Play Book Tag discussion

Wow! Look at me enjoying a dark romance. A dark romance with serial killers as the main characters. And even more - I was pinning for them.

I saw this book trending and recommended repeatedly on many of the groups I'm in, so I decided to try it, although I was uncertain whether I would like it given its blurb. Serial killers? I might've been attracted by the topic in high school, but ever since the kids, my tastes have veered towards very light. But as more and more of my friends read it and gave it stellar reviews, I decided to try it for myself.

Obviously, I'm not disappointed. I found this book very well-written. Great descriptions appealed to all my senses and swept me right into the story. A great blend of action, tender moments, gory bits, and humor. This book walked me through a wide variety of human emotions. The characters were interesting, with hidden depths and carrying trauma - real. They were more like vigilantes than actual serial killers. And the romance... the romance, the tender bits, it was incredibly well-written and powerful. Sprinkle all this with a little bit of humor, and you have something perfectly enjoyable. Oh, and I forgot to mention the sex - really hot without being too much (the love story is closer to a slow burn - it takes years for the characters to come together). When it comes to books containing explicit sex scenes, they usually fall under one of these two categories for me: 1. too porn movie style, which I don't like. 2. Tender and sweet, which is good, but bland in the end. Few make me feel something.

I think that what works best is that the characters feel incredibly real. They may be killers, but that's just their hobby. The heroine is an introvert with anxiety, afraid that she'll never be loved. Afraid to let people in out of fear they will run when noticing her darkness. It's something I can deeply identify with. The hero is a chef with a bright personality and lots of friends, but carrying with him scars and a simmering rage. I know people like this as well. And their story is a hopeful one: if two serial killers can meet and fall in love and have each other, it means we, normal people, also have a chance. If the two heroes can find someone to love and embrace their darkness, so do we. It's the kind of story that inspires people to be themselves because they will eventually find someone to be theirs.

Despite this, I want to make one thing clear: the book IS dark. There are detailed descriptions of murders and other gory details in it. So if you're one of those people used to only reading light (and by this, I don't mean easy, but rather hopeful) literature, you might not enjoy this. Even if you're used to darker topics, this book is a specific brand of dark (one visceral and twisted rather than sad and depressing as a war book, for example, might be). The author does provide a set of triggers to check before starting this book, so make sure to do that.

P.S. The audiobook was exceptional as well, so I recommend consuming this book that way.