2.5/5
I was given the opportunity to read as an ARC on NetGalley for an honest review!
This sequel in the series is honestly much better in all ways than the first. The prose is significantly better and the characters are more fleshed out (haha). Still not quite up my alley but remarkably better than the first installment. I'm surprised by how some scenes in this left me unsettled or a bit sick but this is a new genre for me so I would suppose that'd be normal. Not sure if this is a dark romance, just seems like horror to me. If read as horror it's better than reading as a dark romance. Xander and Loukas confuse me but a lot of this book confuses me, less than the first yes, but still a lot of scenes are unclear as to what is happening.
Need to know how Hide wears flip flops with hooves? Or better yet how the feet/hooves work in general. Need more context into Hide's biology. ALSO the way Hide/book in general speaks about women still grosses me out severely. I feel as though it is overdone and does it even need to be done in the first place?
Overall I don't think I'm built for this!

“His happiness was a privilege he never deserved, and he was okay with that.”

“Listeriosis,” by Free Mints

I don’t even know where to begin with this book and this series. It was completely bizarre and grotesque and completely unhinged. Even with it being so deep in body horror and unlike anything I’ve ever read before I did like the book a lot. I was quite attached to Loukas, even though he did bad things he wanted to be good. All the characters were unhinged, and it was completely insane. This was a very niche book, and I would say readers need to read the trigger warnings before reading it because I don’t think this book is for everyone, but it was so good. 4 out of 5 stars, the only thing I really didn’t like was how short it was :(

-M/M
-Self Harm
-Demons, Beast People
-Multi POV

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

Unfortunately, I did not read the first book; I skipped over the "Book 2" notation. In spite of not having read the book, I was able to follow the story, even though I read at a slower pace than usual. This was a different kind of read for me. The character and their relationships propelled me forward to find out what was going to happen next. I will just say that I enjoyed this gory horror story. I will be doubling back to read the first book.

I absolutely loved this book! At first, I was a bit confused since I didn’t realize it was the second in a series, but it became much easier to follow as I kept reading. I have to say, this book delivers exactly what it promises! The vivid, gory details and dark romance are captivating. Without a doubt, I’d rate it a solid 5/5.
Mints surely did a great job and I can't wait for more

I think that readers would most benefit from reading the first book in the series before this one but that is on me. I do think this wouldn't be considered a standalone. Throughout the first portion of the book I was a little confused as to what was happening but I do believe that the first book would have given or provided more context.

This book is considered a type of horror book and I will say, there were some scenes that seemed gory and gross at times. I enjoyed seeing the inner thoughts of the MC and how he did things throughout the book.

I think I would have benefited more from reading the first book I hadn't realized it was a second book. But it was still easy to follow along and I feel like I hadn't missed anything. I don't often read horror but I was intrigued by this book and it defiantly makes you feel something. The characters are raw and interesting which kept me engaged and I think the pacing we good as it kept you going. If you are looking for horror and some spicy this is for you and it has a good combination of the two. It just wasn't for me

Okay- hadn’t read extreme horror in some time BUT I do have a different ‘grading system’ when it comes to these. First, thank you for the ARC! This is my honest review;

I do think readers will benefit most from reading the first book in the series (that’s on me!) but from what I’ve gathered, there does seem to be a lot of personality build up there. I found myself a bit lost there at the beginning or just not really liking the MC (don’t think I’m supposed to though?)

As far as extreme horror goes, I’d say this is pretty good and different within the genre! It most def felt gross at times (which is a good thing imo when doing extreme horror lol) but I just couldn’t quite get into it. I put this on me not reading the first one and maybe it not being my style. But that’s why I give it 4- I can clearly see how someone into extreme horror would legit enjoy this series though!