BELLA FAUST MIGHT JUST BE MY NEW FAVOURITE!!

Gahh— where to start!!

So, before going into this one, I did read Craving Control, which was practically one PITCH BLACK shovel to the face with how hard it hit me— it was like nothing I’ve read before, and though it was a moral train wreck, it was different, gritty, confrontational and the writing freaking consumed me.

Anyway, I digress—
This book is ALOT less dark, though don’t be a silly goose and think you’re a Teflon coated hero and nothing sticks… READ the trigger warnings, this author isn’t sprinkling sugar on sh*t, so read the warnings and then strap yourself in for a crazy, dark and psychological ride.

I love Bella’s writing. She gets right into the nitty gritty and doesn’t hold back. And let’s face it so many of us are snatching up these ‘riskier dark’ reads these days wanting the WOW factor— something different to anything else we’ve read.

Bella does this for me.
Though fiction, she reels me in with her confrontational and uncomfortable scenarios, making me wonder if I need to see a priest or something to fix whatever is broken in me to read about some of the horrors, but the story weaved sucks me right in and the grit is so worth the story!

After the last book, seeing Anna rise up like a freaking phoenix, getting on with her life— Sh*t Yeah!
The chemistry between Venom and Anna, and Anna and Slash is enough to melt a polar ice cap!

There’s alot packed into these pages, but the journey is worth it.

FIVE “Maybe I need an exorcism… and a priest” ⭐️’s

2.50 ⭐️ rounded up. Was this the most well written book, not necessarily. Did I eat that $h!t up, absolutely. This is an extremely convoluted tale that at times I was lost in, and other times I was just lost. It was definitely longer than necessary to adequately tell the story. (Side note: I know the author warned about the use of slang, but the Australian words and phrases didn’t bother me). Be prepared for a ton of far fetched plot lines which may or may not converge.

The way the author began the book was a bit abrupt. It felt like a huge info dump, or like I perhaps missed a previous book. I actually went back to make sure the cover of this said “Book One”, and that I hadn’t accidentally requested a sequel to something. I can perhaps understand the thought behind it, but the style didn’t immediately hook me. There were also times when things that happened in the past were alluded to but never fully explained.

I was confused sometimes regarding aspects of the motorcycle club (MC). It was difficult to keep all of the characters (sooo many characters) in the MC aligned, especially since some people went by a given name and a nickname. By extension, keeping the relationships of characters to each other straight, familial or otherwise, was a challenge.

My feelings on the FMC are mixed. She’s a two dimensional character in a complex story. The PTSD symptoms with regard to her SA seem right on. However, she becomes so immature at times when she doesn’t stand up for herself. I found myself continually disgusted by her choices. If that was the author’s intent then they did a good job there.

The other characters, again there were a lot of them, felt different than the FMC. Putting them into categories of well-rounded versus surface-only would be difficult. The author had good instincts with some, but others just fell flat.

It was an interesting plot at its basic core, but ultimately it had too many complicated components that didn’t neatly fit together.

Personally, I didn’t love this story. I didn’t really gel with any of the characters and I found them quite annoying most of the time. I found the plot to be okay, it’s dark with some heavy spice.
There are also grammatical errors throughout the book, including spacing issues and some odd wording throughout. By the third ‘needa’ I was getting quite annoyed by it! E.g. ‘you don’t needa be here,’ and ‘Needa get Lily from work’. This happens 43 times! I googled if this is typical in Australia slang but nothing comes up. Unfortunately not one for me but I can see how some readers would enjoy.

This title includes several dark romance book tropes. I loved reading it! I'm happy to learn it is part of a series, so there will be more coming. Faust is a great writer and crafted an emotional tale. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.