What do you think?
Rate this book
Darling Venom
My first love ended in tragedy.
My second began with his brother.
From Wall Street Journal bestseller Parker S. Huntington comes a broken love story laced with angst and forbidden romance.
I wasn’t supposed to be on that roof on Valentine’s Day.
Neither was Kellan Marchetti, the school’s designated freak.
We met on the verge of ending our lives.
Somehow, the tattered strings of our tragedies tangled and tightened into an unlikely bond.
We decided not to take the plunge and agreed to check on each other every Valentine’s Day until school ended.
Same time.
One roof.
Two restless souls.
We kept our promise for three years.
On the fourth, Kellan made a decision, and I was left to deal with the consequences.
Just when I thought our story ended, another one began.
They say all love stories look the same and taste different.
Mine was venomous, disgraceful, and written in scarlet scars.
My name is Charlotte Richards, but you can call me Venom.
My second began with his brother.
From Wall Street Journal bestseller Parker S. Huntington comes a broken love story laced with angst and forbidden romance.
I wasn’t supposed to be on that roof on Valentine’s Day.
Neither was Kellan Marchetti, the school’s designated freak.
We met on the verge of ending our lives.
Somehow, the tattered strings of our tragedies tangled and tightened into an unlikely bond.
We decided not to take the plunge and agreed to check on each other every Valentine’s Day until school ended.
Same time.
One roof.
Two restless souls.
We kept our promise for three years.
On the fourth, Kellan made a decision, and I was left to deal with the consequences.
Just when I thought our story ended, another one began.
They say all love stories look the same and taste different.
Mine was venomous, disgraceful, and written in scarlet scars.
My name is Charlotte Richards, but you can call me Venom.
470 pages, Paperback
First published December 11, 2021
About the author
Parker S. Huntington
29 books7,071 followersParker S. Huntington is from Southern California. She has a B.A. in Creative Writing from UCR and an A.L.M. in Literature from Harvard.
She also hates talking about herself and is allergic to social media, but you can catch up with her in her newsletter at www.parkershuntington.com.
Reach her at:
Group: facebook.com/groups/Parkerettes/
Website: www.parkershuntington.com
TikTok: http://TikTok.com/@parkerwrites
Back-Up TikTok: http://TikTok.com/@parkershuntington
She also hates talking about herself and is allergic to social media, but you can catch up with her in her newsletter at www.parkershuntington.com.
Reach her at:
Group: facebook.com/groups/Parkerettes/
Website: www.parkershuntington.com
TikTok: http://TikTok.com/@parkerwrites
Back-Up TikTok: http://TikTok.com/@parkershuntington
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 10,173 reviews
October 9, 2023
➸ 1.75 stars
➷ charlotte is haunted by the tragedy of her parent’s death and the cruel consequences that left her sister scarred. then there is kellan. he struggles with the aftermath of his mother’s death, that results in him being dumped on his brothers doorstep by his father and forced to live with his brother, who then keeps him from his dad. one valentine’s day, these two teen outcasts end up on the same rooftop with a plan to end their lives — on the verge of ending their lives, they both end up forming a bond and they make a pact to come back every year on this day and check on each other for the next four years — only, kellen breaks his promise on the fourth year leaving charlotte to deal with the consequences and left to wonder what happened.
— fast forward four years later and kellan’s death has brought together two broken souls - charlotte and tate. both are ridden with guilt and self loathing, over the death of their loved ones.
— god this book is heartbreaking, but it slowly very slowly puts ur heart back together — the journey of grief in this book was beautifully written.
➷ charlotte and tate were joined together by their grief, but remained together because of love - the push and pull towards each other was executed well. they both work through their grief around kellan and try to come to terms with his death. both of them feel guilt and the responsibility for kellan’s death. i really wish charlotte and kellan got their happy ending tho, they made so much more sense and had a lot more in common compared to charlotte and tate - they felt more trauma bonded and were both leaning on each other bc of the memories they had of kellan. looking back they had nothing in common, i feel like they both needed closure to help them move on from this tragedy. i hated how charlotte would constantly chase after tate and was so clingy towards him. she felt she had to save him and was acting like a perfect fmc when that wasn’t even the case, she was carrying around a lot of guilt and pain and suffering silently. i just found her character to be utterly boring and bland compared to tate - i loved his ice queen persona and his asshole sense of humour. in the end, i feel like tate just wasn’t that into her, it was more of a sexual attraction building up between them.
— kellan, my beautiful boy, oh how i love you!! you will forever have a very special place in my heart. even tho it was always planned he was going to commit su*cide, i’m so glad that he got his happy ending in his own story bc he truly deserved to be happy and loved! 🥹❤️🩹
RANT INCOMING!!
— firstly, this book is WAY too long!! you could cut out 150-200 pages and it would still be too much.
— their first encounter was the biggest red flag.. charlie literally barges into tate’s office and sees him fucking another woman.. and to make it worse she literally stands there like some psycho and watches them have sex?? he literally maintains eye contact w her while doing it.. PLSS I WOULDVE RAN FOR MY MF LIFE!! and then in his pov he said he was imagining it was charlie?? PLSS YOU DONT EVEN KNOW HER SKSJSJS WTF
— this is an age gap (12 years) she’s 22 and he’s 34 - but he would constantly refer to her as a “kid” and he would go on and on ab why he shouldn’t and couldn’t be with her bc she’s way too young and y’know his dead brothers best friend - yet his inner thoughts was him going on about how horny he would get whenever he was around her, make it make sense pls
— the ob-gyn finger bang scene was so cringy and unnecessary - it was not sexy like the author intended it to be bc i literally cringed so hard and died from second hand embarrassment.. honestly that’s a whole lawsuit right there lmaoo, absolutely not!! 😶
— kellan would’ve absolutely loathed the fact that charlie and tate end up together since he was so in love w charlotte and he used to confide in her w his issues that he had w tate. literally out of all then women in the world, tate had to settle for his dead brothers best friend and also his first love.. and to make things worse tate starts calling charlie “venom” the nickname kellan gave her. goddd i hope kellan is haunting them from the grave!!
— i hate how charlie constantly pushed tate to forgive his dad for what he did in the past. tate had understandable reasons on why he hated his dad - she didn’t have to constantly pry into their personal business. terry didn’t deserve his redemption arc, he was a shitty person!! like the whole plot twist at the end on who he stole “the imperfections” manuscript from? i called it from a mile away, it was so obvious.
— the proposal scene?? ain’t no way he proposed in the same spot his brother killed himself.. how tf is that making a beautiful memory? that’s just disgusting
➷ despite its flaws, i still found this to be a very complex book with well thought out characters who help each other move on from their grief. PLEASE look up the trigger warnings beforehand if you do decide to read this book as this story deals with a lot of heavy topics.
quotes:
“i realised the depressing clarity that she wasn’t the venom at all. she was the antidote. but the quantities were all off.”
“adolescent love is the greatest pain of all. it teaches you the power other people have to destroy you.”
“pain is growth. fear is risk. you can’t be happy if you’re not growing and taking risks.”
“suicide is a war of two fears—fear of death and fear of the thing that pushes you toward it. the stronger side always wins. and if you lose, the penalty is death.”
➷ charlotte is haunted by the tragedy of her parent’s death and the cruel consequences that left her sister scarred. then there is kellan. he struggles with the aftermath of his mother’s death, that results in him being dumped on his brothers doorstep by his father and forced to live with his brother, who then keeps him from his dad. one valentine’s day, these two teen outcasts end up on the same rooftop with a plan to end their lives — on the verge of ending their lives, they both end up forming a bond and they make a pact to come back every year on this day and check on each other for the next four years — only, kellen breaks his promise on the fourth year leaving charlotte to deal with the consequences and left to wonder what happened.
— fast forward four years later and kellan’s death has brought together two broken souls - charlotte and tate. both are ridden with guilt and self loathing, over the death of their loved ones.
— god this book is heartbreaking, but it slowly very slowly puts ur heart back together — the journey of grief in this book was beautifully written.
➷ charlotte and tate were joined together by their grief, but remained together because of love - the push and pull towards each other was executed well. they both work through their grief around kellan and try to come to terms with his death. both of them feel guilt and the responsibility for kellan’s death. i really wish charlotte and kellan got their happy ending tho, they made so much more sense and had a lot more in common compared to charlotte and tate - they felt more trauma bonded and were both leaning on each other bc of the memories they had of kellan. looking back they had nothing in common, i feel like they both needed closure to help them move on from this tragedy. i hated how charlotte would constantly chase after tate and was so clingy towards him. she felt she had to save him and was acting like a perfect fmc when that wasn’t even the case, she was carrying around a lot of guilt and pain and suffering silently. i just found her character to be utterly boring and bland compared to tate - i loved his ice queen persona and his asshole sense of humour. in the end, i feel like tate just wasn’t that into her, it was more of a sexual attraction building up between them.
— kellan, my beautiful boy, oh how i love you!! you will forever have a very special place in my heart. even tho it was always planned he was going to commit su*cide, i’m so glad that he got his happy ending in his own story bc he truly deserved to be happy and loved! 🥹❤️🩹
RANT INCOMING!!
— firstly, this book is WAY too long!! you could cut out 150-200 pages and it would still be too much.
— their first encounter was the biggest red flag.. charlie literally barges into tate’s office and sees him fucking another woman.. and to make it worse she literally stands there like some psycho and watches them have sex?? he literally maintains eye contact w her while doing it.. PLSS I WOULDVE RAN FOR MY MF LIFE!! and then in his pov he said he was imagining it was charlie?? PLSS YOU DONT EVEN KNOW HER SKSJSJS WTF
— this is an age gap (12 years) she’s 22 and he’s 34 - but he would constantly refer to her as a “kid” and he would go on and on ab why he shouldn’t and couldn’t be with her bc she’s way too young and y’know his dead brothers best friend - yet his inner thoughts was him going on about how horny he would get whenever he was around her, make it make sense pls
— the ob-gyn finger bang scene was so cringy and unnecessary - it was not sexy like the author intended it to be bc i literally cringed so hard and died from second hand embarrassment.. honestly that’s a whole lawsuit right there lmaoo, absolutely not!! 😶
— kellan would’ve absolutely loathed the fact that charlie and tate end up together since he was so in love w charlotte and he used to confide in her w his issues that he had w tate. literally out of all then women in the world, tate had to settle for his dead brothers best friend and also his first love.. and to make things worse tate starts calling charlie “venom” the nickname kellan gave her. goddd i hope kellan is haunting them from the grave!!
— i hate how charlie constantly pushed tate to forgive his dad for what he did in the past. tate had understandable reasons on why he hated his dad - she didn’t have to constantly pry into their personal business. terry didn’t deserve his redemption arc, he was a shitty person!! like the whole plot twist at the end on who he stole “the imperfections” manuscript from? i called it from a mile away, it was so obvious.
— the proposal scene?? ain’t no way he proposed in the same spot his brother killed himself.. how tf is that making a beautiful memory? that’s just disgusting
➷ despite its flaws, i still found this to be a very complex book with well thought out characters who help each other move on from their grief. PLEASE look up the trigger warnings beforehand if you do decide to read this book as this story deals with a lot of heavy topics.
quotes:
“i realised the depressing clarity that she wasn’t the venom at all. she was the antidote. but the quantities were all off.”
“adolescent love is the greatest pain of all. it teaches you the power other people have to destroy you.”
“pain is growth. fear is risk. you can’t be happy if you’re not growing and taking risks.”
“suicide is a war of two fears—fear of death and fear of the thing that pushes you toward it. the stronger side always wins. and if you lose, the penalty is death.”
September 14, 2022
well we're starting off the year with a bang. a gynecological finger bang.
yes you read that right.
this book was... interesting. i told myself i'd be better about rating and reviewing books but i'm sort of at a loss for words and rating here. it's a reading experience that i enjoyed (after reading aforementioned gyno scene to haden while he chortled) but am not quite sure how to summarize otherwise.
like on the one hand, the romance itself was done well. i believed in these two characters connecting over shared grief. i liked that at various points throughout the story there were moments where one person was giving up and the other person helped em get through. nice nice.
the details? i'm not real sure about. like i'm sure i read them and consumed, not sure if i liked them. again, i say, aforementioned gyno finger bang.
i guess what i'm saying is read at your own risk or curiosity. the end.
yes you read that right.
this book was... interesting. i told myself i'd be better about rating and reviewing books but i'm sort of at a loss for words and rating here. it's a reading experience that i enjoyed (after reading aforementioned gyno scene to haden while he chortled) but am not quite sure how to summarize otherwise.
like on the one hand, the romance itself was done well. i believed in these two characters connecting over shared grief. i liked that at various points throughout the story there were moments where one person was giving up and the other person helped em get through. nice nice.
the details? i'm not real sure about. like i'm sure i read them and consumed, not sure if i liked them. again, i say, aforementioned gyno finger bang.
i guess what i'm saying is read at your own risk or curiosity. the end.
January 12, 2022
✨4.5 stars✨
(the true reason for my high rating for this story is between me and God)
Just take a look at all those wholesome Goodreads reviewers crying, shaking and throwing up over Kellan's suicide and you'll understand my initial hesitance to show up at the emo-mourning party in my brand new outfit glowing with the positive, let this emo bitch die in peace vibes:
The book had no business being so funny (or was it just me?🤔), seeing as how many heavy topics it deals with.
On second thought... does it really?
Before going into this story, I did my best to avoid all the major spoilers for it. Can't say the same about the spoilers. I ran fast, but they, like athletes on steroids, chased after me even faster... which reminds me of the fact that I was fully prepared for this book to scar my pure, untouched soul with its ugly truths and inevitable tragedies.
To begin my descent into hell, let me enjoy first refilling my memory with the brightest moments of this book!!
👹WHAT I LOVED👹
✨(not to sound oxymoronic)THE LOVE STORY BETWEEN CHARLOTTE AND HER DEAD EMO (BOY)FRIEND'S OLDER BROTHER TATE✨
Before y'all gladly agree with me that walking in on the guy pounding another woman at his working place is the most romantic setting for the first encounter (for one, you can quietly and w/o any prejudice assess his performance), I feel the need to point out that, unlike many other reviewers, I truly loved everything about Tate and Charlotte's relationship.
More often than not, romance books I stumble upon feel almost rehearsed, like another scene I had witnessed with countless fictional couples in other books. There is often nothing special or personal about the relationship. In this story's case, I ended up believing in their love.
I happen to think that the strongest foundation for a relationship ever is shared grief. *insert 'this is fine meme'* 🌚
Tate Marchetti is my favorite type of hero:
— older
— cynical
— cold
— sarcastic
— confident
— indifferent
— dead inside
— asshole king
He lost his brother and the guilt is eating him alive. He doesn't live, he simply exists... that is, before Charlotte interrupts (or better said, watches over) his brother's death anniversary commemoration ceremony marked by Tate's fucking his secretary in the cabinet. 💅🏻🌚
I kid you not (just look through the first quote attentively, will you (not)), when those two were in the same building, Tate couldn't keep his eyes off the girl. No reason was valid enough to stop the staring:
— not his ex-fianceé summoning him for a serious talk (he barely listened, not taking his eyes off Charlotte and trying to figure out what she had been mouthing to him from the distance 🌚)
— not his dick inside another woman...
When I say his attention veered involuntarily to her whenever she got on his radar, I'm not deliberately exaggerating... I'm speaking facts.
He noticed small details about her,
asked her personal questions that were clearly none of his business right after claiming that he had no romantic or platonic interest in her,
and simply couldn't turn off his protective instinct and the desire to take care of her even when he did his best to convince himself that he gave zero fucks about Charlie.
I loved how he ran after her under the heavy rain with her coat in his hands so that she didn't catch pneumonia. 🥺
Please.🤚🏻 She was telling him the biggest tragedy of her life and sobbing in his arms when he suddenly popped a boner. Like, boy, you're either an unfeeling psychopath or have a deadly fixation on this chick. I was fine with both options. 🙇🏼♀️
DON'T THROW ROTTEN TOMATOES AT ME, BUT THE OB-GYN SCENE TURNED OUT MY 13TH REASON TO GIVE THIS BOOK 4.5 stars *hides behind a thick shield*
bimanual exam: exists
Charlotte: is for me?? 👉🏻👈🏻🥺
Charlotte was so fucking desperate to have Tate's fingers inside her pussy. She really did violate his fingers and force the orgasm out of them, didn't she? 😭
First of all, the whole ob-gyn situation was so incredibly
— unrealistic
Why would Charlotte's boss insist that she visit a gynecologist? 🌚 Reproductive health is important and all, but even if she never made it to an ob-gyn before, it was kinda... her personal issue?
— hilarious
When Charlotte cross-questioned Tate about the other potential candidate for her ob-gyn and even asked him to show her a man's photo, I thought my laughter reached Neptune. But when she tossed the coin to decide who would be the one to examine her kitty, Tate or this stranger, I was quite sure it did.
(I mean... my hysterical laughter certainly did reach Neptune).
— weirdly h—coughs—o—coughs—t
I couldn't for the love of life understand whether I screamed or
In most cases, I despise heroines who act clingy, a bit too desperate and do most of the pulling. Yet, this book became a nice exception for me because Charlotte wasn't the only one who had left the last shred of her dignity on Tate's door threshold.
The balance between their mutual push and pull was nicely executed, in my humble opinion.
Take the notorious ob-gyn scene: Charlotte embarrassed herself quite like no one else, but behind Tate's 'professional' (my ass), cold and indifferent façade you could clearly see that the guy's self-control was hanging by a thread.
Deny it all you want, but you don't stalk and chase (in both sober and drunken states) after a girl as much as Tate did it just to talk about your dead brother. No other ulterior motives, none. 🌚 The way he kept excusing his inadequate behavior and used the dead brother as a pretext to see her over and over again?
My attitude towards Charlotte is quite neutral. She was amusing if not extra on many occasions, but what actually did leave me questioningmy life the author's decision-making skills was her heroine's nice and slow transformation into a full-fledged personal psychiatrist for the Marchetti men. Was this type of character development really necessary for a 22-year old girl with traumatic past?
While reading the second half of the book, I kept thinking that this girl must have taken a few classes from the internet guru on how to bring raging alcoholics and their decadent sons out of depression.
🥰
Okay, so... I know y'all who are yet to give up on this text are side-eyeing it right now. Keep up the good job.
🥰WHAT I HATED🥰
Well, to be perfectly honest... everything besides the romance between Charlotte and Tate.
— the whole suicide thing going on in this book? It was faker than this girl's eyelashes:
;
— two (2!!!!) books within this book's universe delivered a mortal blow tomy two brain cells dancing in circles this story's feeble logic
— no...blatant suicide glorification and romanticization? 🤌🏻💀
Lemme elaborate on the aforementioned points.
So, Darling Venom is divided into three (3) parts. Two (2) parts as far as I'm concerned, so these parts are the only parts that actually count:
1) the story before the big revelation about Kellan's suicide letter and manuscript (if he were real he'd bitch slap me from Hell for not saying "final letter" instead).
2)the story after.
✨ Part 1. BEFORE ✨
This small part of the book in which I was supposed (?) to cry over my brooding, suicidal teenage boy Kellan's POV and his loyal old friend — depression — I spent on trying to come to terms with the fact that I had to struggle through four (4 and not counting) days in the head of a character who was going to end up dead anyway (spoilers can make you that cynical, I guess). I knew from the start there was a slim chance of my shedding a tear or two because I'm not sentimental, but I expected to be feeling a little sad by the end of Kellan's life journey. Dumb fucking bitch I am, naive and clueless enough to think it was the end. Kellan's afterlife was more exciting and eventful than his 17 years on this earth combined. 🤧
I was ready for a sliver of true sadness to enter my body only to be exorcised by a piece of juicy sandwich a few mins later (there's not much of emotional trauma that a sandwich can't take care of).
Imagine my surprise when what I actually felt when Kellan finally jumped off that roof was a cold, cold fury.
*meanwhile a dam burst in my consciousness* 🌚
— why did he keep giving hope to Charlotte if he had known beforehand that his decision wasn't going to change?
— he really thought he did something there, ending his life on Charlotte's (h) birthday? Not a long time after she had breached their pact by trying to save him, no more no less?? When they were on bad terms with each other??
— perfect timing, king. Served this bitch a humble piece of guilty pie. As you should. Penalty for anyone with a piece of humanity in their hearts.👏🏻
No shit, I feel the love dripping out of his dead, dead pores.
Did he believe she wouldn't come to their place that year and thus decided it was his perfect cue to leave this world like a gentleman? If he did, he didn't know Charlotte at all. Which is logical, seeing as their interactions happened once a year for the duration of 4 years, books and notes shared aside.
Could he bear the thought of Charlotte's witnessing his death?
Everything about the act and the havoc it wreaked on people around him screamed unnecessary cruelty to me. Since I have no intention of writing a novel on this novel, I am not about to start arguing with my imaginary (for now) opponents who would want to fight my stance and defend Kellan's case by saying that he prolonged his existence only for the sake of Charlotte's safety. If she really had suicidal tendencies, his death could have easily damaged her beyond repair, considering the way he'd been feeding her with hope for a few years.
Which reminds me...the suicide representation in this book gets progressively worse. The author literally turned Charlotte's suicide attempt into a clown joke. One second she was hellbent on escaping the utter misery of her existence and the next her suicidal thoughts evaporated without trace upon seeing a boy from her school on the verge of jumping?
I don't want to be an asshole (in other words: *proceeds to be an asshole*), but her trauma seemed deeper, rawer than that of Kellan. While every person deals with trauma differently and it's not fair to make comparisons, I'm still arguing my case: the author did Charlotte so, so dirty in the book. She played an inadvertent part in her parents' death, her sister neglected and blamed her for ruining her future, and the guilt was consuming her... the girl could be made of the toughest material, yet, imagine: she was barely fourteen once the tragedy hit and suicidal thoughts entered her mind. The whole situation needed a logical closure, not some emo boy meeting her on a roof once a year to make it all better.
✨The positives✨
— I think the author did a good job of portraying Kellan's mind descend into a dark abyss. His mind reeked of hopelessness, and even if I didn't entirely understand his adamant inclination to put an end to his life, I could feel the tight clutches of depression gripping him. Yes, he had a brilliant future ahead of him that many people out there dream about: Harvard, living brother and dad, beautiful, kind and understanding girl at his side... But none of that was enough, he valued neither the people who truly cared about him nor the opportunities he had. I guess once the sparkle drifts away...
— In his permanent suicidal mode Kellan was funnier than 60% of people you know
— Initially, I wondered whether it was the chaotic emergence of sexual innuendos in the most inappropriate settings to be blamed for leaving me emotionless and detached from the story's multiple tragedies. But then I realized that even if the author didn't sprinkle scenes of sexual character all over the most intense plot points, the story still wouldn't have touched the strings of my heart. Something was definitely missing in the writing;
— Tate and Charlotte's chemistry was keeping me on edge and the writing flowed (but their sex scenes except the ob-gyn one were mediocre).
✨ Part 2. AFTER✨
WHAT A FUCKING DISASTER. 👏🏻😂
Dumb?
Vacuous???
Inconsistent????
No, guys, you got it all wrong. Deliberately Poetic✨
Of course, Kellan had to make a wannabe show out of his death,
so, naturally, he wrote the least sad suicide letter in the history of suicide letters, in which hebegged challenged a depressed, broke, barely 18-year-old schoolgirl ( Charlotte if you must know) to edit and get his book (about their love story with a sweet HEA) published.
Little tease, isn't he?
They shared one kiss and met a couple of times and that's all it takes to write the next masterpiece of world literature?? Social commentary on life and human decency and survival? 🤡 The guy was seventeen and he had already managed to write two novels that shook the foundations of the USA. Couldn't be me.
That's how you imagine books that are so powerful and outstanding they are studied at schools to be written like? Really??
:
NEXT DOSTOYEVSKY, I DON'T CARE, said no one but Ms. Parkinson.
If you want to make me suspend disbelief, give me a good reason. And if you can't, spare me some badly written passages from the purported masterpiece.
But before I combust and write something really mean (don't even get me started on another Kellan's book and his dadda's plagiarism 🌚), let's just discuss the whole "revelation" plotline that made exactly zero sense. *sighs deeply in Spanish/English/Russian and even Italian (yes, I'm making progress with my Italian, btw, thanks for not asking)*
From what I gathered, our wanna-be- remembered-4ever✌🏻 Kellan boy wrote a letter to Charlotte, left a chicken parm and a voice note for his brother Tate and ignored his favorite figure — father — altogether.
Which brings me to the MILLION-DOLLAR QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE MAJOR PLOT POINTS:
— Why did Charlotte's sister Leah never give Kellan's letter to her but still managed to keep it? What was the letter, tucked between the end of her bookshelf and a beauty manual, doing in her room four years later? Chilling? 🤡
— Why did Tate never bother listening to the voice note his dead brother had left for him before?
Like, bitch, give me a moment to process this. 🤚🏻 You chase after Charlotte like a crazy maniac to suck information about your brother out of her, but you don't dignify his direct message to you with a single glance/ear?? 🤡
I nearly died laughing when I realized that even in his voice note all that Kellan basically talked about was Charlotte. 😂 The guy didn't give a fuck, didn't he?
I wish I could say his story struck a massive chord in me. But Kellan's course of action sounded so far-fetched... if not like a very meticulous attempt to make sure the girl he loves never forgets him.
The mystery and suspense he had surrounded his death with (I callbullshit romanticization) deserve an Ig Nobel Prize. 🤌🏻
(the true reason for my high rating for this story is between me and God)
Just take a look at all those wholesome Goodreads reviewers crying, shaking and throwing up over Kellan's suicide and you'll understand my initial hesitance to show up at the emo-mourning party in my brand new outfit glowing with the positive, let this emo bitch die in peace vibes:
The book had no business being so funny (or was it just me?🤔), seeing as how many heavy topics it deals with.
On second thought... does it really?
Before going into this story, I did my best to avoid all the major spoilers for it. Can't say the same about the spoilers. I ran fast, but they, like athletes on steroids, chased after me even faster... which reminds me of the fact that I was fully prepared for this book to scar my pure, untouched soul with its ugly truths and inevitable tragedies.
To begin my descent into hell, let me enjoy first refilling my memory with the brightest moments of this book!!
👹WHAT I LOVED👹
✨(not to sound oxymoronic)THE LOVE STORY BETWEEN CHARLOTTE AND HER DEAD EMO (BOY)FRIEND'S OLDER BROTHER TATE✨
He didn’t let go. Just released a little, polite grunt, then moved a few inches away from her, yanked the condom off, and tossed it into the trash at the side of the desk.
He reached for a silver tissue box, wiping himself off—her privates shielding his—and tucking himself back in.
He was still staring at me.
Our eyes had never wavered from one another.
Before y'all gladly agree with me that walking in on the guy pounding another woman at his working place is the most romantic setting for the first encounter (for one, you can quietly and w/o any prejudice assess his performance), I feel the need to point out that, unlike many other reviewers, I truly loved everything about Tate and Charlotte's relationship.
More often than not, romance books I stumble upon feel almost rehearsed, like another scene I had witnessed with countless fictional couples in other books. There is often nothing special or personal about the relationship. In this story's case, I ended up believing in their love.
I happen to think that the strongest foundation for a relationship ever is shared grief. *insert 'this is fine meme'* 🌚
Tate Marchetti is my favorite type of hero:
— older
— cynical
— cold
— sarcastic
I bared my teeth. “I’m not a circus monkey.”
“No.” He drummed his long fingers over his desk. “They are trained. You are not.”
— confident
— indifferent
— dead inside
— asshole king
I truly, honestly wanted to hurt her for a reason unknown.( I know, 🙋🏼♀️ I do know the reason 🥺)
He lost his brother and the guilt is eating him alive. He doesn't live, he simply exists... that is, before Charlotte interrupts (or better said, watches over) his brother's death anniversary commemoration ceremony marked by Tate's fucking his secretary in the cabinet. 💅🏻🌚
I kid you not (just look through the first quote attentively, will you (not)), when those two were in the same building, Tate couldn't keep his eyes off the girl. No reason was valid enough to stop the staring:
— not his ex-fianceé summoning him for a serious talk (he barely listened, not taking his eyes off Charlotte and trying to figure out what she had been mouthing to him from the distance 🌚)
— not his dick inside another woman...
When I say his attention veered involuntarily to her whenever she got on his radar, I'm not deliberately exaggerating... I'm speaking facts.
He noticed small details about her,
I took it, paid, and sauntered over to Charlie. Her leg was rocking again.
Always the right one.
Never the left.
I wondered how the hell I’d noticed that. Hannah got mad every time I’d failed to notice a new haircut, dress, or piece of jewelry.
asked her personal questions that were clearly none of his business right after claiming that he had no romantic or platonic interest in her,
“Did you fuck him?”
The question tore out of my mouth before I could stop it.
and simply couldn't turn off his protective instinct and the desire to take care of her even when he did his best to convince himself that he gave zero fucks about Charlie.
“Look, I’ve dated them old, and I’ve dated them young, and I can honestly say, nothing brings you back to life more than a young, attractive, fun—”
I whirled toward him sharply when I reached my bedroom door, seeing red. My eyes were dead as I hurled him against the wall. His back crashed into it so hard, a painting dropped to the floor, its frame cracking.
“You don’t know what you’re saying. I don’t want you to talk about her, think about her, or refer to her in any way. Am I understood?”His eyes widened.
I loved how he ran after her under the heavy rain with her coat in his hands so that she didn't catch pneumonia. 🥺
Please.🤚🏻 She was telling him the biggest tragedy of her life and sobbing in his arms when he suddenly popped a boner. Like, boy, you're either an unfeeling psychopath or have a deadly fixation on this chick. I was fine with both options. 🙇🏼♀️
DON'T THROW ROTTEN TOMATOES AT ME, BUT THE OB-GYN SCENE TURNED OUT MY 13TH REASON TO GIVE THIS BOOK 4.5 stars *hides behind a thick shield*
bimanual exam: exists
Charlotte: is for me?? 👉🏻👈🏻🥺
Charlotte was so fucking desperate to have Tate's fingers inside her pussy. She really did violate his fingers and force the orgasm out of them, didn't she? 😭
First of all, the whole ob-gyn situation was so incredibly
— unrealistic
Why would Charlotte's boss insist that she visit a gynecologist? 🌚 Reproductive health is important and all, but even if she never made it to an ob-gyn before, it was kinda... her personal issue?
— hilarious
When Charlotte cross-questioned Tate about the other potential candidate for her ob-gyn and even asked him to show her a man's photo, I thought my laughter reached Neptune. But when she tossed the coin to decide who would be the one to examine her kitty, Tate or this stranger, I was quite sure it did.
(I mean... my hysterical laughter certainly did reach Neptune).
— weirdly h—coughs—o—coughs—t
He moved toward my lower body. “I’ll be very careful. The chances of your hymen being affected by this exam are absurdly low, so try to relax. Now spread your legs for me, Charlie.”
It wasn’t what he said but the way he said it that made my eyes snap to his in horror. He’d called me Charlie, and his voice was no longer taciturn. It had the faintest touch of a smoky, bossy tint.
In most cases, I despise heroines who act clingy, a bit too desperate and do most of the pulling. Yet, this book became a nice exception for me because Charlotte wasn't the only one who had left the last shred of her dignity on Tate's door threshold.
The balance between their mutual push and pull was nicely executed, in my humble opinion.
Take the notorious ob-gyn scene: Charlotte embarrassed herself quite like no one else, but behind Tate's 'professional' (my ass), cold and indifferent façade you could clearly see that the guy's self-control was hanging by a thread.
Deny it all you want, but you don't stalk and chase (in both sober and drunken states) after a girl as much as Tate did it just to talk about your dead brother. No other ulterior motives, none. 🌚 The way he kept excusing his inadequate behavior and used the dead brother as a pretext to see her over and over again?
My attitude towards Charlotte is quite neutral. She was amusing if not extra on many occasions, but what actually did leave me questioning
While reading the second half of the book, I kept thinking that this girl must have taken a few classes from the internet guru on how to bring raging alcoholics and their decadent sons out of depression.
In Kellan’s arms, I’d felt like I was wrapped by a thin film.
In Tate’s arms, it felt like nothing could touch me. Not even death.
🥰
Okay, so... I know y'all who are yet to give up on this text are side-eyeing it right now. Keep up the good job.
🥰WHAT I HATED🥰
Well, to be perfectly honest... everything besides the romance between Charlotte and Tate.
— the whole suicide thing going on in this book? It was faker than this girl's eyelashes:
;— two (2!!!!) books within this book's universe delivered a mortal blow to
— no...blatant suicide glorification and romanticization? 🤌🏻💀
Lemme elaborate on the aforementioned points.
So, Darling Venom is divided into three (3) parts. Two (2) parts as far as I'm concerned, so these parts are the only parts that actually count:
1) the story before the big revelation about Kellan's suicide letter and manuscript (if he were real he'd bitch slap me from Hell for not saying "final letter" instead).
2)the story after.
✨ Part 1. BEFORE ✨
This small part of the book in which I was supposed (?) to cry over my brooding, suicidal teenage boy Kellan's POV and his loyal old friend — depression — I spent on trying to come to terms with the fact that I had to struggle through four (4 and not counting) days in the head of a character who was going to end up dead anyway (spoilers can make you that cynical, I guess). I knew from the start there was a slim chance of my shedding a tear or two because I'm not sentimental, but I expected to be feeling a little sad by the end of Kellan's life journey. Dumb fucking bitch I am, naive and clueless enough to think it was the end. Kellan's afterlife was more exciting and eventful than his 17 years on this earth combined. 🤧
I was ready for a sliver of true sadness to enter my body only to be exorcised by a piece of juicy sandwich a few mins later (there's not much of emotional trauma that a sandwich can't take care of).
Imagine my surprise when what I actually felt when Kellan finally jumped off that roof was a cold, cold fury.
*meanwhile a dam burst in my consciousness* 🌚
— why did he keep giving hope to Charlotte if he had known beforehand that his decision wasn't going to change?
— he really thought he did something there, ending his life on Charlotte's (h) birthday? Not a long time after she had breached their pact by trying to save him, no more no less?? When they were on bad terms with each other??
— perfect timing, king. Served this bitch a humble piece of guilty pie. As you should. Penalty for anyone with a piece of humanity in their hearts.👏🏻
No shit, I feel the love dripping out of his dead, dead pores.
Did he believe she wouldn't come to their place that year and thus decided it was his perfect cue to leave this world like a gentleman? If he did, he didn't know Charlotte at all. Which is logical, seeing as their interactions happened once a year for the duration of 4 years, books and notes shared aside.
Could he bear the thought of Charlotte's witnessing his death?
Everything about the act and the havoc it wreaked on people around him screamed unnecessary cruelty to me. Since I have no intention of writing a novel on this novel, I am not about to start arguing with my imaginary (for now) opponents who would want to fight my stance and defend Kellan's case by saying that he prolonged his existence only for the sake of Charlotte's safety. If she really had suicidal tendencies, his death could have easily damaged her beyond repair, considering the way he'd been feeding her with hope for a few years.
Which reminds me...the suicide representation in this book gets progressively worse. The author literally turned Charlotte's suicide attempt into a clown joke. One second she was hellbent on escaping the utter misery of her existence and the next her suicidal thoughts evaporated without trace upon seeing a boy from her school on the verge of jumping?
I don't want to be an asshole (in other words: *proceeds to be an asshole*), but her trauma seemed deeper, rawer than that of Kellan. While every person deals with trauma differently and it's not fair to make comparisons, I'm still arguing my case: the author did Charlotte so, so dirty in the book. She played an inadvertent part in her parents' death, her sister neglected and blamed her for ruining her future, and the guilt was consuming her... the girl could be made of the toughest material, yet, imagine: she was barely fourteen once the tragedy hit and suicidal thoughts entered her mind. The whole situation needed a logical closure, not some emo boy meeting her on a roof once a year to make it all better.
✨The positives✨
— I think the author did a good job of portraying Kellan's mind descend into a dark abyss. His mind reeked of hopelessness, and even if I didn't entirely understand his adamant inclination to put an end to his life, I could feel the tight clutches of depression gripping him. Yes, he had a brilliant future ahead of him that many people out there dream about: Harvard, living brother and dad, beautiful, kind and understanding girl at his side... But none of that was enough, he valued neither the people who truly cared about him nor the opportunities he had. I guess once the sparkle drifts away...
— In his permanent suicidal mode Kellan was funnier than 60% of people you know
Kellan watched me in amusement, producing another muffin from his bag. He threw it at me like I was a feral animal he needed to feed through bars.
— Initially, I wondered whether it was the chaotic emergence of sexual innuendos in the most inappropriate settings to be blamed for leaving me emotionless and detached from the story's multiple tragedies. But then I realized that even if the author didn't sprinkle scenes of sexual character all over the most intense plot points, the story still wouldn't have touched the strings of my heart. Something was definitely missing in the writing;
— Tate and Charlotte's chemistry was keeping me on edge and the writing flowed (but their sex scenes except the ob-gyn one were mediocre).
✨ Part 2. AFTER✨
WHAT A FUCKING DISASTER. 👏🏻😂
Dumb?
Vacuous???
Inconsistent????
No, guys, you got it all wrong. Deliberately Poetic✨
Of course, Kellan had to make a wannabe show out of his death,
so, naturally, he wrote the least sad suicide letter in the history of suicide letters, in which he
Little tease, isn't he?
They shared one kiss and met a couple of times and that's all it takes to write the next masterpiece of world literature?? Social commentary on life and human decency and survival? 🤡 The guy was seventeen and he had already managed to write two novels that shook the foundations of the USA. Couldn't be me.
That's how you imagine books that are so powerful and outstanding they are studied at schools to be written like? Really??
:
It worked out fine for a while until reality hit him like Miley Cyrus’ wrecking ball. Turns out, when you chase attention, it bites you in the ass.
This time, in the form of a heavily mustached paparazzo.
NEXT DOSTOYEVSKY, I DON'T CARE, said no one but Ms. Parkinson.
If you want to make me suspend disbelief, give me a good reason. And if you can't, spare me some badly written passages from the purported masterpiece.
But before I combust and write something really mean (don't even get me started on another Kellan's book and his dadda's plagiarism 🌚), let's just discuss the whole "revelation" plotline that made exactly zero sense. *sighs deeply in Spanish/English/Russian and even Italian (yes, I'm making progress with my Italian, btw, thanks for not asking)*
From what I gathered, our wanna-be- remembered-4ever✌🏻 Kellan boy wrote a letter to Charlotte, left a chicken parm and a voice note for his brother Tate and ignored his favorite figure — father — altogether.
Which brings me to the MILLION-DOLLAR QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE MAJOR PLOT POINTS:
— Why did Charlotte's sister Leah never give Kellan's letter to her but still managed to keep it? What was the letter, tucked between the end of her bookshelf and a beauty manual, doing in her room four years later? Chilling? 🤡
— Why did Tate never bother listening to the voice note his dead brother had left for him before?
Like, bitch, give me a moment to process this. 🤚🏻 You chase after Charlotte like a crazy maniac to suck information about your brother out of her, but you don't dignify his direct message to you with a single glance/ear?? 🤡
I nearly died laughing when I realized that even in his voice note all that Kellan basically talked about was Charlotte. 😂 The guy didn't give a fuck, didn't he?
I wish I could say his story struck a massive chord in me. But Kellan's course of action sounded so far-fetched... if not like a very meticulous attempt to make sure the girl he loves never forgets him.
The mystery and suspense he had surrounded his death with (I call
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2023
“i knew myself well enough to know i didn’t survive books. they tore me to shreds. i’d never met an inanimate object as talented at breaking hearts as a book.”
this quote…probably one of my all time favorites. it’s so true it’s not even funny. i don’t cry easily, but this book got me. from the beginning to the fucking end. just came in hot and hit me with immediate depression. i was hooked from start to finish. the chapters were nice and short. the writing was immaculate. the plot was so good. the romance omg 10/10. the SPICE?! it was so unexpected. this book had me crying one minute, then blushing the next🤭
“a penny for your thoughts?”
5 stars of course. i devoured this book. i planned on finishing it in one sitting, but when i realized i was sobbing at 6am, my plan changed. i went into this book blind, but i would definitely recommend looking up trigger warnings.
“i followed her. i’d started feeling like a creep about an hour ago after i’d showed up in front of her workplace, challenging my inner joe goldberg. but now the feeling bled into full-blown pervert territory, thrusting me deep into the jeffrey dahmer zone.” this quote took me out😂
“i don’t date. i fuck.” again….chrstian grey IS THAT YOU!?!?!
“you’re breathing, charlie. you are breathing, and it is beautiful, and i am so grateful for that.”
tate marchetti….the mouth attached to this man’s face👀🥵🦋he’s the complete package. i think those three quotes really sum this man up. he’s funny, he’s hot, he’s sweet…he’s a gynecologist. could you imagine being with a man who’s a gynecologist…i mean…he definitely knows what he’s doing👀guys…when he kissed her scar…iykyk. pls i need someone to teach me how to breathe again.
“i am in front of you, around you, in your head. and i’m here to stay.”
“it was the first moment i let myself admit i wanted to be fucked by dr. tatum marchetti. ruthlessly hard and mercilessly filthy.” girl same🙈
“this isn’t sustainable, tate. you’re drowning. let me be your life raft.”
charlotte richards😭i love her soooooo much. her relationship with every single character in this book guys….she was such a bright light in the dark world everyone was living in. she went through so much, but there was never a moment where she wasn’t doing anything and everything to help someone🥹i can’t explain any more without spoilers, but just know that i adore her.
“when i sleep, i dream. when i wake, the nightmare begins.”
“once a year, for a stolen hour, i let myself be the venom. the toxin. the thing that poisoned her. but with one momentary lapse in selfishness, i pushed her away. i’ve regretted it everyday since.”
my baby kellan deserved so much more🥺his character will stay with me forever in my heart🫶🏼
i 10/10 recommend reading this book! a beautiful story about mental health, grieving, feeling guilt, forgiveness, and finding love after loss. i cried so much, but i’d read this book for the first time all over again it i could. i will definitely be reading more by parker s. huntington🫶🏼🫶🏼
this quote…probably one of my all time favorites. it’s so true it’s not even funny. i don’t cry easily, but this book got me. from the beginning to the fucking end. just came in hot and hit me with immediate depression. i was hooked from start to finish. the chapters were nice and short. the writing was immaculate. the plot was so good. the romance omg 10/10. the SPICE?! it was so unexpected. this book had me crying one minute, then blushing the next🤭
“a penny for your thoughts?”
5 stars of course. i devoured this book. i planned on finishing it in one sitting, but when i realized i was sobbing at 6am, my plan changed. i went into this book blind, but i would definitely recommend looking up trigger warnings.
“i followed her. i’d started feeling like a creep about an hour ago after i’d showed up in front of her workplace, challenging my inner joe goldberg. but now the feeling bled into full-blown pervert territory, thrusting me deep into the jeffrey dahmer zone.” this quote took me out😂
“i don’t date. i fuck.” again….chrstian grey IS THAT YOU!?!?!
“you’re breathing, charlie. you are breathing, and it is beautiful, and i am so grateful for that.”
tate marchetti….the mouth attached to this man’s face👀🥵🦋he’s the complete package. i think those three quotes really sum this man up. he’s funny, he’s hot, he’s sweet…he’s a gynecologist. could you imagine being with a man who’s a gynecologist…i mean…he definitely knows what he’s doing👀guys…when he kissed her scar…iykyk. pls i need someone to teach me how to breathe again.
“i am in front of you, around you, in your head. and i’m here to stay.”
“it was the first moment i let myself admit i wanted to be fucked by dr. tatum marchetti. ruthlessly hard and mercilessly filthy.” girl same🙈
“this isn’t sustainable, tate. you’re drowning. let me be your life raft.”
charlotte richards😭i love her soooooo much. her relationship with every single character in this book guys….she was such a bright light in the dark world everyone was living in. she went through so much, but there was never a moment where she wasn’t doing anything and everything to help someone🥹i can’t explain any more without spoilers, but just know that i adore her.
“when i sleep, i dream. when i wake, the nightmare begins.”
“once a year, for a stolen hour, i let myself be the venom. the toxin. the thing that poisoned her. but with one momentary lapse in selfishness, i pushed her away. i’ve regretted it everyday since.”
my baby kellan deserved so much more🥺his character will stay with me forever in my heart🫶🏼
i 10/10 recommend reading this book! a beautiful story about mental health, grieving, feeling guilt, forgiveness, and finding love after loss. i cried so much, but i’d read this book for the first time all over again it i could. i will definitely be reading more by parker s. huntington🫶🏼🫶🏼
June 1, 2023
4.25 stars! This book is such an emotional read😭 It deals with so much: grief, guilt, mental health, addiction, forgiveness (of yourself and others), dysfunctional families, and so much more. I also lovedddd Charlie, our main character. She is so spunky and bold, but most importantly, she cares so much for everyone around her.
This is my first book by this author, and I would love to read more by her! I loved her writing style, and there are SO MANY great quotes in this book. I swear I wanted to write down a quote from every chapter.
As for the romance, we get some great (and one or two kind of wild) spicy scenes 🥵 I loved Tate and Charlie together and how Charlie never gave up on him no matter what. My only tiny complaint with this book (and why it wasn't a full 5 stars for me) was that sometimes I felt like all Charlie and Tate had in common was Kellan and their complex emotions surrounding him. I wanted a bit more moments that were unique to just Charlie and Tate outside of them processing their emotions about Kellan. Overall though, a memorable, impactful, and heartbreaking read 💗💗💗
This is my first book by this author, and I would love to read more by her! I loved her writing style, and there are SO MANY great quotes in this book. I swear I wanted to write down a quote from every chapter.
As for the romance, we get some great (and one or two kind of wild) spicy scenes 🥵 I loved Tate and Charlie together and how Charlie never gave up on him no matter what. My only tiny complaint with this book (and why it wasn't a full 5 stars for me) was that sometimes I felt like all Charlie and Tate had in common was Kellan and their complex emotions surrounding him. I wanted a bit more moments that were unique to just Charlie and Tate outside of them processing their emotions about Kellan. Overall though, a memorable, impactful, and heartbreaking read 💗💗💗
October 6, 2022
Things I appreciated from this:
1. Jonah
2. Tate’s (almost) cold and sarcastic attitude
3. The guilt Tate carried
Things I liked about this:
1.
Things I could have continued doing instead of deciding to continue losing the brain cells I have slowly recovered (aka, reading this):
1. Eaten another sandwich
2. Slept to let the day go so I can move on from the book and leave it hanging for another day
3. Watched the new fantasy tv-series my dad randomly started watching on Netflix that has the his inner-childhood coming out
4. Gotten scratched by my 6-month old niece repeatedly for less pain
5. Shared sighs with my mother as I told her “I’m reading a really boring book”
6. Listened to Russian metalcore that I felt deep down despite not knowing what they were saying not because he was screaming but because I don’t know the language
The fact that my tears were drier than my state’s climate (which is considered high desert) should say enough.
This review contains spoilers.
TW: depression, suicide, suicide thoughts, bullying, self-harm
Here we have the stereotypical emo suicidal boi, the sarcastic and colder older brother who ends up becoming a rich doctor, and the desperate child with sissy issues. Emo and desperate child meet. They form a pact to meet once a year in the roof. Shit happens. Emo boi dies. Desperate child cries. Fast forward a couple years. Desperate child walks into older brother having sex with a woman. She stays while he stares right at her. She mentions she knew suicidal boi. Older brother is suddenly interested. The two aren’t friends but they’re also not enemies. They both carry guilty. So, they form a pact and decide to finish some manuscript emo suicidal boi decided to leave. They catch feelings or whatever. A manuscript is completed. The end.
(We all know how that will go before it even goes)
I saw a TikTok saying this was a story about suicide, and I am sad to say it really isn’t. Reviews for this vary from crying and emotional to shaking and throwing up, as it deals with suicide, depression, mental health (you know how it works). Except it really doesn't. These are things that are never really dealt with and instead the topics are just that. Topics. Depression and suicide are brushed off like they were never part of the book at all. I would say I’m not emotional, sensitive, and it takes a really good and emotional book to make me feel something, but if you know me well, you know that is utter bullshit and I cry at every single sad thing that others may not cry at. However, Darling Venom was not emotional nor heavy, but instead was full of nothing but guilt, embarrassing orgasms, 700-pages of too fucking long, ridiculous, and repetitive inner-monologue.
Kellan is your traditional emo. A freak, dresses in all black, self-harms, wants to commit suicide, hates life and everything and everyone around it, has depression, has no friends, was abandoned by his father, is bullied at school for wearing skirts, yada yada yada. My question: Does he listen to My Chemical Romance? Bring Me the Horizon? Pierce the Veil? Of Mice & Men? Well he must listen to Suicide Silence, right? A Day to Remember? The Amity Affliction? Issues? It felt like the author took me in middle school and changed genders. And yes, I am admitting I was like Kellan because I wanted to fit that stereotype people had of us. That is exactly the problem I am trying to point out.
Emo/goth = suicidal, right?
(Ah yes, the walking stereotype)
Was I supposed to feel bad? Presumably so.
Did I? Lol no.
My dad always looks at me like I’m fucked in the head whenever I’m reading and laughing because it happens at random times. I’ll go from having a concentrated, resting bitch face to scary laughter in the span of 5 seconds, so I was surprised he didn’t mention anything this time.
Maybe knowing he kills himself isn’t the best, but it wasn’t something you could avoid knowing. Not only is it part of the blurb, but it’s one of the things everyone first pointed out. It was a spoiler that couldn’t be avoided. Usually, characters like Kellan would make me feel something. I cry easily. Yet, no matter what he went through, I ended up losing track of how many times I yawned when he was being his usual, jaded, sad self.
Charlotte/Charlie/Little Lottie has her life of her own (Just kidding she doesn't have a life besides pinning over Tate and being annoying). While she lost her parents, she has an older sister who hates her. When Charlie was telling Tate her big T (aka the tragedy) was when I was eating my sandwich and just nodding at my screen like I was caring about any word she had to say. It helped that Tate ended up sporting an erection as she told him that it only added to the low humor this book was already lacking. At least someone gets it. Other than her desperation and grief, there’s nothing memorable about her.
(How, when both of you don’t have family that cares?)
Then you have Tate, Kellan’s older brother who is a rich OB-GYN and apparently, the best. He’s sarcastic (which I loved), and he says he’s cold yet:
1. He ran up to Charlie to give her an umbrella so her stupid ass doesn’t get pneumonia because of the rain. (He should have let her walk away so she could learn her lesson)
2. Was somehow unable to bring himself to truly kick his poor and pathetic life of a father out of his home despite how many warnings he gave him and how many times his father didn’t listen to him. (Why threaten to throw him to the streets multiple times but never actually do it??)
3. Kept up the whole “I’m so jaded, we can’t be together” miserable thought. (No wonder he and Kellan were brothers)
Sarcastic? Sure. I enjoyed how he quickly replied to his father, especially. Cold? Only when he wanted to be, yet not enough.
Tate also carries guilt for not being there for his younger brother. I think this was one of the only things I came to appreciate simply because there were times when it felt real. He realized too late how he could have seen the signs and done something about him, but knowing how much Kellan hated him doesn’t help the feelings he continued harboring. For example, he hadn’t opened the door to Kellan’s bedroom; he couldn’t bring himself to listen to his brother’s voicemail; he doesn’t take appointments on Valentine’s Day due to the memories.
Aside from that though, all the characters in this (with the exception of my Jonah, of course), are one-dimensional. They start off miserable and they end miserable. I didn’t care for the small redemptions some of them had—Leah realizing not everything is about her and finally being the older sister she had to be, Terry saying he’s not a fraud (he is), Charlie…is Charlie, Tate…is Tate, Kellan is…dead.
This book was entertaining, to say the least.
Entertaining in the sense that it was predictable, bizarre, embarrassing, comedic, and unrealistic.
Three cases in point:
1) Tate becomes weirdly obsessed with Charlie from the moment he stares at her as he’s fucking another woman. He then attempts to follow her, only to fail, yet see her again shortly after. Even when his ex-fiancé is around, he can’t stop staring at Charlie. He even called his ex-fiancé Charlie without realizing it. We then spend the book in his head telling himself he can’t be fucking his little brother’s love of his life, commenting on how sweet and innocent little Charlie is that he’s disgusted. I personally love stories where two people come together sharing grief. They can instantly connect and understand each other differently than others. But in DV, it’s plain entertainment and humor. It’s entirely unrealistic that it gets embarrassing.
2) Then you have the time Charlie walks into the clinic and basically demands that Tate gives her an appointment for her boss. She’s mad he isn’t available because it’s Valentine’s Day (aka the day Kellan died) so she’s mad because she thinks he’s playing around on a day like that. After walking in on him doing the deed and taking care of it, she expects him to give her an appointment.
(Yes well, that’s usually what happens when you voluntarily decide to wait in the waiting room after being told the doctor won’t take any walk-ins for reasons you don't know)
3) There’s also that (1) scene that has everyone on their fours. Tate ends up (quite randomly) becoming Charlie’s OB-GYN after her boss basically made her have an OB-GYN. She became so desperate and horny when Tate told her to spread her legs [for him] to perform the pap smear, as well as deciding to take a bimanual exam because she was horny, causing her to have her hymen broken (she was a virgin). She ends up having an orgasm, groaning, moaning, all that. Tate keeps it professional (we know he didn't) and cool while Ms. Horny suddenly has jelly legs.
I am NOT saying you shouldn’t check for health regarding anything related to reproductive health, but I would go to an OB-GYN unless my own primary care doctor referred me to one for specific reasons concerning my health or if I was concerned about health factors, like cervical cancer. Or, really, if I wanted to make sure I was healthy. But none of that can apply to Charlie. It was only because Tate was the OB-GYN.
Oh, and I did mention it was her boss who basically made her get checked by Tate, right?
See, entertaining.
Moving on.
When Charlie and Tate start hanging out more, the whole book is then spent just of them finishing the manuscript Kellan left, which is another stupid and bizarre part of this. See, Kellan was writing a book called “Darling Venom” where he writes his love story with Charlie. Too many things that didn’t make sense happened here: Charlie and Kellan only met four times but never hung out or really got to know each other besides talking about the dark slug and how they wanna disappear. They kissed once. Their relationship is once a year (before it’s never). Other than that, there is no development to their relationship that the moments they shared felt repetitive due to nothing happening. This book ends up being finished by Charlie herself, as Kellan asked her, with the help of Terry, the dad. “Darling Venom” ends up becoming the new literary masterpiece and sensation that everyone ends up reading and loving. And don’t even get me started on the fact that Kellan was the one who wrote The Imperfections and not his poor-life of a father, Terry, who plagiarized it and stole all the credit. Kellan, dead from his hole, truly ended up taking the spotlight and became a shocker to the whole world. Suddenly nobody knew Terry Marchetti but everyone knew Kellan Marchetti.
I wouldn’t call this a romance. There is no development and substance not only between Charlie and Kellan but also between Charlie and Tate. Besides feeling zero sympathy and chemistry for Kellan and Charlie, Tate and Charlie had nothing to share besides shared grief and guilt about Kellan. There’s like, two sex scenes, too many embarrassing moments that I covered with laughter, and love being used as a cure for Charlie. Charlie never really mentioned what it is she’s struggling with, all we know is she wants to kill herself because her parents died in a fire and her sister hates her. She has a miserable and poor life so of course suicide is her answer to ending it all.
(The author really said lemme make this girls life miserable in the beginning and then forget about it all)
Everyones experience with mental health is different, and there is never one way to experience something. Yet this only ended up being another typical marketed suicide book for attention and bait, with mental health being the lowest key point here.
(Cured you from what, your desperation?)
This book could have been 350 pages shorter. It has 90 chapters + the prologue and epilogue, and some of those chapters are nothing but inner-thoughts. In the end, suddenly all is okay, she's pregnant, is married to Tate, and the world knows who Kellan was.
(Well, that didn’t age well now did it?)
Shoutout to Mel for letting me vent and spam as I read.
And on a final note: Tate > Kellan
1. Jonah
2. Tate’s (almost) cold and sarcastic attitude
3. The guilt Tate carried
Things I liked about this:
1.
Things I could have continued doing instead of deciding to continue losing the brain cells I have slowly recovered (aka, reading this):
1. Eaten another sandwich
2. Slept to let the day go so I can move on from the book and leave it hanging for another day
3. Watched the new fantasy tv-series my dad randomly started watching on Netflix that has the his inner-childhood coming out
4. Gotten scratched by my 6-month old niece repeatedly for less pain
5. Shared sighs with my mother as I told her “I’m reading a really boring book”
6. Listened to Russian metalcore that I felt deep down despite not knowing what they were saying not because he was screaming but because I don’t know the language
The fact that my tears were drier than my state’s climate (which is considered high desert) should say enough.
This review contains spoilers.
TW: depression, suicide, suicide thoughts, bullying, self-harm
Here we have the stereotypical emo suicidal boi, the sarcastic and colder older brother who ends up becoming a rich doctor, and the desperate child with sissy issues. Emo and desperate child meet. They form a pact to meet once a year in the roof. Shit happens. Emo boi dies. Desperate child cries. Fast forward a couple years. Desperate child walks into older brother having sex with a woman. She stays while he stares right at her. She mentions she knew suicidal boi. Older brother is suddenly interested. The two aren’t friends but they’re also not enemies. They both carry guilty. So, they form a pact and decide to finish some manuscript emo suicidal boi decided to leave. They catch feelings or whatever. A manuscript is completed. The end.
“I hope I never fall in love. Falling in love makes you so dumb.”
(We all know how that will go before it even goes)
I saw a TikTok saying this was a story about suicide, and I am sad to say it really isn’t. Reviews for this vary from crying and emotional to shaking and throwing up, as it deals with suicide, depression, mental health (you know how it works). Except it really doesn't. These are things that are never really dealt with and instead the topics are just that. Topics. Depression and suicide are brushed off like they were never part of the book at all. I would say I’m not emotional, sensitive, and it takes a really good and emotional book to make me feel something, but if you know me well, you know that is utter bullshit and I cry at every single sad thing that others may not cry at. However, Darling Venom was not emotional nor heavy, but instead was full of nothing but guilt, embarrassing orgasms, 700-pages of too fucking long, ridiculous, and repetitive inner-monologue.
Kellan is your traditional emo. A freak, dresses in all black, self-harms, wants to commit suicide, hates life and everything and everyone around it, has depression, has no friends, was abandoned by his father, is bullied at school for wearing skirts, yada yada yada. My question: Does he listen to My Chemical Romance? Bring Me the Horizon? Pierce the Veil? Of Mice & Men? Well he must listen to Suicide Silence, right? A Day to Remember? The Amity Affliction? Issues? It felt like the author took me in middle school and changed genders. And yes, I am admitting I was like Kellan because I wanted to fit that stereotype people had of us. That is exactly the problem I am trying to point out.
Emo/goth = suicidal, right?
He chose to be a loner. He dressed Goth at school. All black, safety pins everywhere, eyeliner, leopard patches, and painted nails. He once showed up at St. Paul with fishnets for gloves.
(Ah yes, the walking stereotype)
Was I supposed to feel bad? Presumably so.
Did I? Lol no.
My dad always looks at me like I’m fucked in the head whenever I’m reading and laughing because it happens at random times. I’ll go from having a concentrated, resting bitch face to scary laughter in the span of 5 seconds, so I was surprised he didn’t mention anything this time.
Maybe knowing he kills himself isn’t the best, but it wasn’t something you could avoid knowing. Not only is it part of the blurb, but it’s one of the things everyone first pointed out. It was a spoiler that couldn’t be avoided. Usually, characters like Kellan would make me feel something. I cry easily. Yet, no matter what he went through, I ended up losing track of how many times I yawned when he was being his usual, jaded, sad self.
Charlotte/Charlie/Little Lottie has her life of her own (Just kidding she doesn't have a life besides pinning over Tate and being annoying). While she lost her parents, she has an older sister who hates her. When Charlie was telling Tate her big T (aka the tragedy) was when I was eating my sandwich and just nodding at my screen like I was caring about any word she had to say. It helped that Tate ended up sporting an erection as she told him that it only added to the low humor this book was already lacking. At least someone gets it. Other than her desperation and grief, there’s nothing memorable about her.
“Don’t jump,” I repeated, curling his fingers around my book.
They were icy, and I wondered how long he’d been up here, working his way toward death.
“Kinda hypocritical of you to say, everything considered.”
“My situation is different.”
(How, when both of you don’t have family that cares?)
Then you have Tate, Kellan’s older brother who is a rich OB-GYN and apparently, the best. He’s sarcastic (which I loved), and he says he’s cold yet:
1. He ran up to Charlie to give her an umbrella so her stupid ass doesn’t get pneumonia because of the rain. (He should have let her walk away so she could learn her lesson)
2. Was somehow unable to bring himself to truly kick his poor and pathetic life of a father out of his home despite how many warnings he gave him and how many times his father didn’t listen to him. (Why threaten to throw him to the streets multiple times but never actually do it??)
3. Kept up the whole “I’m so jaded, we can’t be together” miserable thought. (No wonder he and Kellan were brothers)
Sarcastic? Sure. I enjoyed how he quickly replied to his father, especially. Cold? Only when he wanted to be, yet not enough.
Tate also carries guilt for not being there for his younger brother. I think this was one of the only things I came to appreciate simply because there were times when it felt real. He realized too late how he could have seen the signs and done something about him, but knowing how much Kellan hated him doesn’t help the feelings he continued harboring. For example, he hadn’t opened the door to Kellan’s bedroom; he couldn’t bring himself to listen to his brother’s voicemail; he doesn’t take appointments on Valentine’s Day due to the memories.
Aside from that though, all the characters in this (with the exception of my Jonah, of course), are one-dimensional. They start off miserable and they end miserable. I didn’t care for the small redemptions some of them had—Leah realizing not everything is about her and finally being the older sister she had to be, Terry saying he’s not a fraud (he is), Charlie…is Charlie, Tate…is Tate, Kellan is…dead.
This book was entertaining, to say the least.
Entertaining in the sense that it was predictable, bizarre, embarrassing, comedic, and unrealistic.
Three cases in point:
1) Tate becomes weirdly obsessed with Charlie from the moment he stares at her as he’s fucking another woman. He then attempts to follow her, only to fail, yet see her again shortly after. Even when his ex-fiancé is around, he can’t stop staring at Charlie. He even called his ex-fiancé Charlie without realizing it. We then spend the book in his head telling himself he can’t be fucking his little brother’s love of his life, commenting on how sweet and innocent little Charlie is that he’s disgusted. I personally love stories where two people come together sharing grief. They can instantly connect and understand each other differently than others. But in DV, it’s plain entertainment and humor. It’s entirely unrealistic that it gets embarrassing.
2) Then you have the time Charlie walks into the clinic and basically demands that Tate gives her an appointment for her boss. She’s mad he isn’t available because it’s Valentine’s Day (aka the day Kellan died) so she’s mad because she thinks he’s playing around on a day like that. After walking in on him doing the deed and taking care of it, she expects him to give her an appointment.
“But the appointment…”
“I don’t take appointments today. Tell Ms. Rothschild to call me tomorrow.”
“You have to.” But I knew he didn’t, and that caused the panicked fly in the cobweb to make the mistake of thrashing uncontrollably, losing energy as the spider dove in for the kill. “I’ve waited here for over an hour.”
(Yes well, that’s usually what happens when you voluntarily decide to wait in the waiting room after being told the doctor won’t take any walk-ins for reasons you don't know)
3) There’s also that (1) scene that has everyone on their fours. Tate ends up (quite randomly) becoming Charlie’s OB-GYN after her boss basically made her have an OB-GYN. She became so desperate and horny when Tate told her to spread her legs [for him] to perform the pap smear, as well as deciding to take a bimanual exam because she was horny, causing her to have her hymen broken (she was a virgin). She ends up having an orgasm, groaning, moaning, all that. Tate keeps it professional (we know he didn't) and cool while Ms. Horny suddenly has jelly legs.
I am NOT saying you shouldn’t check for health regarding anything related to reproductive health, but I would go to an OB-GYN unless my own primary care doctor referred me to one for specific reasons concerning my health or if I was concerned about health factors, like cervical cancer. Or, really, if I wanted to make sure I was healthy. But none of that can apply to Charlie. It was only because Tate was the OB-GYN.
Oh, and I did mention it was her boss who basically made her get checked by Tate, right?
See, entertaining.
Moving on.
When Charlie and Tate start hanging out more, the whole book is then spent just of them finishing the manuscript Kellan left, which is another stupid and bizarre part of this. See, Kellan was writing a book called “Darling Venom” where he writes his love story with Charlie. Too many things that didn’t make sense happened here: Charlie and Kellan only met four times but never hung out or really got to know each other besides talking about the dark slug and how they wanna disappear. They kissed once. Their relationship is once a year (before it’s never). Other than that, there is no development to their relationship that the moments they shared felt repetitive due to nothing happening. This book ends up being finished by Charlie herself, as Kellan asked her, with the help of Terry, the dad. “Darling Venom” ends up becoming the new literary masterpiece and sensation that everyone ends up reading and loving. And don’t even get me started on the fact that Kellan was the one who wrote The Imperfections and not his poor-life of a father, Terry, who plagiarized it and stole all the credit. Kellan, dead from his hole, truly ended up taking the spotlight and became a shocker to the whole world. Suddenly nobody knew Terry Marchetti but everyone knew Kellan Marchetti.
I wouldn’t call this a romance. There is no development and substance not only between Charlie and Kellan but also between Charlie and Tate. Besides feeling zero sympathy and chemistry for Kellan and Charlie, Tate and Charlie had nothing to share besides shared grief and guilt about Kellan. There’s like, two sex scenes, too many embarrassing moments that I covered with laughter, and love being used as a cure for Charlie. Charlie never really mentioned what it is she’s struggling with, all we know is she wants to kill herself because her parents died in a fire and her sister hates her. She has a miserable and poor life so of course suicide is her answer to ending it all.
“I have no parents, money, or prospects. Hope is not really in my cards.”
“Just a sister who agreed to sacrifice.”
(The author really said lemme make this girls life miserable in the beginning and then forget about it all)
Everyones experience with mental health is different, and there is never one way to experience something. Yet this only ended up being another typical marketed suicide book for attention and bait, with mental health being the lowest key point here.
Tate Marchetti purged the loneliness from me.
He cured me.
I grinned. “You really are a doctor.”
(Cured you from what, your desperation?)
This book could have been 350 pages shorter. It has 90 chapters + the prologue and epilogue, and some of those chapters are nothing but inner-thoughts. In the end, suddenly all is okay, she's pregnant, is married to Tate, and the world knows who Kellan was.
Mainly, I felt glad for that Hannah chick he’d been about to marry several years ago. She’d dodged a deadly bullet.
(Well, that didn’t age well now did it?)
Shoutout to Mel for letting me vent and spam as I read.
And on a final note: Tate > Kellan
January 22, 2022
– 2.5 stars
EDIT: Reading Elena's review gave me the push to downgrade this book to 2 stars, because besides Tate and that ob-gyn scene (it's the laughter okay don't judge 🤚) there is nothing about this book that I liked. 🤷🏽♀️
buddy read with my darlingvenom mel.
while reading this book we concluded:
we might be emotionally damaged 🤡
Random thoughts in no particular order:
❗❗❗❗❗❗ spoilers ❗❗❗❗❗❗
🎀 I really thought I would feel some kind of things going into this book, but the only scene that made me feel anything was that ob-gyn scene when Tate (H) was fingering Charlotte ‘Charlie’ (h)
🎀 Charlie and Kellan’s friendship was suppose to be impactful and therefore made such a impact on Charlie when he committed suicide, but I thought it wasn’t well executed, since Kellan and Charlie only meet once a year on that rooftop, where both of them wanted to commit suicide, and they only meet a handful of times and it was all shown through time-jumps. It made me feel impossible to connect to these characters and their supposedly amazing friendship
🎀 asshole Tate over emo boi Kellan any day and any time
🎀 everyone said how emotional this book was and I bought tissues for this book and didn't even used any of them. I feel betrayed. Not one single tear escaped my eyes. I want my money back. 😤
🎀 I like how the grief was handled in this book on Tate’s side. There was so much regret and self hate that I rlly felt bad for him. So many miscommunication and missed opportunities between these brothers. Tate only wanted the best for Kellan and protect him from his dad, but showed it in the worse way and their relationship is the true tragedy of Darling Venom.
🎀 That ‘twist’ of Terry actually stealing parts of his book ‘The Imperfections’ from his son Kellan was the stupidest thing I’ve read.. I called it from the beginning, but hoped that it wouldn’t be true. That didn’t even make sense, Kellan adored his father for writing The Imperfections and how did he not see that his father plagiarized HIS work and called it his own?
🎀 Where was the romance tho? I was waiting for Tate x Charlie scenes, but they maybe had like a scene together every 5th or 6th chapter.. everything in between they were working or there was drama with Terry or Leah. Even if they had scenes together all they’re talking about is KELLAN. It was Kellan Kellan Kellan Kellan and nothing else, by the time Charlie said ‘I love you’ I was ???? why? when? how?
🎀 Charlie as a character was so ... bland. Mel and I were trying our hardest to get our three combined brain cells to work to come up with 5 things about Charlotte and that’s what we have: 1. she looks like some emo anime girl 2. her sister Leah rescued her from a burning house 3. uhm... uhm... uhm.. she is a voyeur???
🎀 Speaking of voyeur: the scene when Charlie walked into Tate’s office and sees him fucking his secretary and just stayed there and watch? I hate that scene, but it was actually hotter than Charlie x Tate’s first time. It was dry af. I said what I said.
🎀 Tate’s brand of asshole was my type of Hero and I liked his character, because he had more ✨ personality ✨ than Charlie, which isn't hard.
🎀 The book was way too long. It should have been 200 pages shorter and it would've been the same.
🎀 The hype got to me. 🥴
EDIT: Reading Elena's review gave me the push to downgrade this book to 2 stars, because besides Tate and that ob-gyn scene (it's the laughter okay don't judge 🤚) there is nothing about this book that I liked. 🤷🏽♀️
buddy read with my darling
while reading this book we concluded:
we might be emotionally damaged 🤡
Tears are the language of grief. And grief is the langauge of love.
Random thoughts in no particular order:
❗❗❗❗❗❗ spoilers ❗❗❗❗❗❗
🎀 I really thought I would feel some kind of things going into this book, but the only scene that made me feel anything was that ob-gyn scene when Tate (H) was fingering Charlotte ‘Charlie’ (h)
🎀 Charlie and Kellan’s friendship was suppose to be impactful and therefore made such a impact on Charlie when he committed suicide, but I thought it wasn’t well executed, since Kellan and Charlie only meet once a year on that rooftop, where both of them wanted to commit suicide, and they only meet a handful of times and it was all shown through time-jumps. It made me feel impossible to connect to these characters and their supposedly amazing friendship
🎀 asshole Tate over emo boi Kellan any day and any time
🎀 everyone said how emotional this book was and I bought tissues for this book and didn't even used any of them. I feel betrayed. Not one single tear escaped my eyes. I want my money back. 😤
🎀 I like how the grief was handled in this book on Tate’s side. There was so much regret and self hate that I rlly felt bad for him. So many miscommunication and missed opportunities between these brothers. Tate only wanted the best for Kellan and protect him from his dad, but showed it in the worse way and their relationship is the true tragedy of Darling Venom.
🎀 That ‘twist’ of Terry actually stealing parts of his book ‘The Imperfections’ from his son Kellan was the stupidest thing I’ve read.. I called it from the beginning, but hoped that it wouldn’t be true. That didn’t even make sense, Kellan adored his father for writing The Imperfections and how did he not see that his father plagiarized HIS work and called it his own?
🎀 Where was the romance tho? I was waiting for Tate x Charlie scenes, but they maybe had like a scene together every 5th or 6th chapter.. everything in between they were working or there was drama with Terry or Leah. Even if they had scenes together all they’re talking about is KELLAN. It was Kellan Kellan Kellan Kellan and nothing else, by the time Charlie said ‘I love you’ I was ???? why? when? how?
🎀 Charlie as a character was so ... bland. Mel and I were trying our hardest to get our three combined brain cells to work to come up with 5 things about Charlotte and that’s what we have: 1. she looks like some emo anime girl 2. her sister Leah rescued her from a burning house 3. uhm... uhm... uhm.. she is a voyeur???
🎀 Speaking of voyeur: the scene when Charlie walked into Tate’s office and sees him fucking his secretary and just stayed there and watch? I hate that scene, but it was actually hotter than Charlie x Tate’s first time. It was dry af. I said what I said.
🎀 Tate’s brand of asshole was my type of Hero and I liked his character, because he had more ✨ personality ✨ than Charlie, which isn't hard.
🎀 The book was way too long. It should have been 200 pages shorter and it would've been the same.
🎀 The hype got to me. 🥴
December 31, 2021
this was the most unexpected plot, and I loved every second of it. it was so much more than just romance. it had grief, mental health, character growth.. and yes, spice. i cried, I laughed. overall a rollercoaster of emotions & I highly recommend. one of my favorite reads of the year <3
December 29, 2021
4 stars
🛑SPOILERS. All the big ones are hidden in spoiler tags🛑
If I completely erase all traces of the cervical exam "oops-gasm" scene & hero being the OB-GYN (the fact that it was the longest chapter makes it really hard btw).....then this book was great.
It might even come really close to being phenomenal.
Charlotte Richards (Charlie) was 13 years old when she decided she wanted to kill herself.
So she gathered plummeting to death was the best way to go. Instead of finding an empty roof she saw a boy who had already come to the same conclusion. Kellan Marchetti was a stranger she had found a piece of herself in: Two suicidal teens, troublesome sibling relationships, outcasts, painful/traumatic pasts.
That day no one died but a pact was born. They will check on each other on the same roof, at the same time, every year.
As the years passed and their bond grew, one of them had overcome the suicidal urges, the other........didn't.
Eventually, her paths had crossed with the man behind her best friend's death, his brother & the person he hated above all others, Tate. Once again Charlie has found herself in a man: Guilt-ridden, grief-stricken, and incredibly lonely.
A PENNY FOR MY THOUGHTS? This book would've been better if it wasn't a romance.
I know many readers would much rather throw that penny straight into my eye socket rather than accept it, and I get it. I really do.
The romance in itself was not bad, it was very emotional. But I could not bring myself to care about the main couple when Kellan and his memory are right there. The story of self-hatred, pain, survival, and grief was so fucking beautiful, it was a huge part of this book, the most important part. So much so that Kellan completely overpowered the mediocre love story between Tate & Charlie. Everything centered around healing and life after loss, therefore romance as a subplot would've made this more enjoyable for me.
Does not help matters that Tate didn't hold a candle on Kellan (in my humble opinion). Something about him being a Gyno eeked me out, maybe it was that forsaken scene I mentioned earlier which is now the main reason for my chronic hair loss.
Not my proudest meme but it had to be done.
Plus the heroine had some backward ass logic I couldn't understand. Most decisions made by her (and occasionally Tate) were based on stupid excuses, not actual obstacles.
Nevertheless, Darling Venom explored some very complicated relationships between siblings and parents. Charlie had the longest, most frustrating and painful journey with her sister. Tiny moments felt so revolutionary once they finally took their first steps towards reconciliation. Leah let Charlie pin her hair😭😭🥺.
What I liked most about this story though, is that every character no matter how unlikable or repellant was redeemed. They were shown as humans, imperfect and struggling like pretty much all of us.
^Quote destroyed me.
ANOTHER PENNY FOR MY THOUGHTS? This book was lowkey hilarious.
Everyone spoke of the book Kellan wrote as the next literary masterpiece. A future classic to be examined in classrooms and referenced for decades to come.
We also got little passages from the fictional book itself.
You can't tell me everyone in the publishing world is thirsting after a book that references Miley Cyrus🤣🤣🤣. I can already imagine all the middle schoolers dissecting the comparison between emotional turmoils and our twerk queen✋😩
There were a number of other hard-to-believe scenes in here but they are inconsequential compared to the beauty of this story.
OVERALL: Kellan carried this book on his skinny, dead shoulders. He will forever live on in my heart.
PS: Will never understand the cover choices of some authors. The tumblr boy on the cover had me expecting a raunchy age-gap romance, not a full on cry fest☠
🛑SPOILERS. All the big ones are hidden in spoiler tags🛑
If I completely erase all traces of the cervical exam "oops-gasm" scene & hero being the OB-GYN (the fact that it was the longest chapter makes it really hard btw).....then this book was great.
It might even come really close to being phenomenal.
Charlotte Richards (Charlie) was 13 years old when she decided she wanted to kill herself.
So she gathered plummeting to death was the best way to go. Instead of finding an empty roof she saw a boy who had already come to the same conclusion. Kellan Marchetti was a stranger she had found a piece of herself in: Two suicidal teens, troublesome sibling relationships, outcasts, painful/traumatic pasts.
That day no one died but a pact was born. They will check on each other on the same roof, at the same time, every year.
As the years passed and their bond grew, one of them had overcome the suicidal urges, the other........didn't.
Eventually, her paths had crossed with the man behind her best friend's death, his brother & the person he hated above all others, Tate. Once again Charlie has found herself in a man: Guilt-ridden, grief-stricken, and incredibly lonely.
I confirmed three things at once:
1 Charlie was Venom,
2 Kellan Marchetti had been deeply, madly, infuriatingly in love with Charlotte Richards. And…
3 He wasn’t the only one who had a weakness for the odd, eccentric beauty.
A PENNY FOR MY THOUGHTS? This book would've been better if it wasn't a romance.
I know many readers would much rather throw that penny straight into my eye socket rather than accept it, and I get it. I really do.
The romance in itself was not bad, it was very emotional. But I could not bring myself to care about the main couple when Kellan and his memory are right there. The story of self-hatred, pain, survival, and grief was so fucking beautiful, it was a huge part of this book, the most important part. So much so that Kellan completely overpowered the mediocre love story between Tate & Charlie. Everything centered around healing and life after loss, therefore romance as a subplot would've made this more enjoyable for me.
It must be painful sharing a heart with all that grief.
Does not help matters that Tate didn't hold a candle on Kellan (in my humble opinion). Something about him being a Gyno eeked me out, maybe it was that forsaken scene I mentioned earlier which is now the main reason for my chronic hair loss.
Not my proudest meme but it had to be done.
Plus the heroine had some backward ass logic I couldn't understand. Most decisions made by her (and occasionally Tate) were based on stupid excuses, not actual obstacles.
Nevertheless, Darling Venom explored some very complicated relationships between siblings and parents. Charlie had the longest, most frustrating and painful journey with her sister. Tiny moments felt so revolutionary once they finally took their first steps towards reconciliation. Leah let Charlie pin her hair😭😭🥺.
What I liked most about this story though, is that every character no matter how unlikable or repellant was redeemed. They were shown as humans, imperfect and struggling like pretty much all of us.
“Kellan had dreams, and goals, and desires. Things to live for. The kid made friends everywhere he went, wrote stories editors would drool over, ran home to Christie and me excited for the next day. His teachers all said he’d become something. Just a damn good kid all around. He used to have the brightest fucking future I’d ever seen, and I killed it. I killed him .”
^Quote destroyed me.
ANOTHER PENNY FOR MY THOUGHTS? This book was lowkey hilarious.
Everyone spoke of the book Kellan wrote as the next literary masterpiece. A future classic to be examined in classrooms and referenced for decades to come.
We also got little passages from the fictional book itself.
It worked out fine for a while until reality hit him like Miley Cyrus’ wrecking ball. Turns out, when you chase attention, it bites you in the ass.
You can't tell me everyone in the publishing world is thirsting after a book that references Miley Cyrus🤣🤣🤣. I can already imagine all the middle schoolers dissecting the comparison between emotional turmoils and our twerk queen✋😩
There were a number of other hard-to-believe scenes in here but they are inconsequential compared to the beauty of this story.
OVERALL: Kellan carried this book on his skinny, dead shoulders. He will forever live on in my heart.
PS: Will never understand the cover choices of some authors. The tumblr boy on the cover had me expecting a raunchy age-gap romance, not a full on cry fest☠
International suicide hotlines:
https://www.opencounseling.com/suicid...
What to do if you're having suicidal thoughts:
https://www.opencounseling.com/blog/w...
What to do if someone you know is having suicidal thoughts:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-c...
Suicidal warning signs:
https://www.bridgestorecovery.com/blo...
June 6, 2023
Somehow doctor male love interests in romance books ALWAYS end up giving me the ICK.
What happened to the 'Mc Dreamy' effect? 😶
What happened to the 'Mc Dreamy' effect? 😶
December 18, 2021
I honestly don’t know how to do this justice. Last year I read Devious Lies and in my review said it was one of my favorite books but than failed to put it at the top of my list. I won’t be making that mistake this year.
This is a love story yes but it’s mostly a story about humanity. How far can we break before there’s nothing left to repair? How much anger can one heart encompass before it burns away into nothing but ash? How long can you live inside yourself before the loneliness eats you alive?
Guilt is the emotion that sucks most of all. Most of the time it’s unwarranted and even when it isn’t it does nothing for anyone. Nothing but make you feel worthless.
Ms. Huntington has a special kind of gift that lulls you into comfort before she breaks you wide open with pain. This one more than hits you in the feels, it inundates every emotion, some you didn’t even know you had.
In the midst of everything that happens from the highest highs to the lowest lows there’s always an underlying comfort of hope. Hope that these characters will manage to find their way in the dark and into each other’s arms.
Every time he talks about their relationship or lack thereof and it’s inevitable conclusion, reminds me of The Princess Bride. “Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep well. I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.”
He may not be able to say those 3 words but when you went home in an Uber and he realized it was gonna rain. So, he raced you home but forgot the umbrella. If that’s not love, Idk what is.
In the end just like in life things don’t always fall into place like puzzle pieces. Sometimes you need to trim edges or force something square into a round hole. But you make it work no matter what.
On a side note I’d just like to say … I knew it! (About The Imperfections)
This is a love story yes but it’s mostly a story about humanity. How far can we break before there’s nothing left to repair? How much anger can one heart encompass before it burns away into nothing but ash? How long can you live inside yourself before the loneliness eats you alive?
Guilt is the emotion that sucks most of all. Most of the time it’s unwarranted and even when it isn’t it does nothing for anyone. Nothing but make you feel worthless.
Ms. Huntington has a special kind of gift that lulls you into comfort before she breaks you wide open with pain. This one more than hits you in the feels, it inundates every emotion, some you didn’t even know you had.
In the midst of everything that happens from the highest highs to the lowest lows there’s always an underlying comfort of hope. Hope that these characters will manage to find their way in the dark and into each other’s arms.
Every time he talks about their relationship or lack thereof and it’s inevitable conclusion, reminds me of The Princess Bride. “Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep well. I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.”
He may not be able to say those 3 words but when you went home in an Uber and he realized it was gonna rain. So, he raced you home but forgot the umbrella. If that’s not love, Idk what is.
In the end just like in life things don’t always fall into place like puzzle pieces. Sometimes you need to trim edges or force something square into a round hole. But you make it work no matter what.
On a side note I’d just like to say … I knew it! (About The Imperfections)
Shelved as 'wishlist'
April 7, 2023Clarice made me do it ♥
2022 is going to be the year where I just trashily read whatever trash I want
2022 is going to be the year where I just trashily read whatever trash I want
December 17, 2021
This was a slow moving, slow burn, emotional kind of read which got its hooks into me straight away! The push and pull tugged on me like no other, a heartbreaking journey.
This broke my heart but mended it at the same time. Beautifully written! Highly recommend! Loved it!
This broke my heart but mended it at the same time. Beautifully written! Highly recommend! Loved it!
January 14, 2022
4.5 stars
I had no idea what to expect when picking up Darling Venom. I haven’t read this author before, I didn’t read the blurb, it was picked for part of a book club so I jumped in blind. I’m so glad I did. This one had angst and emotions galore. I love books like this. It’s one I didn’t want to put down for one moment. Definitely an addicting read.
Charlotte, Tate, and Kellan… I have so much to say about all three of these characters. SO MUCH. But my goodness, I feel like had I read the blurb or reviews it wouldn’t have been impactful so just know that the story was amazing and all encompassing.
This author is so talented, in fact, she made so many of the unlikable secondary characters likable for me, which is sometimes a difficult task. The story itself and the writing was so fantastic. If I would have loved the actual romance more, it would have easily been a full five stars, but this still was a great read overall and a strong 4-4.5 stars. This is my first book by this author and it definitely won’t be my last!
I had no idea what to expect when picking up Darling Venom. I haven’t read this author before, I didn’t read the blurb, it was picked for part of a book club so I jumped in blind. I’m so glad I did. This one had angst and emotions galore. I love books like this. It’s one I didn’t want to put down for one moment. Definitely an addicting read.
Charlotte, Tate, and Kellan… I have so much to say about all three of these characters. SO MUCH. But my goodness, I feel like had I read the blurb or reviews it wouldn’t have been impactful so just know that the story was amazing and all encompassing.
This author is so talented, in fact, she made so many of the unlikable secondary characters likable for me, which is sometimes a difficult task. The story itself and the writing was so fantastic. If I would have loved the actual romance more, it would have easily been a full five stars, but this still was a great read overall and a strong 4-4.5 stars. This is my first book by this author and it definitely won’t be my last!
Audio book source: Audible
Story Rating: 4.5 stars
Narrators: Ava Erikson, Sebastian York & Jacob Morgan
Narration Rating: 5 stars
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 15h 1m
January 2, 2022
it is so bad i wanna give you a zero, but that’s not possible, so i give you a one
May 16, 2023
Love is expensive.
Its currency is grief.
And sometimes, it costs more than you can afford.
I'm disappointed.
I didn't cry a single time and I was promised p a i n 😤
***
💀𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗢𝗠 - 𝗕𝗬 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗞𝗘𝗥 𝗦. 𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗧𝗢𝗡💀
★𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦: ⭐⭐⭐
★𝗬𝗔/𝗡𝗔/𝗔: 🅽🅰/🅰
★𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦: 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝙽𝙳𝙰𝙻𝙾𝙽𝙴
★𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦: 𝙳𝙰𝚁𝙺 𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴 - 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙿𝙾𝚁𝙰𝚁𝚈
★𝗣𝗢𝗩: 𝙳𝚄𝙰𝙻 𝙿𝙾𝚅 - 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝚂𝚃 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙾𝙽 - 𝙿𝙰𝚂𝚃 𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚂𝙴
★𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦: 𝙱𝙴𝚂𝚃 𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙽𝙳'𝚂 𝙱𝚁𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁/𝙱𝚁𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁'𝚂 𝚂𝙴𝙲𝚁𝙴𝚃 𝙲𝚁𝚄𝚂𝙷 - 𝙰𝙶𝙴 𝙶𝙰𝙿 (𝟷𝟸 𝚈𝙴𝙰𝚁𝚂) - 𝙸𝙽𝚂𝚃𝙰-𝙻𝚄𝚂𝚃 - 𝚃𝚁𝙰𝚄𝙼𝙰 𝙱𝙾𝙽𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶 - 𝙵𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙰𝚃𝚃𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚆𝙰𝙽𝚃 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚆𝙾𝙽'𝚃 𝚆𝙸𝙽 - 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴 𝙰𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙰𝙿𝚈 - 𝚂𝙴𝚇𝚈 𝙰𝚂𝚂𝙷𝙾𝙻𝙴 𝙼𝙼𝙲 - 𝙿𝙾𝚆𝙴𝚁 𝙸𝙼𝙱𝙰𝙻𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴
★𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥��: 👥👥/𝟱
★𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼/𝟱
★𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧: 📜📜/𝟱
★𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗦 & 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦: 💀💀💀💀/𝟱 (𝚂𝚄𝙸𝙲𝙸𝙳𝙴 - 𝚂𝚄𝙸𝙲𝙸𝙳𝙴 𝙰𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙿𝚃𝚂 - 𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵-𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙼 - 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙷 𝙾𝙵 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝙳 𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚂/𝙵𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙻𝚈 𝙼𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁𝚂 - 𝙶𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙵 - 𝙶𝚄𝙸𝙻𝚃 - 𝚄𝚂𝙸𝙽𝙶/𝙰𝙻𝙲𝙾𝙷𝙾𝙻𝙸𝙲 𝙿𝙰𝚁𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂 - 𝙰𝙻𝙲𝙾𝙷𝙾𝙻 ��𝙱𝚄𝚂𝙴 - 𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵-𝙻𝙾𝙰𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 )
★𝗦𝗠𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗘𝗖𝗛𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗧/𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗬: 🔥🔥½/𝟱 (𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙲𝚁𝙸𝙿𝚃𝙸𝚅𝙴 - 𝙺𝙸𝚂𝚂𝙸𝙽𝙶 - 𝙿𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 - 𝚂𝙴𝚇 - - 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝚂𝚃 𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴 𝙵𝙼𝙲 𝙼𝙴𝙴𝚃𝚂 𝙼𝙼𝙲 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝙻𝙺𝚂 𝙸𝙽 𝙾𝙽 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝙵𝚄𝙲𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙾𝙼𝙰𝙽 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚈𝚂 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙷𝙾𝚆 )
★𝗦𝗠𝗨𝗧 𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬: 🚒🚒/𝟱 (𝙽𝙶𝙻 𝙸𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝙳𝚁𝚈)
★𝗦𝗠𝗨𝗧 𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗬: 💣/𝟱
★𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦: 🤐🤐🤐/5 (𝙼𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙴 𝙻𝙰𝙽𝙶𝚄𝙰𝙶𝙴 - 𝙶𝚁𝙰𝙿𝙷𝙸𝙲 𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙲𝚁𝙸𝙿𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝚂𝙴𝚇)
★𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗬: 🌻🌻/𝟱
★𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬: 🌹🌹/𝟱
★𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟: 💔💔💔💔/𝟱
★𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗘: ❌
★𝗠𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘: 𝙵/𝙼
★𝗥𝗘𝗣: 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚂𝙲𝙰𝚁𝚂 - 𝙿𝚃𝚂𝙳 - 𝙰𝙽𝚇𝙸𝙴𝚃𝚈 - 𝙱𝙰𝙳 𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙷𝙰𝙱𝙸𝚃𝚂
★𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗘𝗦-𝗧𝗢-𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦: 🖤🖤/𝟱
★𝗧𝗬𝗣𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚:
★𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚: 🎶𝚃𝙾𝚇𝙸𝙲 - 𝙺𝙴𝙷𝙻𝙰𝙽𝙸🎶
▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰
***I always try to be as objective as I can with my ratings for DARK THEMES & TRIGGER WARNINGS, SMUT TECHNICAL CONTENT/INTENSITY, SMUT QUANTITY, ROMANCE QUANTITY, ANGST LEVEL, ENEMIES-TO-LOVERSNESS; the ratings for CHARACTERS, WRITING, PLOT, SMUT QUALITY, ROMANCE QUALITY, are instead tied to my own subjective reading experience and final opinion of the book.
Okay, no, that's not entirely true.
I might not have cried while reading this, but, despite its ups and downs, Darling Venom has its moments and is indeed as dark and intense as it was promised it'd be.
However, I expected the romance to match the mood, and that's where my expectations were met with disappointment, which is why I ended up not loving this as much as I thought I would at first.
We'll get there in a minute.
But first...this review is fucking cursed. This is my third time writing it because Goodreads thought it was cool to glitch while I was posting.
I swear if this doesn't work I'll just post a gif of Florence Pugh pouting and call it a success.
Anyway...
Huntington's writing is superior; so dramatic, full of chaotic full stops and one-liners that'd belong to a dialogue museum if there ever was one.
Sure, everything out of her characters' mouths sounds staged and definitely not something you'd expect a real person to say, but you can't help but bask in the way every emotion is magnified and emphasized.
This is my second time reading something by this author and I was pleasantly surprised to find out this is her signature writing style and not a fortuitous event.
Plotwise speaking this was a little too long for my tastes.
Trust me when I say this definitely didn't need to be a 700-page ass-long novel to get to its final point.
Like I mentioned before, I found the romance weak and uninteresting (I'll elaborate in a little, I promise), but I liked the first part -the one where Charlotte meets Kellan-, and I was equally invested both in Tate and his father's disastrous relationship and in the one between Charlotte and her sister.
These two family drama storylines carried the whole book for me, and if it wasn't for them, I probably wouldn't have finished the book.
Which, finally brings us to the main reason this book was only a mediocre read for me: *drumroll* the romance and the smut.
First of all, I couldn't feel any chemistry between Tate and Charlie and felt like their shared trauma was the only thing that kept them together.
I'm not shaming their trauma bond, I'm just saying that I felt like they weren't right for each other and had nothing that made them click aside from tragedy.
I guess that part of this indifference is partly tied to the fact that I ended up not liking the main characters that much, after all, and even if I did, I'd still feel like something was missing.
I also can't stand how a book that relies so much on the cahracters' internal battle against grief and guilt and self-loathing doesn't eventually end with one or both of them going to therapy.
Nope. Everyone suddenly is great and alright thanks to the power of fucking love.
The smut, somehow, ended up being the biggest let down of the entire book.
Look, I know it's not fair to judge a book by the quality of its smut, but Tate behaved like a real horndog through the first part of the book and said things that made my stomach clench, only to turn into a farting deflated balloon the moment it was time to seal the deal.
Quoting my darling twinsie, I have no morals, so don't be surprised if I'll tell you I didn't even mind when .
Weird af, but at least there was some emotion?
The actual thing not only lasted a handful of paragraphs, but was so sterile and impersonal I actually had to put my Kindle down for a second, because I was the opposite of turned on and had the strange urge to go watch paint dry.
Again, I expected this aspect of the story to match the same tune of the rest, but it didn't, and I'll never not be bitter about it.
Overall, Darling Venom was not a bad book, but it didn't touch me emotionally. Not with his romance, at least.
I'll totally pick up another book by Huntington, though. That woman has magic in her words.
🚩𝙿𝙾𝚂𝚂𝙸𝙱𝙻𝙴 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙱𝙻𝙴𝙼𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙲 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝙰𝙻𝙴𝚁𝚃!*🚩
*𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜, 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍/𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌/𝚝𝚘𝚡𝚒𝚌/𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎.
𝙸, 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠, 𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚣𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎:
-𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢;
-𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎;
-𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 "𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌" 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜/𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜/𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗;
-𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚂𝙴 𝙱𝙾𝙾𝙺𝚂, 𝚢'𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠?
January 1, 2022
5 stars 🩺
This book is more of a 4.5 star read, but I’m giving it more because it’s put me in a reading/reviewing slump and I can’t remember the last time I was in one.
Typically I write reviews right after finished a book because I have short term memory loss when it comes to novels. But this book, AHAH this shit was so good that it isn’t escaping my mind one bit 🤪
It’s true clownery that I was able to convince myself I would be able to write a review for this masterpiece. It’s hard to write a review for something that emotionally destroys you whilst making you fall in love with every character and every redemption arc.
a message to each character:
charlotte–it wasn’t your fault
kellan–you deserved to feel loved
tate–you deserve the absolute world
leah–i’m so proud that you learned to love yourself and allowed others to love you back
jonah–i would actually die for you
terry–a redemption story that rivals every one i’ve ever read
it was truly beautiful witnessing the first meeting between Tate and Charlotte. Nothing screams ‘I will one day love you more than myself’ than walking in on him fucking another woman while he’s staring at you 🤪🤪🤪
one of the greatest scenes is when charlotte, a virgin, decides to allow Tate to perform an exam on her because naturally, he’s an OB-GYN
NOT THE SASS IN THE LAST LINE 😂😂✋🏻
but Tate came through in the end, I mean Charlotte couldn’t be the only one 🙄
don't let these funny scenes let me take away from how good this book actually is. the characters were really well written and I even cared about the side characters lives to the point where I hope Charolette's sister and her love interest get their own book.
with that, I want to give a big props to the author for the beautiful note at the beginning of the book
to those who are having suicidal thoughts or know/suspect someone they know of having them, please know that there is always someone out there ready to help you
links to suicide hotline numbers around the world:
small list with extra info
complete list
This book is more of a 4.5 star read, but I’m giving it more because it’s put me in a reading/reviewing slump and I can’t remember the last time I was in one.
Typically I write reviews right after finished a book because I have short term memory loss when it comes to novels. But this book, AHAH this shit was so good that it isn’t escaping my mind one bit 🤪
It’s true clownery that I was able to convince myself I would be able to write a review for this masterpiece. It’s hard to write a review for something that emotionally destroys you whilst making you fall in love with every character and every redemption arc.
a message to each character:
charlotte–it wasn’t your fault
kellan–you deserved to feel loved
tate–you deserve the absolute world
leah–i’m so proud that you learned to love yourself and allowed others to love you back
jonah–i would actually die for you
terry–a redemption story that rivals every one i’ve ever read
it was truly beautiful witnessing the first meeting between Tate and Charlotte. Nothing screams ‘I will one day love you more than myself’ than walking in on him fucking another woman while he’s staring at you 🤪🤪🤪
One of her tan legs wrapped around his waist. The other extended over his shoulder. He was fully clothed in dark cigarette pants and a matching cashmere sweater that highlighted his insanely muscular physique.
He was also looking straight at me.
one of the greatest scenes is when charlotte, a virgin, decides to allow Tate to perform an exam on her because naturally, he’s an OB-GYN
My eyes rolled over in their sockets. I slammed them shut. Every muscle in my body tensed and squeezed deliciously.
“Tate,” I whimpered.
“Dr. Marchetti.” His professional tone snapped me back to reality.
Too late.
“I’m… I’m…”
“Seems that way.”
NOT THE SASS IN THE LAST LINE 😂😂✋🏻
Tate slid in the speculum, spreading the walls of my vagina. To my horror, the sensation was still very pleasant. In fact, a suction sound came from my greedy lady part.
I groaned in embarrassment, closing my eyes.
If I came again, I was divorcing my body.
but Tate came through in the end, I mean Charlotte couldn’t be the only one 🙄
“I wasn’t concerned about your sex life because you were a patient,” he said casually. “I’m concerned about it because I want to fuck your brains out until you lose the ability to walk straight. Unfortunately for me.”
don't let these funny scenes let me take away from how good this book actually is. the characters were really well written and I even cared about the side characters lives to the point where I hope Charolette's sister and her love interest get their own book.
with that, I want to give a big props to the author for the beautiful note at the beginning of the book
'To those walking the edge of the roof, don’t do it.
And to those who make them, good luck surviving yourselves.'
to those who are having suicidal thoughts or know/suspect someone they know of having them, please know that there is always someone out there ready to help you
links to suicide hotline numbers around the world:
small list with extra info
complete list
January 29, 2024
2,75 stars
the concept was really interesting but there were lots of cringe scenes and i had to push myself to finish it😭
the concept was really interesting but there were lots of cringe scenes and i had to push myself to finish it😭
December 28, 2021
Darling Venom is a book I didn’t know that I needed. It’s a true masterpiece from beginning to end. It's heavy and intense, I wouldn’t change one iota. This book will forever have a special place in my heart. It’s my top read of 2021. No matter what I write in my review, I hope to do this book some justice. So here it goes, and I may be all over the place.
As I am writing this review, I am already tearing up. Numerous passages of this book are beautifully elegant, words just flow effortlessly from page to page. I felt every single emotion.
Let’s be honest, As much as this is a love story, it’s more about a journey of two people brought together by a tragic death, dealing with the after-effects and with many questions. The journey is excruciating and yet, beautiful. At ten percent, I was bawling like a baby, and it didn’t stop from this point on. The author ripped my heart wide open, while it bled out, she slowly put it back together again.
The development of each charter is extraordinary. Tate is hot and moody and spiraling. Charlotte, stunning, broken, and always puts other people's needs before hers. On a side note, Kellen reminded me of one of my brothers and I needed that reminder. I can't thank the author enough.
There are several underlining meanings in this book. Hope and forgiveness are the top two.
To say I devoured this book would be an understatement. And I will re-read this in the future. Run don’t walk to this book, it’s definitely a must-read. A word of advice has tissues on hand.
As I am writing this review, I am already tearing up. Numerous passages of this book are beautifully elegant, words just flow effortlessly from page to page. I felt every single emotion.
Let’s be honest, As much as this is a love story, it’s more about a journey of two people brought together by a tragic death, dealing with the after-effects and with many questions. The journey is excruciating and yet, beautiful. At ten percent, I was bawling like a baby, and it didn’t stop from this point on. The author ripped my heart wide open, while it bled out, she slowly put it back together again.
The development of each charter is extraordinary. Tate is hot and moody and spiraling. Charlotte, stunning, broken, and always puts other people's needs before hers. On a side note, Kellen reminded me of one of my brothers and I needed that reminder. I can't thank the author enough.
There are several underlining meanings in this book. Hope and forgiveness are the top two.
To say I devoured this book would be an understatement. And I will re-read this in the future. Run don’t walk to this book, it’s definitely a must-read. A word of advice has tissues on hand.
June 25, 2024
dnf at 63%
This book just couldn't resist riding that dead horse into the ground. It starts off great, then veers off course and goes straight into 'Dead Guy Memorial Club' territory. Every conversation, every thought is centered around Kellan. I know his death brought them together but it's like the author didn't know when to give it a rest and that there's life beyond grief. One minute they're talking to each other, and the next minute they're back to grieving and reminiscing. On top of everything, this was unnecessarily long and I was exhausted from the constant focus on Kellan and his manuscript(this was really unbelievable).
This book just couldn't resist riding that dead horse into the ground. It starts off great, then veers off course and goes straight into 'Dead Guy Memorial Club' territory. Every conversation, every thought is centered around Kellan. I know his death brought them together but it's like the author didn't know when to give it a rest and that there's life beyond grief. One minute they're talking to each other, and the next minute they're back to grieving and reminiscing. On top of everything, this was unnecessarily long and I was exhausted from the constant focus on Kellan and his manuscript(this was really unbelievable).
January 25, 2022
2.5 im fine with fake deep books unless they start dragging and getting tedious.
wannabe manuscript (erase the memory of the quotes from my mind🙏) killed my last brain cell.
why would he leave it to the teenage girl he'd talked to 4 times is another rhetorical question to ponder.
ngl i was mildly entertained but then the author just pulled a drama queen's card.. sorry im outta here, i refuse to shed tears over something that dumb🥳
last piece: pls stop romanticizing suicide, it aint cute, and you ain't a damn poet
wannabe manuscript (erase the memory of the quotes from my mind🙏) killed my last brain cell.
why would he leave it to the teenage girl he'd talked to 4 times is another rhetorical question to ponder.
ngl i was mildly entertained but then the author just pulled a drama queen's card.. sorry im outta here, i refuse to shed tears over something that dumb🥳
last piece: pls stop romanticizing suicide, it aint cute, and you ain't a damn poet
Read
June 4, 2022this book was good but unfortunately it was like 600 pages and i ended up getting bored
March 8, 2022
This had no business being like 500 pages (kindle said 700 pages lol), but I still REALLY enjoyed it. If you don't mind long books, I highly recommend it. It's an intense, emotional read that had me hooked onto the pages. It's slow burn and slightly forbidden – Charlotte was (kind of) best friends with Tate's brother until Kellan's tragic death. So both our main characters are dealing with their grief even years later, and unable to move on from it.
TW:
There's just so much going on in this book, it's hard to wrap my head around it. It's for sure an improvement from the last Parker S. Huntington book I read. The pacing is extremely slow, but it worked for these characters. They needed time to manage their grief and heartbreak and emotions, while also opening themselves up to love. The character development and growth was well-written (especially for Tate, because I really didn't expect for fall for his character). The story is a roller coaster of emotions, and if you love romances with broken characters, you'll love this one.
TW:
There's just so much going on in this book, it's hard to wrap my head around it. It's for sure an improvement from the last Parker S. Huntington book I read. The pacing is extremely slow, but it worked for these characters. They needed time to manage their grief and heartbreak and emotions, while also opening themselves up to love. The character development and growth was well-written (especially for Tate, because I really didn't expect for fall for his character). The story is a roller coaster of emotions, and if you love romances with broken characters, you'll love this one.
February 6, 2023
I normally start my reviews with the tropes, but this book… it’s so much more then any trope you could catagorize it under. I have been at a loss for words for days now, hoping that with time I’d have the perfect words to do it justice, spoiler alert I don’t. Nothing I could say will ever do it justice, it’s one of the most beautiful journeys I’ve ever been on when it comes to reading (and I’ve read quite a few books). I’d like to say it will break your heart… and it will, but it will put it back together and fill every empty crack. This is so much more then a love story. Let me try my best to explain.
You know those books… the ones that when you start reading them, you think about them throughout the day… anxious to get back to them? Well this was that book for me. Darling Venom is more then 5 stars… I’d give it a million stars if it was possible.
This isn’t your typical girl meets boy story… I mean in some ways it is… but not the way you would think. To me this is Kellans story… this is so much bigger then Charlotte and Tate.. Kellan is the heart, he’s the body he’s the soul of this book. He’s the gravitational pull that brings everyone together. Without him there would be no love… there would be no hope within these pages. I am so freaking captivated and enthralled by this story… many times I found myself sitting in my car going over the passages I had read, work watery eyes… the significance I felt.. the intensity of the words, it’s unlike anything I have read.
“That night in a field of planets absent of stars, he granted my demands, kissing me until my lips bruised and the sun rose over the horizon”
Gosh I swooned so hard in this moment. Tate and Charlotte are everything! They will stick with me for forever… they are exactly what each other needed and I find their bond beautiful. This is the story I’ve been looking for, stories like this remind me why I fell in love with romance in the first place. Parker Huntington has literally written some of my all time favorite books and now I can say she has written my absolute favorite. I think you are doing yourself a disservice by not reading it..
This story is more then just a love story, it’s hope, it’s angst, it’s redemption, it’s growth. It’s raw and beautiful and every little detail in between. Go into this one blindly and enjoy every moment of it. I wholeheartedly recommend.
You know those books… the ones that when you start reading them, you think about them throughout the day… anxious to get back to them? Well this was that book for me. Darling Venom is more then 5 stars… I’d give it a million stars if it was possible.
This isn’t your typical girl meets boy story… I mean in some ways it is… but not the way you would think. To me this is Kellans story… this is so much bigger then Charlotte and Tate.. Kellan is the heart, he’s the body he’s the soul of this book. He’s the gravitational pull that brings everyone together. Without him there would be no love… there would be no hope within these pages. I am so freaking captivated and enthralled by this story… many times I found myself sitting in my car going over the passages I had read, work watery eyes… the significance I felt.. the intensity of the words, it’s unlike anything I have read.
“That night in a field of planets absent of stars, he granted my demands, kissing me until my lips bruised and the sun rose over the horizon”
Gosh I swooned so hard in this moment. Tate and Charlotte are everything! They will stick with me for forever… they are exactly what each other needed and I find their bond beautiful. This is the story I’ve been looking for, stories like this remind me why I fell in love with romance in the first place. Parker Huntington has literally written some of my all time favorite books and now I can say she has written my absolute favorite. I think you are doing yourself a disservice by not reading it..
This story is more then just a love story, it’s hope, it’s angst, it’s redemption, it’s growth. It’s raw and beautiful and every little detail in between. Go into this one blindly and enjoy every moment of it. I wholeheartedly recommend.
November 18, 2023
Well, well, well, this was a disaster. Not only was this clichéd and stupid but also highly boring and lengthy.
This is supposed to be a steamy romance but it really isn’t. The steamy scenes were extremely bland since our dearest two leads didn’t have any chemistry at all.
To be honest, I preferred the story of Charlotte and Kellan. Despite the fact it was a rather insta-love thing and the fact that they interacted only 3-4 times at the beginning of this book, they were tolerable (mostly).
The second half of the book was quite unbearable for me. Tate and Charlotte, our lovely leads, were quite simply obnoxious.
Charlotte was horribly boring and quite embarrassing. Even though Tate was a very unpleasant person (in other words, an arsehole) he was still better than Charlotte. I don’t know why, maybe because he had some personality. Who knows?
Also, some things in this book were very unrealistic.
Although Keelan was there for only a little time in the book, he still was the most tolerable character.
I need to mention one more thing, so please bear with me. I want to talk about the infamous OB-GYN scene. You all know what I’m talking about.
I don’t know whether that scene was embarrassing or hilarious. After reading that scene, I decided to drop the book for some time and then I wondered what am I doing with my life. Why am I reading this? Why?
This is supposed to be a steamy romance but it really isn’t. The steamy scenes were extremely bland since our dearest two leads didn’t have any chemistry at all.
To be honest, I preferred the story of Charlotte and Kellan. Despite the fact it was a rather insta-love thing and the fact that they interacted only 3-4 times at the beginning of this book, they were tolerable (mostly).
The second half of the book was quite unbearable for me. Tate and Charlotte, our lovely leads, were quite simply obnoxious.
Charlotte was horribly boring and quite embarrassing. Even though Tate was a very unpleasant person (in other words, an arsehole) he was still better than Charlotte. I don’t know why, maybe because he had some personality. Who knows?
Also, some things in this book were very unrealistic.
Although Keelan was there for only a little time in the book, he still was the most tolerable character.
I need to mention one more thing, so please bear with me. I want to talk about the infamous OB-GYN scene. You all know what I’m talking about.
I don’t know whether that scene was embarrassing or hilarious. After reading that scene, I decided to drop the book for some time and then I wondered what am I doing with my life. Why am I reading this? Why?
September 6, 2024
4.5/5
Did I read this in one night because I couldn't stop myself? Yes. And it was DEFINITELY worth it.
Did I read this in one night because I couldn't stop myself? Yes. And it was DEFINITELY worth it.
December 18, 2021
I’m crying here! Yes! I don’t have words to describe this book. It’s so so so beautiful!
Please read this book!
It’s worth the reading.
Please read this book!
It’s worth the reading.
March 12, 2022
Honestly, this book is kind of hard for me to rate and review. It was definitely really entertaining, but I’m not sure how I feel about certain parts of it
🆗 I THOUGHT THE FIRST HALF was really good and a lot better than the second half. I enjoyed the push and pull between Charlie and Tate at the beginning but once they got the manuscript it felt like the story and relationship development reallyyyy started dragging
❌I HAVE LOTS OF THOUGHTS about the suicide and about Kellan’s character in general. I will admit I’ve never had mental health issues or depression myself so it’s difficult for me to understand, but I have a younger sister that struggled with similar things to Kellan when we were younger, so it was much easier for me to relate to Tate than to Kellan. All I’m going to say is that to me, given everything we find out by the end, I felt like Kellan’s decision was more selfish than anything.
→ Why did he idolize his dad for being a writer given the reveal that happened at the end? He knew his dad was a piece of shit but still blamed Tate for everything
→ He admitted to loving his brother in the end and knew his brother loved him too
→ I didn’t feel this big connection between him and Charlie… like they met once a year and traded some notes/books back and forth a couple times? He pushed her away at every point when it was clear she wanted the friendship/relationship
→ He left all these breadcrumbs to help those he left behind heal, like the manuscript and the voicemail, which to me implied he knew his actions would hurt them because they cared about him
Anyway… this is just how I interpreted his story and actions based on my own thoughts and background 😣 Sorry if anyone takes offense
✅ I WILL ADMIT that I definitely felt a lot in this book, especially for Tate and Leah. Maybe it’s just my “oldest sibling syndrome” haha 😅 I was obviously really frustrated with how Leah acted for a majority of the novel, but I felt like it made sense given what happened. I thought both Tate and Leah’s guilt and pain were really well written
🆗 THE ROMANCE WAS interesting… honestly, it kind of felt like more of a sub-plot than the main plot? I can understand why Charlie was immediately infatuated by Tate (hot older doctor 😍) but Tate became obsessed with Charlie a little too quickly for my taste. And then their relationship just dragged sooo much in the second half. One moment they would be hot for each other and then the next it was all “omg I can’t believe he/she fucking did that” and they wouldn’t talk about it and would grow distant again. Smut was okay but didn’t make me feel anything. And fuck that gynecologist scene 😵💫😵💫
✅ I LIKED HOW EVERY CHARACTER was redeemed in the end. Charlie, Leah, Tate and Terry were all able to overcome their trauma in a way that tied everything together in the end with a nice, pretty bow on top. I like HEA endings so this was good for me, even if it wrapped up a little quickly
Overall, I enjoyed this book even though I didn’t understand or love every aspect of it. It was a little too long but I read it very quickly because it was really engrossing. I recommend this is you’re interested in a romance with a heavy emphasis on how people deal with grief and trauma and you’re okay with the triggers.
Steam Scale: 🔥🔥🔥/3
Swoon Scale: ❤️❤️/3
🆗 I THOUGHT THE FIRST HALF was really good and a lot better than the second half. I enjoyed the push and pull between Charlie and Tate at the beginning but once they got the manuscript it felt like the story and relationship development reallyyyy started dragging
❌I HAVE LOTS OF THOUGHTS about the suicide and about Kellan’s character in general. I will admit I’ve never had mental health issues or depression myself so it’s difficult for me to understand, but I have a younger sister that struggled with similar things to Kellan when we were younger, so it was much easier for me to relate to Tate than to Kellan. All I’m going to say is that to me, given everything we find out by the end, I felt like Kellan’s decision was more selfish than anything.
→ Why did he idolize his dad for being a writer given the reveal that happened at the end? He knew his dad was a piece of shit but still blamed Tate for everything
→ He admitted to loving his brother in the end and knew his brother loved him too
→ I didn’t feel this big connection between him and Charlie… like they met once a year and traded some notes/books back and forth a couple times? He pushed her away at every point when it was clear she wanted the friendship/relationship
→ He left all these breadcrumbs to help those he left behind heal, like the manuscript and the voicemail, which to me implied he knew his actions would hurt them because they cared about him
Anyway… this is just how I interpreted his story and actions based on my own thoughts and background 😣 Sorry if anyone takes offense
✅ I WILL ADMIT that I definitely felt a lot in this book, especially for Tate and Leah. Maybe it’s just my “oldest sibling syndrome” haha 😅 I was obviously really frustrated with how Leah acted for a majority of the novel, but I felt like it made sense given what happened. I thought both Tate and Leah’s guilt and pain were really well written
🆗 THE ROMANCE WAS interesting… honestly, it kind of felt like more of a sub-plot than the main plot? I can understand why Charlie was immediately infatuated by Tate (hot older doctor 😍) but Tate became obsessed with Charlie a little too quickly for my taste. And then their relationship just dragged sooo much in the second half. One moment they would be hot for each other and then the next it was all “omg I can’t believe he/she fucking did that” and they wouldn’t talk about it and would grow distant again. Smut was okay but didn’t make me feel anything. And fuck that gynecologist scene 😵💫😵💫
✅ I LIKED HOW EVERY CHARACTER was redeemed in the end. Charlie, Leah, Tate and Terry were all able to overcome their trauma in a way that tied everything together in the end with a nice, pretty bow on top. I like HEA endings so this was good for me, even if it wrapped up a little quickly
Overall, I enjoyed this book even though I didn’t understand or love every aspect of it. It was a little too long but I read it very quickly because it was really engrossing. I recommend this is you’re interested in a romance with a heavy emphasis on how people deal with grief and trauma and you’re okay with the triggers.
Steam Scale: 🔥🔥🔥/3
Swoon Scale: ❤️❤️/3
January 13, 2022
I don’t care what any of you losers say. This book was amazing. I hate myself for judging it based on the cover and putting it off for so long because It’s been a hot minute since I devoured a book this quickly
I got the death part right.
The despair. The darkness. The bleakness of existence.
Now I need you to color in the shades
I preferred Kellan. Let me say that and just get that out of the way.
This book was hella predictable, kellan’s death was an anticipated tragedy and I wish the blurb didn’t give it away because I think the unknown would’ve hit me more.
Still. It made me cry in several occasions. Now if you’re looking for a good cry then please don’t take my word because I cry for everything. —
I don’t hate you, Tate.
I might even like you a little.
See you in the next life.
Maybe we’ll actually be brothers in that one.
:- this made me cry.
I liked all the characters here. The primary , secondary, even the woman Tate was fucking when Charlotte walked in on them. They weren’t complex or anything special but I liked reading about them deal with grief and move on. Charlotte, Tate, Terry & Leah.
The relationship between Tate and Charlette was probably the most irrelevant aspect of this entire book for me. It was always an afterthought and didn’t have any affect on my experience while reading it. I feel like I would’ve have cared if they were fucking or not.
I got the death part right.
The despair. The darkness. The bleakness of existence.
Now I need you to color in the shades
I preferred Kellan. Let me say that and just get that out of the way.
This book was hella predictable, kellan’s death was an anticipated tragedy and I wish the blurb didn’t give it away because I think the unknown would’ve hit me more.
Still. It made me cry in several occasions. Now if you’re looking for a good cry then please don’t take my word because I cry for everything. —
I don’t hate you, Tate.
I might even like you a little.
See you in the next life.
Maybe we’ll actually be brothers in that one.
:- this made me cry.
I liked all the characters here. The primary , secondary, even the woman Tate was fucking when Charlotte walked in on them. They weren’t complex or anything special but I liked reading about them deal with grief and move on. Charlotte, Tate, Terry & Leah.
The relationship between Tate and Charlette was probably the most irrelevant aspect of this entire book for me. It was always an afterthought and didn’t have any affect on my experience while reading it. I feel like I would’ve have cared if they were fucking or not.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 13, 2021
I have to admit that I'm one of those readers who has to read the blurb of every book that I look at to determine if it’s worth it. Friends to lovers? I’m there. Heartache and Angst? Bring me all the wine. Forbidden romance? Just take my money. But there was something different about this book when I started reading the blurb for it and I realized that it was a gut feeling telling me that I NEEDED to read this story. And you know what? I paid attention and did it. Twenty four hours later... and I’m still thinking about it.
Charlotte Richards has been through her fair share of heartache and tragedy to last her a lifetime. Her emotional scars will never heal in the way that she wants it to and existing feels like a burden most days. When a chance encounter with a classmate changes her perspective on what was supposed to be the worst day of her life, Charlie makes a pact with her new friend. Little does she know that one handshake and a spoken promise is going to change her in ways that she’ll never see coming.
This story felt like it was intricately woven into my brain for the past few days. I started off reading a few chapters and had to stop because real life waits for no one and in those moments, I was still thinking about the next time that I was going to be able to pick it up again and just indulge without interference. These characters haunted me like you wouldn't believe and I needed to see how far they were going to take things. I wanted to feel at peace with them and even though I hated some of their decisions and the way some things were done, I still held them close to my heart.
I honestly thought that I knew what I was getting myself into when I started this book but I didn't. I know that I’m going to be thinking about these characters for a while because they left a mark and you felt everything that you were supposed to with them. Heartache, pain, fury, love loss, forgiveness, passion and acceptance. You felt it all and you embraced it all because deep down you know the darkness is only temporary and being in the light is worth it. I know that this is going down as one of my top favorite reads of 2021 and I’m so glad that I took this journey.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 10,173 reviews