Tag: Natalie Bennett

Top Dark Reads of 2020 pt. 2

OK, we’re back for part 2 of my top dark reads of 2020. Keep in mind, these are in no particular order, and just because something doesn’t get mentioned doesn’t mean that I didn’t think it was dark, it’s just that these are the ones that really stuck with me. (You should see how many GR, Zon, and WordPress tabs I currently have open, lol)

Natalie Bennett-Periculum

Natalie Bennett tends to write dark, twisted, and fucked up, and this one is no different. I don’t know why I didn’t look up the definition of periculum back when I wrote my blog post, but I did today, for shits and giggles. It means danger or risk, and that totally fits for this book. Anyway, this book stars Lana and her friends, as well as Ciaran and his friends. There’s an accident, there’s some strange and terrible things, and there’s lots of darkness and twists, so, yeah, Natalie Bennett. This is the first book of a duet, and the next one comes out in March. I can’t wait for it.

Addison Cain-Swallow It Down

You didn’t think I was going to create a dark list without an Addison Cain book, did you? Yeah, that will likely never happen. Swallow It Down is another near future, post-apocalyptic, dystopian story. Yes, I have a type. LOL. This takes place 6 years after the bombs have dropped, and what’s left of humanity is huddling around each other in small places, trying to survive. Except for Eugenia. She’s trying to get to this one specific place she heard about. She heard it was safe. But then she runs into this huge ship, and well, things change. Even months after reading it, I’m still wondering about certain things.

Kitty Thomas-The Game Maker

Kitty is one of the OGs when it comes to dark romance. And she will fuck your brain over with nary a blink. She has created some of my favorite male characters, and one of the best mindfuck books ever. Go check out Comfort Food. But today we’re talking about The Game Maker. Now, knowing that it is a Kitty Thomas book, and it’s got a title like it does, you might think that there are some mindfucks and twists around the corner, and you would be right. I never knew what was going to happen with this one.

Loxley Savage-Feathers and Fire

Feathers and Fire is a 3 book series. It’s a MFMM, RH, PNR. (My husband laughs at all the acronyms in Romancelandia) The books in the series are Bound for Blood, Cursed to Crave, and Freed By Flames. The story is about Trinity, who has spent her life as a slave. As a child, she had frequent blood draws. As an adult, she’s a sex slave in high demand, mostly because, as a 1/2 succubus, 1/2 phoenix, she can take a lot of abuse and heal quickly. Trinity goes through hell through all 3 books, but she becomes who she is and who she should be by the end of book 3. Books 1 & 2 end in cliffies, but the whole series is out, so you can go read it all back to back. Which is what I did. And I was just like WTF through a lot of it, in a good way. It is dark, it is dirty, gritty, and wow.

Alright, there we are. My Top Dark Reads of 2020. Go check them all out!

Natalie Bennett-Periculum

Periculum is Natalie Bennett’s newest book. It’s the first book in a new series, and the first two books of the new series, called Devil’s Playground, are a duet, so you have a bit of a cliff at the end of this one.

So, Liliana, usually called Lana, is on a vacation with her two best friends, Gracelyn and Melantha. At the end of their trip, they hop on the shuttle with a bunch of other people so that they can go to the airport to get home. Four guys get on the shuttle too. One of them really catches Lana’s attention, and she is somehow really drawn to him.

But then, instead of ending up at the airport, the shuttle gets rerouted, and then crashes. That’s when the group gets a spooky message, and they have to try and figure out what’s going on. That’s when we actually meet the guys. The leader is Ciaran, there are twins Charon and Kyrous, and the 4th guy is Maverick. The guys kind of take over the lead, and they seem like they might maybe know a little something. I mean, there isn’t any point in time when they say they know what’s happening, it’s just a kind of air that I got from them.

Anyway, Ciaran and Lana have some chemistry, but it feels like that chemistry may be nitro and glycerin, and they butt heads a lot while they are trying to figure out what’s going on.

I’m not entirely sure that I totally like either Ciaran or Lana. I don’t dislike them, really, and I can’t really come up with any reason why I don’t particularly like them. They are both pretty sociopathic, although I think Lana has at least tried to pretend to be “normal” or have socially acceptable emotions or reactions. I’m pretty sure that Ciaran doesn’t give a flying fuck about anything acceptable or “normal”.

There is definitely something devious, evil, dark, and dangerous going on. I can’t wait to find out more about that.

There aren’t any spoilers down below, because I don’t have anything I want to put under there. So, go check it out!

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Natalie Bennett-The Dahlia Saga 1 & 2: Malice & Obscene

Malice and Obscene are both rereleases of previous books. The original books were both duets, and are now consolidated. It’s been a while since I read the original books, so there may be some additional material, but I’m not sure. Malice (which was almost released as Macabre) was the Mercy books, and Obscene was the Obscene duet. Anyway, Natalie finally got Amazon to agree to release the books out of review and now we can read them.

Malice is the story of Julian and Morganna. Julian’s family is really rich, and basically owns the town. They also own the Chateau Dahlia. That’s not really talked about in town, and those who do know what happens at the Dahlia don’t talk about it. They enjoy what happens, and more importantly, they value their lives. Julian’s family would do terrible, terrible things to anyone who had loose lips. And they would probably take them to the Dahlia to do it. Anyway, Julian is about to take over the Dahlia, but he needs an heir. He’s become fixated on Morganna.

Morganna is a broken young woman who happens to live in town. She used to be better before her sister disappeared, but since then, she’s been very, very broken. And then Julian walks into her life, and starts to court her. Well, courting is just such an interesting word. Then she wakes up in Julian’s bed and finds out they are about to get married.

Neither Julian or Morganna are in the realm of sane. They aren’t even next door neighbors to sanity. I don’t think they are even in the same zip code. But even as they are removed from sanity, their respective crazinesses are far removed from each other too. I almost want to say that they have a folie a deux going on, but I don’t think that’s quite right.

Julian has a missing piece inside. I don’t know if it’s a soul, a heart, or what, but there’s definitely something not there. I think Morganna had that piece at some point, but it got pounded out of her. Like with other Dahlia books I’ve reviewed here, I have to wonder, at least when it comes to Julian, is how much comes down to nature vs. nurture. I find that whole argument to be really interesting, and it’s a hard one to come up with truly objective evidence on, because, well, it’s extremely unethical and seriously illegal to do that kind of research. But I have to wonder if Julian would be the kind of person he is if he was raised in any other way.

Malice is one of those books that as I’m reading and enjoying it, I’m slightly worried about what it says about me. There are places where it’s pretty uncomfortable, definitely disturbing, and dark AF. But, I still enjoyed the story.

Obscene

Obscene is the story of Mason and Katie.

Mason is another member of the family that owns and runs the Dahlia. He’s now of age to find a wife, and he’s set on Katie. He’s been set on Katie for many years, and has been watching her. I mean, seriously, like cameras in her bedroom kind of watching her. Katie has been totally oblivious to his observation, and goes about her life, working as a waitress at a diner, trying to stay away from her overbearing mother, and trying to just get through her life. Then she wakes up in Julian’s bed. Seems like a pattern, doesn’t it?

Mason is closer to sane than Julian is. And honestly, I can’t tell you the reason why. He too grew up around the Chateau Dahlia. And he also does terrible things. And I do mean terrible. But he just seems much more in touch with that part of his psyche that could be considered sane, at least in my opinion.

Katie is fractured, but I don’t think she’s a broken as Morganna started out. Or maybe she’s more and she manages to handle what’s happening better and is able to be put back together in a new way better. Plus, Mason does things a lot differently than Julian does, which would explain why there are differences between Morganna and Katie.

I would put Obscene in the dark romance category because there is love in there. I wouldn’t put Malice in there, because I think of it more as a psychological kind of thing more than a romance kind of thing. This is just how I would classify it in my head, and isn’t binding on anyone else or how they might classify or think about the books. I think it’s up to you to decide how you feel about them after you read them.

Do be aware that these books are dark and fucked up. There are some serious mindfucks going on in here, because, well, Natalie Bennett. There are mentions of suicide attempts and cutting, so if that is something that would trigger you, be aware of it. Please read responsibly.

There is no spoiler section on this one, and I have tried really, really hard to not spoil anything here. That’s all I have to say about these books. If you like the dark, check them out. I don’t know whether to wish you happy reading or not. Here, have a picture of a pretty flower.

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Natalie Bennett-Beauty and Rage

Natalie Bennett is back and this time she comes bearing a PNR for us. And because it’s a Natalie Bennett, you can be sure that Beauty and Rage is intense and that it lives up to its name. And trust me, it really is and it really does. And I’m probably going to go slightly crazy waiting for the next installment, and Natalie probably wouldn’t have it any other way.

So, Duvessa is the crown princess to the kingdom of Zenith, the kingdom that represents Spring. That is, until one fateful night when her world comes crashing down around her. She ends up Queen of Zenith in the most horrible way, and has to run for her life. She ends up in hiding, until she has to turn to help, no matter what her friends Scarlett, Jacinda, and Toby have to say about it. Toby is convinced that Reyes destroyed her kingdom, while Duvessa is sure he didn’t, because what would be the point. Sick of hiding and her people dying, Duvessa presents herself to Reyes.

Reyes is the King of Purgatory. He has plans and machinations in place, and he’s 32 steps ahead of everyone else. He knows what he wants, and what he wants is Duvessa. He’s willing to do a lot to grab her and keep her and Duvessa probably isn’t going to like it. He knows a lot of things that Duvessa doesn’t know. He knows a lot of things that we don’t know.

There is a lot of paranormal stuff going on in this. You have lycans and vampires, demons and wraiths, and then you have demis, who are basically halfbreeds. The demis generally don’t have the power that their full blooded parents would have. You also have dupires, who are a genetically created race. Don’t worry, you don’t have to remember them from my description, Natalie has a glossary at the front which can help you remember who is who.

There is a touch of Omegaverse going on in this, maybe. Or it’s possible that I just see it everywhere lately, since MF Omegaverse is starting to gain in popularity and I read pretty much all of it. If I haven’t read it yet, then I will be soon. That’s how that works. Anyway, there are some things that happen in this that would be familiar to anyone who reads Omegaverse. I suppose it’s also familiar, in places at least, to other shifter or PNR books, so who knows. I’m sure that Natalie does, and maybe she’ll tell us and maybe she won’t.

I like Duvessa, mostly. I think that she’s smart and canny. But, I think that she isn’t paying attention to the big picture and she’s kind of stuck at the little picture, which can make it hard for her to do what she needs to do, and there’s a lot that she’s going to need to do here, I think.

Reyes is one of those guys that I’m either going to love to hate or hate to love, I’m not sure yet, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. He’s very dominant, and very possessive and territorial. He’s also very much a planner. I think he might put Machiavelli to shame with how much he has planned. I can’t wait to see what is going to happen next.

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There is going to be not a lot that I can put down here. Even if it’s my spoiler area, anything that I want to put here is more spoiler than I want to put. I think that there are a couple of things that I can say.

I want to know what memories are being hidden and who is hiding them and why they are being hidden. It seems like the person can almost see them, but not quite. So, that’s going to be interesting to watch.

OK, that’s all for today. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Natalie Bennett-Degenerates

This is the 5th book in Natalie’s Badlands series, but instead of staying ith our original 3 couples, we’ve jumped forward a couple of decades and we’re dealing with everyone’s kids. Degenerates is Adelaide and Zane’s story. She’s the Savage Princess and he’s the Venomous Prince.

Before we get into the story, here’s the list of all the kids and their parents. And I say kids, but the older ones are in their 20s. Now, considering that I have a 23 year old son, I feel perfectly justified in calling them kids. So, Romero and Cali have Adelaide, Lucifage (m), and Belladonna. Grim and Arlen have Nyx (f), who has a pet crow named Charon, and Samael (m). Blue and Cobra’s kids are twins Cameron and Braxton, who is also called Butcher, and then daughter Lilith. Adelaide and Nyx are best friends. Nyx and Butcher are in a relationship. Lucifage, Adelaide, Cameron, Butcher, and Nyx all hang out together, while Belladonna, Lilith, and Samael are all tight.

On the Venom side, we have Zane, who doesn’t have any biological brothers, but he considers Malaki and Marcus his brothers. Now that we have all that, let’s get into the story.

Adelaide finds out that her sister Bella and her cousins Lilith and Samael have gone off. While Romero wants to send out all the acolytes to find his little girl and the rest of his family, she convinces him to let her go do it. She tells him that she will take Nyx and her acolyte/bodyguard, Annie. Romero is all good with that, but Romero being Romero, isn’t going to let it stay that way. He arranges for Lucifage, Butcher, and Cameron to go as well. And off towards the unknown they go.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Badlands, Zane, Malaki, Trix, and Ace are working on Ace’s initiation, which involves getting rid of some people who screwed Ace’s family over. It ain’t pretty. As they are leaving, they see a young woman with the Savages’ inverted cross tattooed on her running away while she’s yelling that he’s coming.

Then, along comes Adelaide and her entourage and they rescue that woman and run into the Venom, where Zane points Addy’s own gun right at her head. Definitely a romantic start when you come to this series, right?

I like Adelaide. She’s my kind of crazy. That being said, I mostly don’t think that she’s quite as hardcore as Callista. Of course, compared to Rome and Cali, Addy had a Leave it to Beaver childhood. Well, the Badlands version thereof. She’s pretty sheltered. She’s been trained in all matter of bad things by her parents, but she’s never really been out of the compound and has only really dealt with areas that the Savages already own. She’s also a virgin, if you can believe that of a young woman living in the middle of the Savages. She’s a really interesting mix of demonic and innocent, naive and worldly. Natalie writes those characters really well.

Zane, OTOH, is completely debauched, deviant, and demonic. There’s not anything innocent about him at all. He is smart and devious. He’s got some big damn plans as to what he’s going to do. I don’t think he thinks quite as far ahead as Romero, but frankly, I don’t think that many people do. I mean, Romero is 2 steps ahead of Satan. I would like to see the two of them conniving together, because I don’t think that the world would survive. I’m pretty sure that Zane and Addy are going to be a helluva power couple. I mean, she is her parents’ daughter.

I’m really looking forward to seeing where the story is going to go. It’s going to be fascinating.

Sunrise, Big Badlands Overlook, Badlands National Park, South Dakota USA

I’m not entirely sure that I trust Lucifage. I want to know who all knew what he was doing. I’m pretty sure that Romero knew, even if Luce doesn’t know that Rome knew. We’ve already pointed out that Rome knows everything. So, that’s going to be interesting to see what’s going to keep happening there.

And Cam, my poor black heart.

OK, that’s all for this one. It’s dark, but not as dark as other books by Natalie, but I know that the next one is going to be yeah…. Happy reading!

Natalie Bennett-Crucible

International best selling author Natalie Bennett is back with the start of a new series. And it looks like it’s going to be just as dark and fucked up as some of her other books. I can’t fucking wait. It all starts with Crucible.

A crucible is a vessel in which metal ore or solid metal goes into before it’s put into a smelter so that it can get refined and melted down. When most people talk about a crucible, they are talking about a difficult trial that they have gone through, and which makes them stronger or breaks them altogether on the other side. And this is definitely a crucible for Raelynn.

Rae has left all the life she knew before to start over in the tiny town of Harmony Springs. It’s so small, I don’t even know if it has the population to be an actual town. Maybe it’s only a village, but I digress. Her parents helped her find a Tudor style home and fixed it up for her. It’s got a real retro glam feel to it, because that’s Rae’s personal aesthetic. While she doesn’t really need to work, she sees a help wanted sign at the local diner and decides to be a waitress. While she is working there, she meets the Blackwood twins, Jace and Kaiden, which totally changes her life.

The Blackwoods are THE family of Harmony Springs. Those in the know know that they are up to something, but not everyone in town knows what they like to do. Some of the people who don’t know kind of suspect that something is up with them, but no one says anything. The twins are the town heartthrobs, and they know it. Their dad saw Raelynn on her first day in town, and knew that she was the right person for his boys. And that was all she wrote. Or he wrote, or someone wrote.

As this is a Natalie Bennett book, you aren’t going to be surprised that there is a heavy dose of mindfuckery going on in this book. Nor should you be surprised that there is some serious darkness. Natalie can go to the horror place, and does sometimes (a lot of times?), but I don’t think that this one goes to that place, at least not at the moment. It does go to the dark place, but again, Natalie. There is a lot of tension going on and only some of it seems to be resolved at any point. Because it is a quick prequel to a new series, it is rather cliffhanger-y, but it’s going to be worth it, I do believe.

I like Rae, but I think that she’s a little naive at times. The twins are just kind of creeperish and creepy at the same time and definitely hiding every damn secret in the world. I’m looking forward to finding out more about their sister and their friends. The story is going to be so good. Again, because Natalie. I haven’t found anything of hers that I haven’t liked, as of yet.

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I have to say that the cat showing up with a tag that had my address on it would’ve had me noping right the fuck out of there. And if that didn’t do it, the picture in the mail sure as fuck would’ve. This is what I mean about me thinking that Rae was kind of naive. Eddie Murphy does a whole comedy bit about how if a black family had been in Poltergeist or Amityville Horror, they would’ve been out of there at the first sign of something paranormal. Yup, I totally agree. The first creepy ass thing that happened would see my ass out the door and waving bye-bye. I might’ve even left skid marks. Then again, if Rae had done that, it would be a totally different story, right?

I think that she should’ve broken into the shed much earlier, like the first or second day she was there, but again, see above about different story.

I have to wonder, how much are Rae’s parents involved in what’s going on? Maybe I’m just paranoid AF, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t in it up to their eyeballs.

OK, that’s all for this one. If you love Natalie Bennett, this is definitely one you are going to have to go read. Happy reading!

Natalie Bennett-Depravity

You don’t have to get very far into Depravity in order to realize that this is a very Natalie Bennett book. It has her mix of total innocence and total chaos all wrapped up together in a pleasing package. This is dark and it does have MM, MFM, MMF sex in it. And I’d give it 5 scorching flames just for that part, let alone for the rest of the story.

Helena is sick. At least, that’s what her mother has told her all her life. That she’s sick and that nothing can fix her, no matter what. Her daddy has left her mother, and her mother says it’s all Helena’s fault. Helena likes to fix things that are broken. When Buddy breaks her mother, she breaks Buddy, and then she fixes them. She makes them smile at her and if she had a dog, they would be the perfect family. But it doesn’t work that way, so she calls her daddy to help deal with it. So he takes her home with him.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Declan and Ethan are getting their rocks off the way that they do. Mostly, that’s by killing someone while fucking them, and Declan fucking Ethan at the same time. They are partners in so many ways, including being lovers. And they like to kill together, in their playroom in the Dahlia. They have been looking for their perfect center, to help make their little family complete. Declan’s the lemon tier of cake, Ethan is the strawberry, and they need their vanilla tier. Then they meet Helena, and discover how perfect she is for them. Their biggest problem is going to be convincing her of that fact.

I like Helena as a character. I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t want to be anywhere around her in real life, though. At the beginning of the book, she really has all the emotional knowledge and maturity of an infant. In fact, an infant may be more in touch with their emotions than Helena is. Of course, she’s been extremely isolated, to the point where for the majority of her life, she’s only been around her mother, father, and Buddy. And when one of those people spends all of their time telling you how sick you are and how broken you are and how no one will ever want you, you kinda end up not all that emotionally mature and you probably don’t think all that much of yourself, either.

Declan and Ethan are, of course, sick and depraved, but they know that and they willingly embrace it. And since Declan is an Andreou, ain’t no one gonna say nothin’ to them ’bout it, either. In fact, since the Andreous own the town, they could probably murder someone walking down the street and not have a problem. You know, that could be really interesting to see. I’ll have to go read all the other Andreou books to see if something like that happened. I have read the Mercy books, which are Morganna and Julian’s story, but I haven’t read the Obscene Duet, which is Mason and Katie, as of yet. I actually own them, I just need to find some spare time to read them. I used to joke that I would be 3 days dead before I finished my TBR, but these days, it’s going to be more like 3 years.

Anyway, this is darrrrk. There are glimmers of light, but it’s black light. Does that turn me off reading anything else that comes out of this world or about this trio? Oh fuck no. In fact, I’ll probably be right up on the front line in order to get it, because, well, I’m me.

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One of the things that really struck me about this book, and it’s down here in the spoiler section instead of up there because it could be a spoiler, is the whole nature vs. nurture argument. Is Helena sick because her mother treated her as sick and abused her? Or Is Helena sick because she’s a sociopath or psychopath? Or is it a combination thereof? Unfortunately, I don’t think that we’re ever going to be able to know the answer to that, and I didn’t really see anything that showed one way or the other what Natalie thought. I mean, yeah, one of the guys at one point says that she isn’t a socio/psychopath, but really, can we trust them? And it’s kind of seriously unethical and immoral to run any kind of experiment in the real world to test out nature vs. nurture. (Not that I would or would even advocate it.) I think, at this point, it’s going to be up to us, as the readers to decide, unless Natalie comes right out and says.

I hated Molly from the very beginning, so I wasn’t all that surprised that she tried to do what she tried to do. I have to wonder how much she knew about anything that Heath might’ve done to Helena. She seemed way too interested in getting Helena in that basement, if you know what I mean.

OK, that’s all I’m going to say on this one. I could go on and on, but you have to go check out this story and tell me what you think. Happy reading!

Natalie Bennett-Devils With Halos

Natalie Bennett is back with a new wicked series. The series is called Malignant and the first one is Devils With Halos. And trust me, it’s definitely dark and malignant. It has Natalie’s undeniable touch, and anyone who has liked any of her other books is really going to like this one too.

So, Faith is a recovering addict. She quit drinking and drugging the day that her best friend, Sam, ODed. Even after having gone through rehab, she’s still trying to put her life back together. She was given a trip to a resort for her and her 3 friends, Lilly, Camilla, and Marcy, to enjoy. Faith kept trying to get in touch with Ryker, the one man she loves and who is also Sam’s older brother, but he’s not answering his phone. As she drives away, she waves to her dad, who gets on the phone to someone. She’s pretty sure that it’s Ryker.

Faith wakes back up in the SUV having fallen asleep while the car was driving. She wakes up because the car has stopped. They are at a strange, empty, closed gas station so that they can get gas. The problem is that Faith is pretty sure that there is something wrong, because there’s a white van with no windows in the back just sitting there. Too bad she didn’t pay attention to those instincts, because her sweet trip went from a girls’ resort trip to a less mutanty and cannibalistic version of a Wrong Turn movie.

It turns out that she and her friends, as well as some other people, were taken by a group called Malignant. And guess who’s in charge of Malignant?

There are some serious mindfucks going on here. Poor Faith. Nothing is what she expects it to be anymore. She is standing with her feet on two separate pieces of debris in the middle of a whirlwind and they are going to go in different directions any microsecond, leaving her completely falling. But, she doesn’t quite realize that yet. She’s starting to, but… Seriously, this is dark. There’s some nasty shit that happens. There isn’t a whole lot of good and happy at all in this book. I don’t expect any good and happy to happen. There may be a small ray of light, but I don’t know. We’ll see.

I wouldn’t exactly call this a cliffhanger, but there is a hill, so if you don’t want to be left hanging on the side of that hill, you may want to wait until the next 2 books come out. Luckily, Natalie tends to write pretty quick and doesn’t leave us hanging too much.

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You know, I don’t have a lot to say down here. I really don’t want to say anything because I don’t want to spoil anything at all.

Go read it. I’d say happy reading, but…

Just Breathe

This anthology is more than a collection of excellent stories by excellent authors, it’s also a way to support To Write Love on Her Arms. I’ve talked about them before. They are an organization that helps support people who are dealing with self-harm and suicidal ideations, among other things. This is such a great organization. Even if you only want one or two of the stories in Just Breathe, you should definitely buy it to support TWLOHA.

Before I get further into my review, I want to warn people that the stories in this book all deal with mental illnesses of some shape or form. There are things in these stories which may trigger you. Please be aware of that and read responsibly.

All of the stories are pretty short, so if you only have a moment here or there to read, you should have no problem finding one that will fit. Because they are short, you are going to basically get my reaction to each story. For most of them, if I were to put anything about them in the review, it would totally spoil the story. So, here we go.

Missy Ann-Forbidden Sorrows-Grief

Missy Ann was a new author to me, and I’ll be looking up more of her work. Grief is hard to deal with at the best of times, and is highly individual. In most cases, you and your grief can be acknowledged, but what happens when it can’t be? It’s not anything I’ve ever thought of before, and wow, Missy brought it to life so vividly.

Anna Edwards-Grounded-Anxiety

I deal with an anxiety disorder and Anna’s story rang so true for me. It was very much like what can go through my head when I feel out of control. It was a great story. And, it looks like it’s the start of a new series, when Anna gets the rights back to it. I can’t wait to see it.

Michelle Brown-Little Lies-Self-Harm

Michelle is still a pretty new writer, but damn, the girl has some serious chops. Self-harm is a very, very touchy subject and has to be handled just right. If you go too far one way, you end up sensationalizing it, if you go too far the other way, you end up making it not believable. Michelle walked that line perfectly. Not so much that it’s glorified, but just at the point where you can understand why Lindsey does what she does. Self-harm was the very reason that TWLOHA was created, so I felt like this one was so important.

K.S. Marshall-Wreckage-Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder

PMDD is PMS with roid rage. As the hormones in a woman’s body ramp up for ovulation and menstruation, they can have an effect on the woman even at the best of times. But brain and body chemistry being what it is, sometimes the best of times isn’t what happens. K.S. Marshall explored that really, really well. You are inside her heroine’s head as these changes are happening to her and she can’t figure out what’s going on. It’s kind of chilling, but in a good way.

Livia Grant-Purged-Eating Disorder

If you’ve read any of the Black Light books, you’ve probably run across Khloe and Ryder before. It’s no secret in their book that Khloe, a big time movie star, has a history with an eating disorder. What Livia’s story shows so well is that dealing with something like an eating disorder is that it isn’t as easy as one day being cured. There are always going to be things that can trigger you and it’s something you are always going to have to be diligent at fighting, and sometimes that fight is really, really hard.

Yolanda Olson-Sickness in the Sunrise-Erotomania

Erotomania generally happens to women, and it’s when they believe that someone who is of a higher status than they are is in love with them. For example, Yolanda’s story. Yolanda is one of my favorite authors when I want dark, creepy, and chilling, as well as beautiful. Her characters are always so real to me. Just like you can reach out and touch them. That’s no different when it comes to this one. You can feel what’s going on in Dice’s head and why her thoughts make perfect sense.

Natalie Bennett-Ashes to Ashes-Depression

Honestly, I don’t even know what to say with this one. It got deep inside me and moved me. I had to take a break and read something completely different after reading this one. It was so… Yeah.

Dani Rene-Tattered Pieces-Abuse

The one thing we always ask when we talk about people who are in domestic violence situations is why did they stay? Why didn’t they leave the first time, the fifth time, the twentieth time? The thing is, the question isn’t that simple, and the answer is nowhere even near that simple. I could probably write a thousand words on that alone, and it wouldn’t even come near answering anything. And I wouldn’t have gotten it anywhere near as good as what Dani said. I hope that this is the start of a series, because it looks like it could be. I want more of Toni’s story. I’m rooting for her.

Jennifer Bene-Cocoon-Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Jennifer managed to write a story that is very true to her storytelling while still exploring OCD. People who have OCD have rituals that they have to follow or their world ends, and that’s not really an exaggeration. That’s the way it will feel, at the very least. Amy was an interesting character and Colton was tortured in so many ways. Such an excellent story and a viewpoint of OCD that most people won’t ever see.

Ally Vance-Ignite-Pyromania

Fire can be very pretty. But, for most of us, pretty is as far as it gets. For people who are pyromaniacs, it’s like their lifeblood. Ally showed that really well. I’ll never look at wooden matches the same way again. Nor, I think, will I ever look at a bonfire the same way.

Murphy Wallace-Hostile Takeover-Split Personality

Murphy Wallace is another new to me author. And another one I’ll be tracking down more of. This was really intriguing to me. I’m not sure how to describe it or even to talk about how it made me feel. I really enjoyed it though.

Jane Anthony-The Row-Addiction

Addiction is a serious illness. Too many people want to see it as some kind of moral failure or something, but that’s not the way it works. Jane’s Trinity fights with addiction, and when you see her backstory, you see why. I thought that Jane did so well. Trinity and King made me cry.

Ashleigh Giannoccaro-Awake-Insomnia

When I was reading Ashleigh’s story, it was both kind of creepy and engrossing. I mean, yeah. I’m hoping any of her insomniacs stay right away from me, please and thank you.

Skye Callahan-Unbearable-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

When you go through a traumatic incident, there are changes that are made to your brain’s chemistry and your body. Those changes can trigger PTSD. And there’s no way of telling who is going to have it and who isn’t. Two people who went through the exact same event may not both have PTSD, and if they do, they might not be triggered in the same way. Skye handled the subject really well, and explained it in ways that many people don’t necessarily hear.

Toni Lemay-Loops-Mandela Effect

The Mandela Effect is something that was totally new to me. Basically, it has to do with alternate realities and the way that your brain makes memories. That’s probably a way too simplistic description, but it’s what I got from in when I looked it up. If I had more time to research it, I would probably be able to come up with something more, but I tend to fall down the rabbit hole when I start researching things. I will probably be looking into this more when I have a chance because Toni made it sound really interesting, and I want to see how it works.

I want to applaud all these authors for writing about these mental illnesses. I don’t know how many of these talented people deal with the subjects they wrote about, but they handled all of them really well. People who are mentally ill aren’t always handled well in fiction, let alone real life, and the stigma that surrounds mental illnesses makes it hard for those of us who are mentally ill to get the help that they need. We are made to feel bad because our brain don’t work the same way that other people’s brains do, and are shamed because we have to take medication to get through our days. I’m very open about the fact that I’m mentally ill and that I take medication to help me be stable. My thought is that if I’m open about it, maybe that fact can help one person get the help that they need. Also, the more we talk about it, the less the stigma is going to be there.

OK, that’s all I have to say today. You really need to get this.

And because I hate to post anything without a picture, here’s a fogbow.

fogbow

 

Natalie Bennett-Heathens

Oh, holy fuck, y’all. Natalie Bennett is a sick and twisted individual and I so totally don’t want to get stuck in her head. That being said, I like sick and twisted individuals and I totally love what she wrote. The Badland books have been dark, intense, and definitely twisted. Heathens is definitely a worthy addition to the series and a great way to cap off this part of Natalie’s world.

Cobra is the final member of the Holy Trinity of the Savages. His friends, partners, and brothers, Romero and Grimm, have found their Queens and loves. Romero and Cali are definitely the Dark King and Queen of the Savages and have their Princess. She’s too young to be dark, light, or other, but I’m pretty sure that Adelaide isn’t going to be light and fluffy, not with her parents. Don’t get me wrong, I really like Rome and Cali, but… Grimm and Arlen aren’t quite as intense as Rome and Cali, but they sure as hell ain’t a comedic pair either. That leaves Cobra, who is obsessed with one particular woman. One who isn’t there. One who has blue hair.

Blue was traded to Vitus and the Venom as part of a way to solidify a partnership between the Savages and the Venom. Rome is going to need Vitus’ help to take down The Kingdom, Centriole, and I’d say that Rome has made a deal with the devil when it comes to Vitus, but since Romero is a Satanist and Vitus isn’t, I’m pretty sure that it’s sort of the other way around. Blue has spent her time trying to make sure that Vitus is happy. She’s not happy there, but she’s smart enough to know that she shouldn’t let that show. But that doesn’t mean that a particular Savage, one with a snake tattoo, isn’t always on her mind. There is a connection between her and Cobra, but she’s here and he’s there, and she has to deal with Vitus.

Then a mysterious woman shows up, and she seems to have a connection to Vitus too. Blue works really hard to not show any curiosity, but in her situation, curiosity can get her killed, but when the chance comes to talk to this wraith of a woman, it turns out that she’s a woman who is supposed to be safe in Centriole, not huddling in a literal prison run by Vitus, looking like hell, and shaking with withdrawals.

Then Blue is able to get back to Cobra, but not without collateral damage. And she has a lot to say to the leaders of the Savages.

OK, yeah, I really do mean holy fuck, y’all. This is dark and twisted. Cobra isn’t nice. Cobra isn’t anywhere near nice. He’s a very not nice who does even not nicer things and enjoys them. I mean, we aren’t talking about a guy who is a good guy who is doing bad things for a reason. We’re talking about a bad guy who gets off, pretty much literally, on torturing people and who tortures people for fun. I’m pretty sure that he doesn’t have a soul, I know that he has no conscience, and he has no morals. I’m relatively positive he couldn’t define moral if you asked him to. But, all that being said, within his personal boundaries and beliefs, he is pretty much doing what he thinks is right and there are no problems with him doing it. I mean, the only person who is going to take him to task is Romero, and I’m about 150% sure that Romero isn’t going to stop Cobra at all. Well, unless he wants to get in on the fun. I have loved this series, and it has gotten stuck in my head. Now that Heathens is out, I’m going to have to do a full reread.

Spitting_Cobra

The description of Rome, Cali, Grimm, Cobra, and Blue’s attack on Centriole is pretty fanfuckingtastic. The way that they work together is almost like magic. I can totally see them doing it in my head. It’s not pretty, in that there is all kinds of blood and gore, but the way that they are working together is pretty, if that makes sense.

I’m looking forward to the next evolution of the series. It’s going to be all kinds of wrong. ALL KINDS. It’s going to be so awesome too. I can’t wait to read it. And Natalie, being Natalie, is going to torture us until we can get that into our hands.

OK, that’s all I have to say on this one. Go read the series. Trust me. I’d be willing to say happy reading, but, yeah…

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