My rating: 5/10
This book was just...wow. I don't really have any proper words for it to be honest. If I'm being honest, if I was rating the book only up until the first epilogue started, I probably would have given it maybe six or seven stars, because the plot did grip me and I was very invested in the romance between Sloan and Carter. However, that's not where the book ended and I need to give my honest rating taking everything into account.
I think after that first epilogue, I just found myself getting quite turned off by the book. Maybe I'm being too harsh and maybe I don't understand the dark romance genre, but it just felt like it was fetishizing abuse, rape and glorifying disgusting sex-scenes. It was very graphic (I'm specifically referring to the prologue scene where Sloan and Asa meet) and in my opinion, just didn't drive the plot forward.
The characters were alright, but Luke/Carter was definitely my favorite. I did really love how Colleen Hoover focused on his moral dilemma between saving Sloan and carrying out his mission. I would have liked to have that gone a bit more into detail, as I think a good deep discussion on the ethics of saving someone in danger would have been interesting. It's absolutely terrifying to me to even think about the fact that people like Asa exist in our absolutely sick, fucked-up and sexist world. I think that's what made this book just a bit too much for me in the end. And it's definitely not a book I will reread, ever. But I am glad I read it and it will hopefully help me ponder on certain important topics surrounding sex and power.
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