Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]'s Reviews > Credence
Credence
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Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]'s review
bookshelves: style-1st-person, hero-alpha, hero-american, heroine-american, trope-bad-boy-good-girl, hero-black-haired, heroine-blonde, genre-contemporary, hero-cruel, hero-dark, genre-dark-romance, heroine-doormat, theme-emotional-intrigue, theme-family-relationships, style-fast-paced, trope-forced-seduction, hero-aged-20s, story-infuriating, trope-love-triangle, style-male-pov, hero-manwhore, style-multiple-pov, genre-new-adult, hero-older, relationship-om-drama, relationship-ow-drama, heroine-reserved, place-america, heroine-submissive, heroine-aged-teens, hero-tortured, heroine-virgin, relationship-weak-romance, heroine-wealthy
Jan 14, 2020
bookshelves: style-1st-person, hero-alpha, hero-american, heroine-american, trope-bad-boy-good-girl, hero-black-haired, heroine-blonde, genre-contemporary, hero-cruel, hero-dark, genre-dark-romance, heroine-doormat, theme-emotional-intrigue, theme-family-relationships, style-fast-paced, trope-forced-seduction, hero-aged-20s, story-infuriating, trope-love-triangle, style-male-pov, hero-manwhore, style-multiple-pov, genre-new-adult, hero-older, relationship-om-drama, relationship-ow-drama, heroine-reserved, place-america, heroine-submissive, heroine-aged-teens, hero-tortured, heroine-virgin, relationship-weak-romance, heroine-wealthy
** spoiler alert **
What the actual HELL did I just read????
Girl's parents commit suicide. Girl is placed under care of her father's stepbrother, who lives in the mountains of Colorado with his two sons. Girl spends winter hopping from one of their beds to the other, before 'falling in love' with the one who's a psycho.
HERE'S WHY NONE OF THIS WORKED FOR ME:
❌ The relationships were not handled well AT ALL. The girl (Tiernan) has sex with her step-uncle Jake first, then step-cousin Noah, then other step-cousin Kaleb. It's just... well, it's hard to describe, but the moment she's finished having sex with Jake or Noah, all the lust that the author has spent ages building up fizzles out of her. It's really weird. But then at random moments, the lust comes back. I just don't understand it, but I can't really explain. Just take my word for it that the relationship dynamics are handled badly and illogically.
❌ Kaleb is a goddamned psychopath. Just trust me on this, as someone who usually loves psychopathic heroes (I gave 5 stars to The Silver Devil and I like Addison Cain, for f*ck's sake) he leaves them in the dust. He doesn't speak because of a 'childhood trauma', he does nothing but rape the heroine until she's convinced she likes it, and finally throws her birth control pills into the bin. If the author balanced this by showing us moments where he CARED about the heroine, I could have possibly tolerated it; I have a high threshold for dark heroes. But he doesn't give a crap about the heroine. HE SPITS ON HER, he slaps her, he throws food at her... Bloody hell.
❌ The 'love' in this book is a joke. Simply, the heroine has sex with three men, and then arbitrarily decides to fall in love with one of them over the other. That's it. There's no deeper reason. They never speak to each other, Kaleb isn't even in like half the book, he rapes her like it's going out of fashion... even when we get a chapter from his perspective, it's evident he feels nothing for the heroine besides a vague physical interest in her. THERE IS ZERO BASIS for their love and this book is not a romance.
❌ I have to say, I can't blame the heroine too much, because Tiernan is clearly suffering from intense mental disturbances and she honestly just needs professional help. It's not her fault - her parents never paid any attention to her. So of course, suddenly three attractive men are displaying interest in her, and she mistakes the Stockholm-esque nature of her feelings for Kaleb for love.
❌ This book is MISOGYNISTIC AS F*CK. It's all about every male in the book having an endless supply of slutty women while they pull a shotgun on a guy flirting with the heroine (whom obviously, the author makes into a baddie. So there isn't even any real option for the heroine). Tiernan thinks about telling the men how hypocritical they are, then sort of just forgets all about it. I wanted to reach into this book and strangle every male character in it.
❌ There's a plot-line about Kaleb possibly getting an OW pregnant. As if this dumpster fire of a book wasn't bad enough.
Think I'm going to stop there, but I've read and disliked Penelope Douglas's heroes before so I really should never have put myself through this torture. Stay the hell away.
[Blog] - [Bookstagram]
Girl's parents commit suicide. Girl is placed under care of her father's stepbrother, who lives in the mountains of Colorado with his two sons. Girl spends winter hopping from one of their beds to the other, before 'falling in love' with the one who's a psycho.
HERE'S WHY NONE OF THIS WORKED FOR ME:
❌ The relationships were not handled well AT ALL. The girl (Tiernan) has sex with her step-uncle Jake first, then step-cousin Noah, then other step-cousin Kaleb. It's just... well, it's hard to describe, but the moment she's finished having sex with Jake or Noah, all the lust that the author has spent ages building up fizzles out of her. It's really weird. But then at random moments, the lust comes back. I just don't understand it, but I can't really explain. Just take my word for it that the relationship dynamics are handled badly and illogically.
❌ Kaleb is a goddamned psychopath. Just trust me on this, as someone who usually loves psychopathic heroes (I gave 5 stars to The Silver Devil and I like Addison Cain, for f*ck's sake) he leaves them in the dust. He doesn't speak because of a 'childhood trauma', he does nothing but rape the heroine until she's convinced she likes it, and finally throws her birth control pills into the bin. If the author balanced this by showing us moments where he CARED about the heroine, I could have possibly tolerated it; I have a high threshold for dark heroes. But he doesn't give a crap about the heroine. HE SPITS ON HER, he slaps her, he throws food at her... Bloody hell.
❌ The 'love' in this book is a joke. Simply, the heroine has sex with three men, and then arbitrarily decides to fall in love with one of them over the other. That's it. There's no deeper reason. They never speak to each other, Kaleb isn't even in like half the book, he rapes her like it's going out of fashion... even when we get a chapter from his perspective, it's evident he feels nothing for the heroine besides a vague physical interest in her. THERE IS ZERO BASIS for their love and this book is not a romance.
❌ I have to say, I can't blame the heroine too much, because Tiernan is clearly suffering from intense mental disturbances and she honestly just needs professional help. It's not her fault - her parents never paid any attention to her. So of course, suddenly three attractive men are displaying interest in her, and she mistakes the Stockholm-esque nature of her feelings for Kaleb for love.
❌ This book is MISOGYNISTIC AS F*CK. It's all about every male in the book having an endless supply of slutty women while they pull a shotgun on a guy flirting with the heroine (whom obviously, the author makes into a baddie. So there isn't even any real option for the heroine). Tiernan thinks about telling the men how hypocritical they are, then sort of just forgets all about it. I wanted to reach into this book and strangle every male character in it.
❌ There's a plot-line about Kaleb possibly getting an OW pregnant. As if this dumpster fire of a book wasn't bad enough.
Think I'm going to stop there, but I've read and disliked Penelope Douglas's heroes before so I really should never have put myself through this torture. Stay the hell away.
[Blog] - [Bookstagram]
![photo c l i m b C2A0e v e r y C2A0m o u n t a i n 2_zpsykn9gbgr.png](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1533226812i/26067187._SX540_.png)
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Reading Progress
January 14, 2020
–
Started Reading
January 14, 2020
– Shelved
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
style-1st-person
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
hero-alpha
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
hero-american
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
heroine-american
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
trope-bad-boy-good-girl
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
hero-black-haired
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
heroine-blonde
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
genre-contemporary
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
hero-cruel
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
hero-dark
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
genre-dark-romance
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
heroine-doormat
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
theme-emotional-intrigue
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
theme-family-relationships
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
style-fast-paced
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
trope-forced-seduction
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
hero-aged-20s
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
story-infuriating
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
trope-love-triangle
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
style-male-pov
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
hero-manwhore
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
style-multiple-pov
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
genre-new-adult
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
hero-older
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
relationship-om-drama
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
relationship-ow-drama
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
heroine-reserved
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
place-america
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
heroine-submissive
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
heroine-aged-teens
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
hero-tortured
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
heroine-virgin
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
relationship-weak-romance
January 14, 2020
– Shelved as:
heroine-wealthy
January 14, 2020
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 283 (283 new)
message 1:
by
Poppy
(new)
-
rated it 3 stars
Jan 14, 2020 04:34PM
![Poppy](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1704572397p1/14868911.jpg)
reply
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![GimmeAllTheWerdssss](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1474488412p1/50783603.jpg)
![Tracy *To the point Reviews*](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1577538516p1/22680185.jpg)
Great review!
![One Book At A Time](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1545972448p1/79958385.jpg)
![Viv “BookVixen” Gutierrez](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1570320535p1/84554704.jpg)
![Jessy](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1506962695p1/3771363.jpg)
- The heroine sleeps first with her father's step-brother and then with his sons???
- The "hero" rapes the heroine?!
JFC, is the point of writing books nowadays just creating as much drama as possible (even including disgusting plot lines)?
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Yes, you've summed up all my issues with his character... I really might have rated this book higher if she'd picked Noah instead
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
OMG that sounds horrible!!! I've only read one of her books before (Bully) and I didn't like it but I figured I should give her another chance... clearly writing this kind of book is a pattern for her and I'm definitely staying away in future
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Great r..."
Haha that was my thought process, pretty much!
Thank you <3
message 11:
by
Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]
(last edited Jan 15, 2020 06:47AM)
(new)
-
rated it 1 star
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Thank you - and it does actually have threesomes!! I don't personally mind reverse harem, but I HATE it if the heroine has relationships with people she doesn't ultimately end up with, so that's actually another thing I hated about the book.
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Thank you!!
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
- The heroine sleeps first with her father's step-brother and then with his sons???
- The "hero" rapes the heroine?!
JFC, is the point o..."
Yes indeed... *facepalm*
![Sultanah is bewitched by 'dem heartbreakers ❥](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1687999459p1/55225106.jpg)
![Debbie DiFiore](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1306944518p1/5472388.jpg)
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Good to know!
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Thank you!!! <3
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Right?! Even the way it was described made it sound repulsive
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Thank you! Glad to save someone else...
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
I won't lie, I had a suspicion it would go down weird routes but this just was the limit... Thanks for commenting!
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Haha this has to be the most respectful disagreement I've ever seen on one of my reviews! Much appreciated :)
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
You certainly didn't miss anything worth reading!
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Haha any time... wish I'd remembered in time too
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Thank you!
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
It says that you don't consider a woman yelling that she's being hurt and she wants the man to get off her, then running to another room and locking the door to escape him, to be rape. To which I say, oookay...
![Melissa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1598760387p1/28182219.jpg)
I really enjoyed it
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
I really enjoyed it"
She warned it was 'dark', which I don't mind and quite like, but it wasn't just dark - honestly I found the relationships handled very badly. But I'm happy you enjoyed it!
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Thank you! It's by Teresa Denys.
![♥ℳelody](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1461343994p1/4439079.jpg)
![Katie (ksquaredreads)](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1684101597p1/84113361.jpg)
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Yes he does!! I've read some things in my time but that was horrible... All of it was, frankly
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Totally! It was so well-written technically I'd finished before I even realised it, but it made me feel ill in the process
![Sonička Ivanovičová](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1451846814p1/51003294.jpg)
![Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1647896333p1/31792110.jpg)
Haha, thank you!!! <3
![F san](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
![Celmisia](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1689732866p1/92498845.jpg)
I thought Punk 57 was good but it's been a while so I don't know.