My Selling Pitch:
Incels are scary but the real horror story is the broken justice system. A bland, good for her in spirit (ha!) paranormal thriller.

Pre-reading: I thought The Eyes Are The Best Part was dogshit, but this cover has me by the throat.

(obviously potential spoilers from here on) Thick of it: I wanna like this because the author is approaching the topic from such a good place, but I worry it’s gonna be a good for her soapbox.

What’s wrong with a thong?

I’m really tired of men policing our bodies.

Thank goodness for the audiobook to pronounce these names for me, although my brain isn’t latching onto them as names because I don’t recognize them at all. (Unfamiliar names and switching between the audiobook and the ebook is a doozy haha. My head voice hasn’t pronounced a single one correctly.)

I’m confused how she looks like Amanda Seyfried. Is she even blonde? Did I miss something? Update: I’ve never been patient a day in my life 😂 A few pages later even the book is like lol yeah, she doesn’t look anything like her.

Oh, I LOVE the sound effects on the audiobook.

IT’S NOT BLOOD. Oh my god, the rare steak in horror books is my biggest pet peeve. Grow up, stop ruining beef.

She’s funny because she made a subtle rape joke. Got it.

These Dahye chapters are excellent because you can see why she’s being charmed but can also spot the red flags.

Peeping tom crimes are the number one indicator of future violent crimes.

Was Bora fucking your sister?

His poor mom.

Dude, I hate that this is genuinely how some men think. Like what is wrongggg with them.

I think this book is activating my fight or flight. I’m so sad. I hate men. It’s so bad here all the time.

I will never understand men’s panty sniffing. Weirdly flattering and erotic in a Saltburn be so obsessed with me you’ll drink my bathwater or what’s the point way if he’s hot. So, so creepy if you’re not into him.

Poor girly can’t exist in peace. Just two different genres of fuckass men.

Also, I’m torn on this because all the actual horror just comes from listing off real news article true crime shit that men have done, continue to do, and ceaselessly get away with. And like the drippy ghost isn’t scary in the least. She’s just kinda giving Moaning Myrtle. And then what’s the messaging? Men suck, kill them? Brother, I wish, but we cannot!

Incels are scary, but the real horror story is the broken justice system.

I think it’s fitting that this isn’t a good for her, but it is a bummer!

You wanna know how I got these scars?

The ending is wicked lame.

It’s a 2.5 that I’ll round up for being readable.

Post-reading: Look, if you’re gonna write a “social commentary” horror book, I’m gonna need more than recent news headlines.

The book isn’t bad, and it’s a marked improvement from her debut, but it’s still pretty bland. Her books have this problem of being justified female outrage that just go nowhere. They don’t want to have an empathetic, nuanced conversation about the problem. They don’t wanna explore solutions. They just kinda scream into the void.

If you’ve somehow been living under a rock and have missed the idea of upskirt videos or rapist dudebros reveling in the footage of their assaults, maybe this book is more meaningful to you. But if you have a pulse, you’ve read these news stories. You’re already angry about them. You don’t need an incel’s inner monologue illustrated for you. You know a permissive and pervasive misogynistic patriarchy is the root cause. And this book won’t give you anything beyond that. The justice system is corrupt and fails to protect the most vulnerable members of society? Florals for spring!

I think the book fails to do anything and I do mean anything with its supporting cast. There’s a much better bystander horror story here that the book only begins to scratch the surface of at the very end. There should’ve been more about the parents producing not just the predators, but also the victims. Abusive dads are unfortunately a dime a dozen but you can do more for your audience than daddy bitch slapped me so I’m going to take it out on the world. Likewise, there’s a conversation to be had about the systemic emotional dismantling of average women. There’s no victim blaming here, but a garbage sense of self-esteem certainly makes it easier for predators to fly under the radar.

I do think the chapters where Dahye was being wooed are well written in that the audience can see where this could be considered charming when viewed through a rom-com lens, but they do have this malicious undercurrent where you can spot the red flags if you’re wise to the act. I’m also glad that the book didn’t devolve into an unbelievable good for her thriller. The girlypops simply aren’t equipped to get away with murder despite what all these thrillers seem to preach. A broken system doesn’t get solved with more corruption or anarchy.

The book as a whole, regretfully doesn’t feel adult enough. While it mentions disturbing content, most of it happens off-page. If you want to write a book about rape and rape culture, it better turn everyone who reads its stomachs. It shouldn’t be a snoozefest. The ghost in this ghost story is never threatening or even remotely spooky, and I think the ending is an anticlimactic flop. I’m glad to see this author improving, but it’s still not enough for me. I think you’re safe to skip this one, but I hope her upward writing trajectory continues. At this rate, maybe I’ll be raving about book number four.

Who should read this: Good for her girlies Beginner feminist social commentary fans

Ideal reading time: Anytime

Do I want to reread this: No

Would I buy this: No, I’d get this one from your library

Similar books:

• What Hunger by Catherine Dang-lit fic, horror, family drama, social commentary, queer, revenge thriller
• Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker-lit fic, paranormal horror, family drama, revenge thriller, social commentary
• The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood-lit fic, dystopian horror, social commentary
• Any Man by Amber Tamblyn-lit fic, horror, social commentary
• A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers-lit fic, horror, queer, social commentary
• Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake-lit fic, dark academia, horror, social commentary, revenge thriller

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
A tropey regency romance that reads like Bridgerton with mascs.

Pre-reading: Let’s go, lesbians!

(obviously potential spoilers from here on) Thick of it: Oh, I’m SAT.

Alexasearth on Instagram is the fancast, and I won’t hear otherwise. (I feel like there’s another reel I’ve seen of a possibly Australian? skater? influencer flipping back and forth between long blonde hair before she came out and then this same platinum blonde Milo from Atlantis cut and like her too-just sharp featured blonde sharks. THANKS.)

Hey, this is 0 to horny, and yet, I’m onboard. Their tension is crackling already.

Girl, it’s 9 in the morning 🥵

Corset crop top, got it. The below the nipple is throwing me because I’m like if you were bare below, then the tops would be covered-but like I get what she actually means- the propped up balconette style

I’m like nervous giggling. This is too hot. A love interest with a backbone who talks you through it like-IM UNWELL

Is it melodramatic and a little Tumblr edgelord? Yeah! But equal opportunity for hot and competent dommes

Is it even love if she’s not giving you a ye old titty twister 11

I ain’t never beating the werewolf allegations, am I.

Do I smell a sequel because DOWN.

I’m sure there was a fire she thinks she caused. (Nailed it.)

You unspayed dog is a bomb insult.

I LOVE A BRAT.

Oh, nightmares are tired, but let the lesbians indulge romantic cliches as well.

I’ve been patient. The politics are going, but if something horny doesn’t happen immediately, you’re gonna lose me.

Are we gonna get romances for all these other women because I want it.

Richard being a dick is on the nose, but I don’t mind.

I love that Celine knows how to play the game.

This book is gooooood.

“You do not have leave to die” shouldn’t do it for me but it really, really does.

As much as I’m enjoying, there is nothing feminine/lesbian specific about this. Kate could be a Kade, and there’d be zero difference. It’s written like a straight romance with like typical masculinity tropes and while I’m THRIVING, I can see people getting annoyed

I’m like giggling and kicking my little feet even though this is basically a soup scene and I want that trope annihilated from the romance genre.

How dare they bribe us with sex at the beginning, and now I’m just waiting for them to shenanigan again.

Kate is such a dumb name for her because all I picture is Princess Kate and that’s decidedly NOT this woman.

My fancast for Celine is the Instagram lady with the ragdoll cats and the Bambi eyes and the raspy voice (Lysielooloo)

There’s a whiff of Tommy Shelby about this, and I don’t mind it at all.

I am such a horse girl, sheesh.

I hope we get a sequel with Royce.

I did not have fisting on the bingo board for this book.

Sometimes words are repeated too closely together in this, and it’s really irking me. Doing it within the same sentence is crazy.

What’s with all this moon dropping?

Could’ve used more smut. I feel misled with that intro. A 3.5 I will generously round up. The ending kinda petered out.

Good, but not great. I would very much like a sequel.

Post-reading: This was good. I think if you like Bridgerton and Heated Rivalry, you're going to devour this.

I think it's an easy book to criticize. It tiptoes around sexism to function, but it's like how Bridgetown ignores race. Is it historically accurate? God no! But it's so nice to read a historical queer romance where the obstacle to their relationship isn't homophobia. So like you've gotta commit to suspending your disbelief. It actually doesn't make sense for women to be in positions of power but then still have reputations to uphold and societal debuts to make. There's gendered furniture like ladies’ writing desks, and prostitution still carries a social stigma, but women can rule while unwed or in a same sex relationship without any pressure to make heirs. It's nonsense!

But like do you want masc lesbians riding astride or not???

I think another complaint readers might have with this is how much the story leans into masculinity. Kate is interchangeable with a straight romance’s MMC. They'll have the same rolled shirt sleeves and dorrito body shape. Even during the sex scenes, she occupies a more masculine role and receives descriptions usually reserved for men. It’s almost like it was written as a straight romance and then edited to be gay, and like love is love, but the flavor’s a little off. There’s an oral sex scene that reads more like a blowjob, and there’s a lot of mounting with nary a strap in sight. Even when Celine seduces Kate, there’s a size kink played out that despite really working for me, doesn't totally fit the character so much so that Kate herself even quips that she doesn't have that equipment. It doesn't seem like the book was hinting at a trans identity, and it's worth noting that that representation is absent from this idealized society. None of this was book breaking for me, but I think it's a valid criticism to have of the book.

It's also a bit of a bait and switch. That opener goes 0 to horny so fast that I thought I was in for a smutty little romp. That’s not the case. It’s a lot of regency politicking, and while I liked watching characters maneuver through society, it's not what I thought I was getting from those first few chapters. It takes a hot minute for the smut to come back, and when it does, it's an odd mix of ye old bodice ripper language and fading to black, but then it also pops back in with an explicit fisting kink. This book captured the yearning between its characters so well that I was DOWN for some filth. I wish it went there. It kinda shied away from it. It would give you a juicy little sensory tidbit, then kill the mood with an anatomical vulva, and then a few sentences later there'd be an abrupt orgasm to conclude the scene. There was no flow, and I wish we would've lingered a bit more.

Especially because the book could build tension. I, like so many others, notoriously hate instalove. These idiots practically start smashing within the same paragraph they meet, but the chemistry was there. They crackled from the second they were on page together. The banter was buzzy. The romance itself was deliciously tropey. Victims of the fanfiction trenches are going to adore that sickbed scene.

It's just a fun time! Turn your brain off, don't take it too seriously, and enjoy women in male dominated fields being hot. Rakish lesbians, hell yeah, brother! I really hope we get an interconnected stand-alone sequel.

Who should read this: Bridgerton fans

Ideal reading time: Anytime

Do I want to reread this: I think I'll just remember it, but maybe in a few years

Would I buy this: Yes.

Similar books:

• The Crimson Throne by Sara Raasch-historical retelling, fantasy romance, enemies to lovers
• A Fragile Enchantment by Alison Saft-historical, fantasy romance, enemies to lovers, queer, family drama
• The Princess and the Grilled Cheese by Deya Muniz-graphic novel, campy fantasy, historical, queer romance
• Ruined by Sarah Vaughn-graohic novel, historical romance

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.