I don't know the policy for reviews here), especially in dialogue, but sprinkling it all over internal monologue like this is just boring.
By the way, Jade was adopted as a baby, but is consistently referred to as Royce's "foster sister" throughout the book. She even refers to her adoptive father, the only father she has ever known, in her internal monologue, as Mr Kane when he's initially introduced. That's not how it works, especially not in a seemingly loving family as this supposedly was up until she was 15.
How did a biker gang get a girl intobeing dorm roommates with their VPs sister's best friend? Like, I'm fine with suspension of disbelief, but that shit is just ridiculous. It would have made just as much sense to just insert her as a fake classmate or something. Then, the "Nelly, take me to the bar, I'm proving a point, shot of vodka, stare silently at five different guys, Uber home" sequence was truly bizarre and seemed like the author either forgot what she was doing or changed her mind and instead of revising just had the heroine act in a really jarring way.
How and why did the FMC just recently start communicating with her "older brothers" again after around 4 years? That didn't make any sense and seemed to just fill page space. Will we see India again? Because she seemed like an interesting character at least. Oh,she's pregnant? I guess she'll be murdered then, to increase the dark ambiance.
Basically, it's like everything is written for style rather than content. Like the author went "ooh, wouldn't a scene like this be cool?" or "wouldn't it we awesome if someone said this?" but spent almost no time building a cohesive narrative around those ideas. At some points, it's not even clear whether something is a flashback or is happening in real time. Especially whenever Jade muses about James. Some scenes don't make any sense at all unless it's a mix between both, but at least the audiobook narrators don't differentiate between them and that makes it really difficult to follow.
Also, if "James" is the dad, Kyle Kane, I'm going to be deeply disappointed. Partly because it's so cliched but also because it's clearly stated that when he first raped Jade he snuck into her house AND her room, something he wouldn't have to do if he lived there. Unless he was supposedly traveling at the time, which seems like an unnecessary complication and narratively clunky af. It's strongly hinted that it's him though, almost from the start. When James is referred to as "Diamond" and we later learn about the sex-trafficker "K Diamond", for his double-K logo, the Kyle Kane connection gets even stronger. Then Royce gets a video from "K Diamond" right after meeting his dad and discussing Jade. Either this is an enormous red herring, which I hope, or it is some of the clunkiest foreshadowing ever.
Clunky seems to be my favorite word for describing this book.
Maybe the biggest red flag regarding the lack of editing (and even proof reading?) for this book is that the blurb states that the story takes place 6 years after Royce initially leaves. Over and over again, the story makes it clear that it actually takes place 4 years after his initial disappearance. Couldn't even make sure the blurb was correct about a fundamental premise of the story? Also, the fact that everyone has a voice as if they have smoked too many cigarettes gets truly irritating after a while, mix it up FFS.
Another example of style over narrative logic is the 60-70 year old house which has been in the family of the current "mid 50s" owner for "generations and generations". That implies at least 4 generations. That is some very quick turnover in those generations.
There is a glaring exception to the quality though, and that is the sex scenes. They are steamy af and it seems the author put a lot more effort into these than in the rest of the book. Props where it's due. It can't carry the whole book though.
All in all, deeply disappointed given the hype and DNF at 40 %.
The often flowery language hides a story and set of characters that the author herself doesn't really seem to know what to do with. Either that, or everything is purposely vague in order for us to share in the confusion of the FMC. The problem with that theory is that she really isn't that confused about anything other than the MMCs behavior. She knows a lot more about what's going on than we as readers do, and while that sort of narrative approach can be done well (e.g. in Royals of Forsyth University, for something with a lot of shared themes with Sicko but done miles better, even though that isn't really a masterpiece either), this just feels clunky. Like the author is a five-year-old awkwardly hiding something behind their back trying but failing to not smile guiltily, rather than a skillful storyteller weaving an intricate narrative where mysteries are hinted at and arise naturally. Like she's saying "Look what a big thing I'm not telling you about! Isn't it MYSTERIOUS? Huh? Aren't you curious about this BIG SECRET THING THAT WILL DEFINITELY BE EXPLAINED IN A SHOCKING TWIST! BE EXCITED!"
So, the MMC is a "sweet boy" who badly bullies his younger foster sister (the FMC), controlling her whole social life, has had repeated run-ins with the law for fighting and then almost kills a guy during a drunken brawl. Then he disappears for 4 years and comes back as "Sicko" who badly bullies his younger foster sister, controlling her whole social life, has had repeated run-ins with the law and is now a member of a 1 % biker gang who probably has killed someone during a drunken brawl and has definitely killed people under other circumstances. And he's apparently completely different from before, despite behaving exactly the same and having followed a very natural progression given his personality. But we're told he's a completely different person and the narrative seems to rely on that premise so I guess he is? Maybe the author is implying that it's only the FMCs perspective that has changed in 4 years, but if so, jeez is it blatant.
Oh, and he's so edgy I almost cut my eardrums listening to his internal monologue. Non-funny charicature? Had it been done ironically, maybe it would've been fine. Like this? Mr Edgy's f*cking use of the adverb "f*cking" and other f*cking forms of the word "f*ck" a couple of f*cking times per f*cking sentence even in internal f*cking monologue gets truly f*cking irritating and only comes off as trying too f*cking hard. I don't have a problem with the word or it's use (censorship only bc I don't know the policy for reviews here), especially in dialogue, but sprinkling it all over internal monologue like this is just boring.
By the way, Jade was adopted as a baby, but is consistently referred to as Royce's "foster sister" throughout the book. She even refers to her adoptive father, the only father she has ever known, in her internal monologue, as Mr Kane when he's initially introduced. That's not how it works, especially not in a seemingly loving family as this supposedly was up until she was 15.
How did a biker gang get a girl into
How and why did the FMC just recently start communicating with her "older brothers" again after around 4 years? That didn't make any sense and seemed to just fill page space. Will we see India again? Because she seemed like an interesting character at least. Oh,
Basically, it's like everything is written for style rather than content. Like the author went "ooh, wouldn't a scene like this be cool?" or "wouldn't it we awesome if someone said this?" but spent almost no time building a cohesive narrative around those ideas. At some points, it's not even clear whether something is a flashback or is happening in real time. Especially whenever Jade muses about James. Some scenes don't make any sense at all unless it's a mix between both, but at least the audiobook narrators don't differentiate between them and that makes it really difficult to follow.
Clunky seems to be my favorite word for describing this book.
Maybe the biggest red flag regarding the lack of editing (and even proof reading?) for this book is that the blurb states that the story takes place 6 years after Royce initially leaves. Over and over again, the story makes it clear that it actually takes place 4 years after his initial disappearance. Couldn't even make sure the blurb was correct about a fundamental premise of the story? Also, the fact that everyone has a voice as if they have smoked too many cigarettes gets truly irritating after a while, mix it up FFS.
Another example of style over narrative logic is the 60-70 year old house which has been in the family of the current "mid 50s" owner for "generations and generations". That implies at least 4 generations. That is some very quick turnover in those generations.
There is a glaring exception to the quality though, and that is the sex scenes. They are steamy af and it seems the author put a lot more effort into these than in the rest of the book. Props where it's due. It can't carry the whole book though.
All in all, deeply disappointed given the hype and DNF at 40 %.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Trafficking, and Violence
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