Ehh. I'm on the fence about giving this a 3⭐ because in terms of technical skill, pacing, and style, it's really not a poorly written book. Going down to 2⭐ feels unnecessarily harsh. The content is graphic and could be v triggering for anyone who has experienced sexual abuse or child abuse.

That being said, the author does portray the modern female's experience with both topics accurately enough to not be fetishized. The main character Mara is a pretty relatable FMC and I actually liked elements about her, but she was a little flat toward the end of the book.

The MMC Cole is..ehhh. He's not the worst guy, he's certainly not the best. His psychological profile is muddy and he goes through changes that feel like they're purely for plot and not with realistic input.

The writing flows pretty well and did have some good imagery. The world of these artists could've been expanded on more imo, but it fades away pretty quickly when the MCs relationship takes center stage.

This book is very graphic & spicy, so if you aren't into that (I'm not really either), then you'll struggle to enjoy this book. It's much less about the serial killers and more about sex with someone "dangerous". It's not my personal vibe but it's a lot better than 50 Shades and other misogynistic garbage out there.

Bruh this book is so fucked upppp - but damn it was really good lol - I literally binge read this in like 4 or so hours when I got back from class and am like 30% or more into the sequel lol it’s so good like wtf I had been avoiding this book when reading through Sophie Lark’s backlist cause I thought I wouldn’t like it but apparently I was wrong