Not ONLY is the “warning” page horrifically underselling the triggering content, but it is also SHAMING people who would be triggered. Using words like “offend,” and “sensitive,” while describing readers who WOULDN’T be triggered by these subjects as “brave” and “OPEN-MINDED”?? That’s pretty blatant subtext about how she’s trying to paint those who will vs won’t read her book. Disgusting.
Can you imagine picking this up and then you read this and it brings up horrible memories. But you read from the author that you are weak and close-minded. Like how is name calling your audience a smart move?!
1,000% agree. The vibe of that TW/CW page was so incredibly insulting and clearly engineered to coax readers that if they didn’t read the book they are weak. That being sensitive to certain content and making a wise choice to protect yourself from mental harm makes you inferior. Disgusting.
“My son was bitten by a wild animal and died as a result of said bite. In order to cope I’m moving my family into the wilderness where other wild animals live.” Ah yes. My son was killed by a snake, now my daughter is at risk of being mauled by a bear.
"Don't blame yourself, blame the WOODS." Thank you for giving me permission to admit that nothing is ever my fault because it is, in fact, the ~trees~.
If you’re ever doing some shady shit and start to feel bad about it… take a moment and look around. Is there a tree nearby? Then nothing is your fault!
As someone who lives in Alaska, you'd be surprised by how many people end up squatting on someone's property and think they're living the rugged real life. Like dude, you're in someone's backyard. You're not lost to naturez there'a a McDonalds two miles away. I'm calling the troopers.
I'm not even adopted (my mom remarried when I was 3-4, I have some memories of my bio dad but they're very little) and even then I literally forget that my father is technically my step father and not actually my biological dad- in this instance the main character was literally raised to believe that this man was her father, so it doesn't soften the blow at all that he's not technically related- just bruh
SHE ASKED PPL NOT TO “SPOILER”????? WHAT ON EARTH IS HER DEAL?????? That’s genuinely disgusting “people may miss out of this unconventional but beautiful love story” I am going to throw myself into a lake. What a dog shit thing to do.
That "warning" was a joke. Not only that but, it was incredibly dangerous and insulting. Basically the equivalent of handing someone with severe peanut allergies a peanut butter cookie, and then calling them "weak" for the anaphylaxic shock! Immature, irresponsible, and honestly gross! She should be ashamed.
Where did they say random stranger? I’ve made the same analogy when talking about this before. If I go to a potluck at someone’s house, I don’t assume they know all my allergies but considerate people would know that if they invite a large group to their home to eat food that MAYBE someone might have an allergy or aversion. So the considerate thing to do would be to at least TELL PEOPLE “hey these cookies have almonds in them” or “these are gluten free” so that people can make INFORMED DECISIONS about what they choose to consume. It’s the decent freaking thing to do, good grief.
Saying these cookies have nuts in them is a responsible host. But I think trying to think of every ingredient someone might possibly be allergic to is a bit much. 😂
@@thenawtybookcorner8063 That’s literally what restaurants do all the time, because when you’re providing an audience with any sort of content, whether it’d be food or a book for entertainment, it’s your responsibility as the provider to make sure your content will not potentially harm someone. Yeah sure maybe as a mere house party host it’s a lot, but these are professionals we’re talking about here, they need to spare the extra energy or people will get hurt.
just imagine how different this book would have been had the father died and sabrina survived. it could have been a touching story about a mother overcoming incredible odds to be there for her daughter. but instead we got this☹️
And then she might've been able to tell Sabrina about the CSA she faced from her dad when she was 14. And Sabrina, who was being graped by him, would be able to also come to the realization that what he was doing to her and her daughter was not okay.
I think its really, really (probably unintentionally) sad that at the end of it all, in the epilogue, this abused child just... Wishes her Mom was there.
I think that just shows that at the end of it all, she just wanted love and the love being NORMAL parental love from her MOTHER which the ABUSER clearly took advantage of it’s just so sad and as you said , the ending just makes it so so so much worse .
Idk why being trapped in the wilderness would make you think of family in “ that way “.like if I got trapped in the middle of the Alaska woods with my siblings I’d just be like “ that’s my brother, I used to dress him up in my Barbie princess gown when he was 5… I must do everything in my power to get us out alive, I am off to hunt a deer” then me and my sister would go curb stomp Bambi. Like you aren’t suddenly gonna get those ideas in your head if you don’t already have them. Also as someone who has seen firsthand how much inc*st destroys a person and affects their quality of life for the rest of their life I wanna tell this author to maybe properly trigger warning their friggin books! Cause the cover with that shirtless man and that synopsis isn’t gonna properly warn prior victims that they may be in for a bad time.
NOT THE BARBIE PRINCESS GOWN 😂 I agree and nothing about this book gives anyone a clue to what they’re in for and that sucks for anyone who could be trying to navigate healing.
"That's not a kink, that's a crime" could be the subtitle of most of BookTok's favorites. And I would 100% buy merch with this phrase on it because I am really getting worried about people who might need the reminder. As always, thank you for the Serious Cap moments and being vulnerable with us. I respect the hell out of you for doing what the author SHOULD HAVE DONE and warning readers about what they might be getting into. I enjoy "forbidden love" stories but the star-crossed lovers kind, not the should-be-arrested-and-tried-for-crimes-against-another-human kind: its getting scary trying to know which one you might get in situations like this. The humor AND the depth are flawless and I adore your videos for both in equal measure
@@weirdobookclub I feel like a t shirt and/or a coffee mug would be perfect for this. I could 100% see you just sipping from a mug with THATS NOT A KINK THATS A CRIME in your cutaways to really hammer home the point.
Late to the party, just found your channel and I have spent a lot of hours this weekend binging, joined patreon yada yada... but I 100% agree and when I first heard you say "That's not a kink that's a crime" I thought yessss I need that shirt 😁 As someone who has experienced my own traumas I have a reeeally hard time understanding how control, abuse, S.A., stalking, the whole shebang is appealing...I realized this when I tried reading 50 shades because of the hype and was nothing but triggered by the small amount I read. ANYWAY...this one takes the cake, all I could think of was someone I know that has been through this and how she would feel knowing this is something people willingly want to read and are willing not to warn others about. But I truly love your videos and I love how you go over these books..Im a true crime girl as well and I appreciate you taking one for the team and letting us into this little world of dark romance
i'm very tempted to write an incredibly graphic novella about murdering this man, tbh. maybe all of us in the comments together killing him, murder on the orient express style. who's in?
@@WyvernLostThePlot I admit my style leans more towards her becoming a spooky woodland entity of protective vengeance but I could compromise and get her back to society and therapy so long as I get to put in a surreal Wild Hunt stint of psychic connection with her mother's spirit and the woods as she's transported back to a road where she can make human contact. 🤔
Seeing that you've hearted this, can we make the fact that you predicted this go viral, you deserve it, especially for having to go through talking about this TRAUMA AGAIN.
I wish authors would consider their books like unmarked buildings when writing their warnings. Imagine someone invites you to hang out with them in this building and the sign out front just says "Warning! You've been warned." Warned about what? What the fuck is in the building??? Is the foundation crumbling? Is the floor lava? Is someone going to throw a pie at me as soon as I walk in the door?
The way she implied in her "content warning" that I am not brave because CSA triggers me and I don't want to read about something I barely survived.....thanks, K Webster. A serious, non-sarcastic thank you to you, though, for being so angry about it. It helps.
When I heard the phrase "beastly love" and "isolated snowy setting" I thought this was going to be weird monster smut with a Yeti or whatever. Unfortunately, my initial assessment was proven incorrect. What we have here is far more depraved.
Every time this book takes time to shit on Sabrina for the great crime of becoming clinically depressed, I can feel my whimsy for the world leaving my body.
As somebody who hates actually reading bad books but loves hearing people rant about them, your channel is pretty much tailor made to my specific tastes. Thank you for doing what you're doing, and thank you as well for being so conscientious with your disclaimers.
@justokayemilay6029 yes! And for anyone who thinks a full trigger list in the front of the book will give spoilers, I feel like it would still be amazing for the front of the book to explicitly state "please see the back of the book for a full list of content warnings". It wouldn't be that hard!
I have to ask, what is the point of the author trying to make Devon more 'mature' for her age (which isn't an excuse for... everything in this book) by graduating high school early but at the same time also making her incredibly immature and dumb as rocks for her age not knowing that incest babies might have defects, not knowing anything about sex aside from her own sexual feelings, which isn't knowledge- like "ooh she took so many high school classes look at how grown up she is-" she doesn't know what sixty nine-ing is despite being 16 turning 17/being 17 during the book. she is one or the other and they are inherently contradictory
As a person who was molested as a child (I was five and it still haunts me), it's not even the book itself that I'm angry with or hate. It's the author. Literally this woman is using some of the most horrendous trauma a person can endure, but she is discouraging people from being HONEST about the content, because she wants MORE readers/money. She is willing to put someone in a position that could be dangerous to their mental health or even life-threatening and she's actually trying to be funny and jokey about it. You wanna hit Reed with your car... I feel like there's a better target, and that is ALL I'm gonna say.
Also the adoption twist makes it worse because Reed's known the whole time that she's not his bio-daughter and never shared that when she was worried about their kid's health
Skipping over all the horror, I can at least tell you about the delightfulness of frito taco pie which is a staple New Mexican dish. Spicy, crunchy, cheesy, and sometimes with either beef or chicken. (Side note: Sabrina dying almost immediately is really her best option. Pity the crash didn't take out the husband instead)
Honestly, if both parents died and only Devon survived, I think she would’ve been fine. I mean she did pitch a tent, build a fireplace, skin a bear and harvest it’s meat… she would’ve been fine.
The fact that she calls it a "beautiful love story" is just the cherry on top of the shit cake. I didn't grow up with a father, my mom divorced him when I was 8 or 9, but just imagining that vague memory of a dad doing those things... I felt physically ill. EDIT: I was so icked out I forgot to mention how cool those glasses are! Love the colors :D
father is relatively absent, i do see him sometimes & hes a loving dad, just not a great husband. i felt so sick listening to this i almost had to take a break
The stuff he does to the wife…. When she says no… is one of the main reasons I was terrified to get married… because some people in some circles don’t consider that r. Before I deconstructed from religion a little. And though I’m 35, I only began deconstructing three or so years ago… I’m furious at this author. What an asshole…
Right? I completely get what you mean, I know from my own time in Christianity that there are MANY people who believe that and completely disregard spousal R. It’s so messed up. I’m glad to know you’re deconstructing and I wish you only the best. 💕
The “spoiler” argument does absolutely not hold up with trigger warnings and is blatantly absurd. If your plot twist is that the romance is incest, or that your character has schizophrenia, or that there is CSA in the story at all, it didn’t have a strong plot in the first place. Trauma and mental illnesses/disorders are not plot twists. Books need something more than purely shock value to be engaging. If someone does not want to know anything, they can simply skip the trigger warnings. The trigger warnings are there for the health and safety of your more vulnerable readers, to either be properly mentally prepared, or decide that they just cannot do it right now or ever. (massive TW for CSA) I remember a few years ago reading a book where a 15yo in high school and a 20yo law student developed feelings for each other. Yeah, the premise was ick, but I thought “well, maybe this book will explore the trauma of it”, because it was YA and, what tradpub YA book would romanticize that? And then chapter 1 she’s in bed with him and it turns out they’ve had sex dozens of times. It was a YA. It had a ‘happy ending’ where she ended up with the r*p*st who preyed on her and isolated her from her family and friends and legally got off with a slap on the wrist because her testimony convinced a jury of predatory creeps that it was all okay. That was NOT the type of story I thought it would be, and I had to throw up (like, actually, a few times). That book is aimed at 11-17 year olds. If I recall correctly, it didn’t even have trigger warnings at all. I don’t even know what to say?? So yeah. Authors, stop intentionally causing psychological harm to your readers. A vague and incomplete trigger warning is almost more sinister, because the reader will think you’re somewhat trustworthy. And never, NEVER aim romanticized ‘taboo’ topics like inc*st or CSA at underage readers. It’s just predatory in itself. So like, one (1) win for The Wild: at least it was aimed at adults 🙃
I've read plenty of things with dark plot twists that had trigger warnings and it didn't ruin the plot. It's a ridiculous argument. And even if it spoils an element of your story, 1) there should be more elements and the journey should still be worth it and 2) it's worth it to avoid hurting unsuspecting consumers. Not to mention, the kind of person who sees a specific CW and thinks, "no, not for me," is not to going to suddenly enjoy it when it's sprung on them later. If they don't like that element, the content is not for them, so why try luring them in if they're just going to end up disliking it anyway? It's like putting hot sauce on someone's food without warning them and then giving it to someone who doesn't like hot food. They're still going to dislike it, but now also their mouth hurts and they're upset with you.
When you said “Alaskan wilderness”, I felt my stomach drop. I am from Alaska and this type of thing happens way too often. In my area alone there is an infamous case of a father taking advantage of his children. It turned my stomach just to hear that sentence. So due to personal reasons, I can’t keep watching this particular video. I just wanted to say you are so funny, talented, and compassionate, though. Keep up the good work!
She could have just prefaced the trigger warnings with a spoiler warning. Then people could decide if they want to read the tw/spoilers or if they want to go in blind
The adoption plot twist makes me think of all the incest animes that cop out with “but don’t worry, they’re not blood related” via adoption or something similar. It’s bad writing in my opinion but this “romance” feels like a crime against humanity.
I think something else that shows how horrible and selfish Reed is (besides well, everything) is he had that whole rant at her of what he'd do if he lost her. Yet he wants to impregnate her again when she has no doctors, no OBGYN, none of the medical attention she would need. Oh, and when she just lost a baby and her body is still recovering. Pregnancy can already be dangerous, Also, lol at Devon wishing her mom was there to see the babies. And Devon saying "depression can't be cured by dead babies". You mean babies she'd know came from rape? Those babies?
The final letter to the reader is so insidious because it… sounds like something predators say to children they abuse. “Don’t tell this to anyone, this is our little secret, no one would understand our love”. It’s just inexcusable to put something like that on a book that deals so poorly with an unfortunately common issue such as CSA. I commend you for tackling this once more, because my stomach churned just listening to what it entailed. Great video as always and thank you for being so considerate to your audience ❤
If Devon is under 18 for most of the book, and the book is pretty obviously not critical of her situation and is supposedto gratify the readers, isn't this illegal to publish with anti cp laws??? How is this allowed!!! 😱
I'm pretty sure this would definitely break an obscenity law or two where I am (UK). Like I find censorship an iffy concept, but I really, REALLY call into concern the wellbeing of people who write and enjoy a publication like this. This is disturbing.
Technically speaking posting content about fictional minors does not count as CSAM/CSEM. Unless it is of real minors and or someone virtually replicated that is identical to a real minor.
@@OmarAyusoVA depends on the country, depends on the laws. Some are also more enforced than others - the UK is a lot harder on it than the US, for instance
Oh, wow, another author that misinterprets/-represents a kink to mean "this is written for/by someone who has this kink and wants to have it presented in a literal sense" instead of "the character(s) has/have this kink and act it out figuratively". Love that for us...
About the "at least they're not blood related" rant- Reed states and shows MULTIPLE times that he views Devon as his daughter and himself as her father regardless of their genetic relation. REED HIMSELF VIEWS IT AS INCEST AND CHILD ABUSE BUT IS JUST CHILL WITH IT! To me its somehow more insidious that they aren't genetically related but he still recognizes her as his daughter because it shows that he had been not only fantasizing about her from a VERY young age but that him having a father/child bond (or lets be real, power balance) with her was somehow part of the fantasy- it really makes my stomach turn at the idea that he really might have been thinking of doing something like this far before they adopted the twins and that his marriage to Sabrina was more so a means to an end for him to fulfill this CRIMINAL fantasy. Idk that's really what I got from this and it makes me think the author thinks Lolita is a romance...
it's so classically father-coded to abuse your wife and child, be pissed when it upsets them, and then act like they're a huge thorn in your side, actually, lmfao.
I keep seeing this recommended in various spicy book groups as "taboo but so good!" Now i see why the gushing recs are so vague and i hate it. Something kept me from reading it and I've never been happier that i listened to my instincts!
Knowing nothing about this story I assumed "beast" would mean someone was a shapeshifter because of the recent Baldur's Gate 3 panel where a specific romance option was showcased. I was very wrong. I am disgusted by this story. I *almost* tapped out because of the warnings but I enjoy your reviews a lot and I think you did an excellent job warning viewers of what was coming as well as breaking down the plot (such as it was). I love the way you edit! The "no spoilers" AN bothers me SO MUCH. It's one thing to be mindful of people close to you, or if you're in say a chatroom where it's asked to keep discussion to a minimum, or to tag spoilers for fandom spaces. But there's just a lot of media that's frankly kinda awful that I just don't want to engage with in my precious free time. I'd rather know exactly what I'm in for because that doesn't diminish the power of a good story to me.
I'm continuously horrorified by how poorly dark romance authors handle the subjects they write about. There's consistently no empathy towards the victims of LITERAL CRIMES, the perpetrators are always romanticized, and their actions excused. No one is saying authors cannot write about these themes; however, they need to be handled with the utmost sensitivity and understanding. I've read books about similar subject matter that are nowhere near as vile as this one and it's because those books didn't try to convince me that the violent assaults I was reading about were sexy or romantic.
Yikes that author's note at the end. Not only do you ask readers to withhold the cws, you threaten physical assault and go "just kidding *hair twirl* ...or am I?" Like that alone bothers me so much
As someone who grew up in the South, where cobbler is a daily fact of existence, not only is there no icing (not even glaze) But if, for some reason, you were like I love icing and I love cobbler and therefore I'm gonna put them together--if the cobbler was warm the icing would immediately melt and sink into gooey deliciousness that would nevertheless NOT work as a metaphor for a feather bed
" -- and send it down the river with Sabrina." I had to pause the video from how good that line was. Thank you for the crumbs of laughter in the middle of this bloody horrifying story because if we don't laugh, we'll cry.
Now this might be controversial, but some books deserve to be thrown in the fireplace. (Side note: this sounds like a REALLY gross retelling of Deerskin by Robin McKinley which does involve CSA and is itself a retelling of a fairy tale, but like it always portrays it as gross and the dad faces consequences.)
That’s something I’ve been trying to put into words for a while now. Like just because you’re wanting to appeal to a certain kink doesn’t mean you have to go all in. Where are the lines?!
@kimaya4503 or he could've been not her dad at all, eg, she is an adult thats young getting into BDSM, and some really experienced man who acts fatherly starts being the one to introduce her while a daddy kink is at play, they don't need to make it a depiction of actual abuse or incest at all in order for it to be spicy or fit the kink
@@kimaya4503weirdly, when I see people defend the incest kink, it's almost always on content where they're not biologically related and the defense is "well they're not _actually_ related." Which baffles me because 1) that's incredibly invalidating to non-bio families (who do typically very much see their non-bio family members as family) and 2) then what's the point? Like why are they not childhood friends or something else? The other explanation I've gotten is that it's the taboo, but I don't get it. I do sort of get when people ship a fiction pairing that are related and sort of.... Handwave or ignore the fact that they're related. Like the couple has such good chemistry that you ship then despite them being related. But I've never understood when the familial relation is the focus.
As someone who had and has a loving father, when you said "incest" and "csa," I wanted to believe those were unrelated incidents, two different sets of people. I cannot even fathom thinking of a child that you raised in that way. This book makes me want to voluntarily become a single parent if I were ever to have kids
Anyone who refuses to put specific trigger warning because of sPoiLer just angers me because you can tell they only do it as a shock value instead of driving force of the plot lmaao Anyway just subscribe from your last video. So glad you're putting out more rant review. Your comedic timing is great! ❤
Yesss! Not only do I just adore rant reviews they are so perf to replay in the background, especially lengthy ones they’re a total lifesaver when I can’t focus
I just can’t imagine not thinking trigger warnings are needed for this book. At the very least it gets the super niche audience you want and it protects others. I’m so glad I didn’t pick this up it would’ve been far too upsetting.
My family and I have been watching Northern Exposure, which is set in Alaska and is actually a decent representation of life in Alaska (imo). In my mind, the town on the other side of the trees is Cicely, and the book ends after 2 chapters when everyone finds out about Reed being a fucking weirdo and he gets eaten by a bear or something, while Devon goes on to live a happy quiet life with the dog in an Emmy winning ensemble comedy
SERIOUS RANT HERE: I find it so disgusting how s*xualized things children do are in books like this, and honestly even in real life. I had an amazing and loving father and when I was a little girl, like when I was 5-10 years old or something, I would regularly barge into the bathroom when my dad was taking a shower or a bath to tell him about my day or something else that I got excited about. And it was never weird or anything, it was just something a little child does. But sometimes, when I tell people that, they think that was weird and that my father must've felt "very weird". And it's so disgusting. Don't you dare assume that my father was some kind of p*rvert, if anything that's you, because you hear about a story between a CHILD and her father, and instantly make it s*xual?! Like, honestly, YOU'RE the weirdo here and I don't want you anywhere near around children if that's where your train of thought goes.
I can sort of agree with this. I know that I would feel weird in that situation, but I can’t say I didn’t do similar things. For me, it was regularly keeping up a conversation with my brothers while changing with my bedroom door open, and because we were kids, that was just normal. What really pisses me off to be honest is the oversexualization of the words daddy and mommy. I still refer to my father as daddy because that’s just what feels right. I tried calling him dad and I don’t like it. It’s the same with my stepsisters calling their mother mommy. I get that kink is a thing and that’s fine, but I shouldn’t have to feel embarrassed when dictating a message to my dad in front of people because I say daddy. Not to mention, those are words that were used by children before they were used by adults. I’m not trying to say that nobody should use mommy/daddy in a sexual context, but sex isn’t the first thing that should come to someone’s mind on hearing those words smh
Dammit, I had rewatch this because my brain refuses to believe this is supposed to be a dark romance story. like in another writer's hands, the basic premise would be a straight up horror story about the darkness of human nature being driven to the brink in the face of surviving in the wildness. I'll even take the version of the story you put forward where Reed, Devon and Sabrina try to band together and survive in the snowy Alaskan wilderness and become stronger together and overcome their shared grief. Life is full of disappointments, I guess. 💀
Glad Sabrina is free from this book. I know she’s not real, but for her to miscarry multiple times and lose another child a few years prior, while being verbally and sexually abused by her husband to take out his rage on her must be tormenting. Of course she’s not going to be able to care for her daughter properly, she’s barely had time to cope healthily and I believe her husband was always abusive towards her just never mentioned it. Why is she painted as the villain 😭 This entire book was just a man bored of his grieving wife, and using her death as an excuse to sexually abuse his naive daughter who is too touch starved to understand that this isn’t okay. This sounds like a horror novel 😬
I'm sincerely glad that you did this review. I was curious about this book when I hear it got banned from Amazon. I thought maybe, just maybe, it's a well-written, dark psycho thriller where we follow the characters through so much tragedy and darkness that it begins to make sense to us that they could find themselves in such a relationship. Perhaps we could sympathize with them, and in turn question our own ethics, sense of self, and what WE would do if put through such hardship/isolation from the world. I LOVE books/media like that, that take the reader on a skillfully crafted, dark, twisted psychological journey. I would have been sooo disappointed and extremely angry if I'd walked into this blind. Thank you for giving transparency. It seems like Amazin actually made a good call on this, for once.
The last bit about the daughter thinking about Sabrina seeing the kids and stuff honestly made me so sad. Like she's so under his spell and groomed that she's genuinely unable to understand that what's happened is wrong and would *never* be something her mother would view positively. It's such an innocent take, a naive child like pov, cause that's exactly where he wants her to be mentally. he hasn't allowed her to continue growing up, and by isolating her from society, he has near complete control over what she does and doesn't learn (like the 69 thing, the potential issues with incest pregnancy, etc) and I really understand what you were talking about with the first sa scene when he was "asleep"(?), it was horrifyingly accurate to my first encounter with my father when I was 12, and seeing something like that in a context of a dark erotica is fucking revolting.
“Send your hope down the river with Sabrina” MY MOUTH DROPPED…..😂 you are hilarious! I recently came across your channel and I’m binging all your videos!! And on a real note, thank you for being so open/vulnerable in this video with us.💛💛
Her writing the trigger warning in such a condescending way is infuriating. I had to nope out of this video, but only knew to do so because of you Natalie, so thank you for that. These topics are an extreme trigger for my OCD and the fact that she is implying that I am not brave or open minded because of a mental disorder I have no control over is disgusting.
Id choose death by snake, itd be far less painful and gruesome, snake bites that are wholly lethal would just mean things like heart stopping or no longer breathing. Bear though, sometimes after they have mangled you and have made you things like disemboweled/bleeding out they leave you, they dont care about killing you and they often attack out of fear or territory so theyre not always interested in eating you, so youd be stuck there, in great pain, likely mangled, slowly dying, the only mercy being if you go unconcious from bleeding out before actually dying. So yea, snake OH ALSO, snakebite leaves a less gruesome scene for whoever finds my body, maybe less trauma for them.
34:01 Fucking finally someone agrees with me on this 💀 I've seen so many plots where the dude is just "unga bunga man smash all day" like bro, please, who taught you this? And why is it always women writing this up? 🙃
I know it’s advertised as a dark romance novel but this is just a psychological thriller. A pedophilic father who was already isolating his daughter from all other male contact as she grows up uses the death of his son to literally isolate his daughter and wife from society. He then goes on to use his own wife’s death (the mother of his CHILD) to push his feelings onto his daughter knowing he is the only form of comfort and familiarity in a dangerous environment. Then at the end we see that, despite doubts and being told it’s wrong by others, this child convinces herself that they are madly in love with each other. She has withdrawn so far into herself out of a fear of her father coupled with the juxtaposition of him being her only means of survival (both physically and ironically emotionally as she is left with literally no one else) that she literally has to justify him raping her while she’s actively in labor. This could have been done better if it wasn’t for the author’s disturbed sense of right and wrong as well as her “teehee don’t spoil the best bits” attitude like it isn’t a book about isolating and raping a literal child.
'Brave and open-minded defiance of taboo' is when you shelter the wrongly persecuted (eg in The Book Thief) or when you put your social cred on the line to counter stereotypes and violence against a people seen only as monsters, and attempt to build diplomatic relations with them (Inheritance Cycle, I forgot which part but I'm referring to Nausada) 'Brave and open-minded defiance of taboo' is when gay men chose to live and love inspite of very real harm brought to them for it, it is Princess Diana with the AIDS patient, trying to influence change. 'Brave and open-minded defiance of taboo' is not CSA or grooming
I feel sick. Why would anyone write this???? We don’t talk enough about the audacity of women who write about criminal, disgusting things and call it dark romance.
The hot-tub flashback is even more sick because what’s the point of “aging” her up when you’re going to go back in time to add more sexual tension to their relationship?
*ahem* alright I’ll just get into it I guess. So here’s the thing, why are dark romance twists just incest I feel like dark romance is just an excuse to write their incest fanfiction but that’s neither here nor there. If we take the obviously awful element of incest AND child abuse out of this, it’s still an underaged girl with an angry man. “Unconventional but beautiful love story”? Is a WILD take for a man that forces himself onto his unwell spouse AND underaged girl. Taboo? It’s not just toxic behavior we’re overlooking here. We can take the underaged aspect out of this too and it’s nowhere near right. They’re saying no, they’re not responding, they’re saying stop but that’s the beautiful love story we’re gleaming? At what point was any part of this romantic? Don’t tell me it’s over my head, please, spell it out for me like I’m fcking illiterate at what point does the story hook us? When they’re “stranded” in the woods and he gets progressively angrier, hornier, and possessive.
I get really sick of people equating kink to crimes. Like there's a big difference between a story containing age play/daddy kink and a story containing incest. Also, there's a lot of vile and awful things here, but the whole beginning with Sabrina made me very sad. I'm someone who has dealt with a lot of physical and mental health issues pretty much my entire life. I also grew up with a dad with anger issues. He definitely lost his temper a few times while I was breaking down. His anger was more about his confusion and helplessness because he didn't know what was going on or how to help, but it still made everything so much worse and was very traumatizing. My dad loves me and always tried to be a good father, so he did eventually improve both in that his anger calmed down and he learned how to better help in the ways he could (even if he still didn't understand what I was going through at all) but it's undeniable to me that his behavior when I was younger delayed me getting help and pushed me further into isolation. I felt very alone and scared and like I was just a broken human being letting everyone down. So, yeah, the constant anger and bitterness directed at Sabrina just made me really sad and upset. And given the narrative that you read here, I don't think the author really treated that behavior as awful as it really is.
I am glad you made this video. i was told i should read this from an ex friend, and I pick it up, not knowing what it was about. I been through something so much like the main character and my abuser father is getting out of prison soon, and when i read this, it hurt me so much I start having nightmare about my abuser so I hope this help people know what they are getting into before they read it
dude i love rewatching all of your rant reviews but this is one is just so hard to stomach because of what the book entails. i just. wowsers 😭 OH. NOT TO MENTION THAT FOREST INCEST IS THIS AUTHOR'S THING!! OH YEAH i scrolled through her other shit on goodreads and HOLY FUCK if i remember correctly we have an entire series dedicated to siblings just absolutely rawdogging and "falling in lurve" STOP IT.
I lost my sweet husband 5 years ago suddenly, and he came into our relationship with 2 daughters from his first marriage. He loved his girls with everything he had. That's what a father is supposed to do. Why the hell this freaking POS author felt compelled to write this awful story and wretched characters is absolutely beyond me
51:15 Honestly, that makes it worse in a way. I don’t care about dark stories AS LONG as the dark aspect isn’t excused and is treated respectfully. Not only is it not treated respectfully, the author couldn’t even commit to it?? Poorly-handled “X and X aren’t actually blood related!” plot twists are ALWAYS, *ALWAYS* only there to excuse the incest. That SCREAMS this exists for sexual fantasy fulfillment and *only* that. I was holding onto a tiny, minuscule shred of hope that the author just wanted to write a disgusting story because dark shit is interesting. But that just confirms this is for smut (and not out of fascination for disturbing stories).
Damn just when I think it can’t get worse. The audacity of that “warning” only becomes more insufferable as the abusive plot goes on. I didn’t even know Amazon had standards but I guess this is too low even for them
now, I've had my fair share of "dark romance"; romanticized tiktok ones, not romanticized head-on unashamed ones, but THIS. this was just the worst one, with zero redeeming qualities, and absolutely not a single likable thing. I admire you for pushing through
He seems to love to abuse and traumatize women (and girls, because Devin is a CHILD) and then get so angry that they just won't speak to him. Can't imagine why
This is the nastiest book I’ve ever even heard of. Thank you for this video because I’ve been seeing it everywhere and was getting super curious about it. But I’m just so disturbed by this book I can’t even put it into words! Also I’m so sorry you experienced that! No child should have to experience that!
I think this book COULD have been better if it was completely rewritten to get rid of the incest OR portray it as the horrible exploitative thing that it truly is. Like portray it as bad (because it is) or don’t portray it at all .
I keep coming back to this video because ... the book was godawful, and your rant was awesome - but also because you may be the only person on the Internet to ever make a positive/reasonable statement about 'Daddy kink,' with no sarcasm, vomit emojis, or relentless kink-shaming attached ... after swearing up and down that you "hate kink-shaming/don't kink-shame," and I will be eternally grateful for that.
This means a lot. I genuinely mean it when I say I don’t want to kink shame. Everyone has things they enjoy and their reasons are their own, everyone deserves to be able to do that and do it safely. Exploring kinks can be very therapeutic for people. ♥️
When I heard “not her biological father” I heard “Child bride” because he basically “bought” her to groom her so she’d be his new wife
Yeah pretty much. Disgusting!!!!
Sort of the plot of Lolita, isn’t it? Except Humbert Humbert is telling his story from a courtroom because he’s going to jail, so
@@amyg8176 Humbert is telling his story in jail iirc.
Not ONLY is the “warning” page horrifically underselling the triggering content, but it is also SHAMING people who would be triggered. Using words like “offend,” and “sensitive,” while describing readers who WOULDN’T be triggered by these subjects as “brave” and “OPEN-MINDED”?? That’s pretty blatant subtext about how she’s trying to paint those who will vs won’t read her book. Disgusting.
I agree, it felt really gross as if not being able to read this shit would make you less than somehow?!
Can you imagine picking this up and then you read this and it brings up horrible memories. But you read from the author that you are weak and close-minded. Like how is name calling your audience a smart move?!
1,000% agree. The vibe of that TW/CW page was so incredibly insulting and clearly engineered to coax readers that if they didn’t read the book they are weak. That being sensitive to certain content and making a wise choice to protect yourself from mental harm makes you inferior. Disgusting.
exactly it reads like an abuser grooming their victim
LITERALLY. I see this theme with a few different dark romance book content warnings.
“My son was bitten by a wild animal and died as a result of said bite. In order to cope I’m moving my family into the wilderness where other wild animals live.”
Ah yes. My son was killed by a snake, now my daughter is at risk of being mauled by a bear.
💀💀💗💗💗
I wish she picked the bear
"Don't blame yourself, blame the WOODS." Thank you for giving me permission to admit that nothing is ever my fault because it is, in fact, the ~trees~.
If you’re ever doing some shady shit and start to feel bad about it… take a moment and look around. Is there a tree nearby? Then nothing is your fault!
Sabrina is also a viable option for blaming your problems on.
Trees are shady af
new life motto .
The Happening dot mov
As someone who lives in Alaska, you'd be surprised by how many people end up squatting on someone's property and think they're living the rugged real life. Like dude, you're in someone's backyard. You're not lost to naturez there'a a McDonalds two miles away. I'm calling the troopers.
Literally, when the other guy just casually strolled up on them I was like "oh wow so people are like RIGHT THERE huh?" So stupid. CALL THE TROOPERS
As an adopted person, your adopted father is still your father and this whole book is still disgusting.
I'm not even adopted (my mom remarried when I was 3-4, I have some memories of my bio dad but they're very little) and even then I literally forget that my father is technically my step father and not actually my biological dad- in this instance the main character was literally raised to believe that this man was her father, so it doesn't soften the blow at all that he's not technically related- just bruh
Yes and laws that include not exclude adopted children , the people who use that as a justification are disgusting.
SHE ASKED PPL NOT TO “SPOILER”?????
WHAT ON EARTH IS HER DEAL??????
That’s genuinely disgusting “people may miss out of this unconventional but beautiful love story” I am going to throw myself into a lake. What a dog shit thing to do.
Literally this. I’m so glad you feel my rage. What a shitty, irresponsible thing to do to your audience!
That is so disgusting. She’s intentionally harming people.
Just imagining Reed in that short story, 20 years into the future, like stubbing his toe on a river rock and shouting DAMMIT SABRINA
I choked a little when I read this. It makes it even funnier knowing he will literally be 60 so picture an old, creepy coot hollering at his dead wife
STOP I'M DEAD AHAHAHAHAHA
@@weirdobookclub
That's an insult to coots; at least coots are cute!
I mean, if it weren't for Sabrina, he would've never stubbed his toe on that rock...
@@SallySueSaywhatagain Of course he wouldn't. Sabrina must have deliberately planted that stone the way when her body drifted down the river.
That "warning" was a joke. Not only that but, it was incredibly dangerous and insulting. Basically the equivalent of handing someone with severe peanut allergies a peanut butter cookie, and then calling them "weak" for the anaphylaxic shock! Immature, irresponsible, and honestly gross! She should be ashamed.
Maybe if you know you have peanut allergy you shouldn’t eat a random cookie a stranger gives you
Where did they say random stranger?
I’ve made the same analogy when talking about this before. If I go to a potluck at someone’s house, I don’t assume they know all my allergies but considerate people would know that if they invite a large group to their home to eat food that MAYBE someone might have an allergy or aversion. So the considerate thing to do would be to at least TELL PEOPLE “hey these cookies have almonds in them” or “these are gluten free” so that people can make INFORMED DECISIONS about what they choose to consume. It’s the decent freaking thing to do, good grief.
Saying these cookies have nuts in them is a responsible host. But I think trying to think of every ingredient someone might possibly be allergic to is a bit much. 😂
@@thenawtybookcorner8063 That’s literally what restaurants do all the time, because when you’re providing an audience with any sort of content, whether it’d be food or a book for entertainment, it’s your responsibility as the provider to make sure your content will not potentially harm someone. Yeah sure maybe as a mere house party host it’s a lot, but these are professionals we’re talking about here, they need to spare the extra energy or people will get hurt.
just imagine how different this book would have been had the father died and sabrina survived. it could have been a touching story about a mother overcoming incredible odds to be there for her daughter. but instead we got this☹️
Now that would be a story worth reading !! I would love to read something like that
And then she might've been able to tell Sabrina about the CSA she faced from her dad when she was 14. And Sabrina, who was being graped by him, would be able to also come to the realization that what he was doing to her and her daughter was not okay.
I would read the fuck out of that
Them getting closer as they struggle to survive! Healing from their grief and respective abuse...It could have been so good!
I think its really, really (probably unintentionally) sad that at the end of it all, in the epilogue, this abused child just... Wishes her Mom was there.
I think that just shows that at the end of it all, she just wanted love and the love being NORMAL parental love from her MOTHER which the ABUSER clearly took advantage of it’s just so sad and as you said , the ending just makes it so so so much worse .
Idk why being trapped in the wilderness would make you think of family in “ that way “.like if I got trapped in the middle of the Alaska woods with my siblings I’d just be like “ that’s my brother, I used to dress him up in my Barbie princess gown when he was 5… I must do everything in my power to get us out alive, I am off to hunt a deer” then me and my sister would go curb stomp Bambi. Like you aren’t suddenly gonna get those ideas in your head if you don’t already have them. Also as someone who has seen firsthand how much inc*st destroys a person and affects their quality of life for the rest of their life I wanna tell this author to maybe properly trigger warning their friggin books! Cause the cover with that shirtless man and that synopsis isn’t gonna properly warn prior victims that they may be in for a bad time.
NOT THE BARBIE PRINCESS GOWN 😂 I agree and nothing about this book gives anyone a clue to what they’re in for and that sucks for anyone who could be trying to navigate healing.
The worst wattpad stories are gifts from god compared to this book lmao
Like the weirdos on Wattpad would be concerned about what the hell is this book
The fact that it’s personalized
HUSH. I KNOW 😂
Not the permission slip
“This man is a piece of shit and I’d hit him with my car” x3
Ludacris
Not Oregon trail
“Damn imagine how much he’ll love his daughter’s daughter!” I’m glad I’m not the only one who was worried about that 😟
It’s all I could think of. Like, he will clearly be practicing “double it and give it to the next person” with these children
This was a Chainsaw Massacre prequel all along
Humbert Humbert level horror
"That's not a kink, that's a crime" could be the subtitle of most of BookTok's favorites. And I would 100% buy merch with this phrase on it because I am really getting worried about people who might need the reminder.
As always, thank you for the Serious Cap moments and being vulnerable with us. I respect the hell out of you for doing what the author SHOULD HAVE DONE and warning readers about what they might be getting into. I enjoy "forbidden love" stories but the star-crossed lovers kind, not the should-be-arrested-and-tried-for-crimes-against-another-human kind: its getting scary trying to know which one you might get in situations like this.
The humor AND the depth are flawless and I adore your videos for both in equal measure
I will work on some designs for this! Do you know what kind of merch you would prefer??
Also thank you for your kind words. I'm so thankful for you
@@weirdobookclub I feel like a t shirt and/or a coffee mug would be perfect for this. I could 100% see you just sipping from a mug with THATS NOT A KINK THATS A CRIME in your cutaways to really hammer home the point.
Late to the party, just found your channel and I have spent a lot of hours this weekend binging, joined patreon yada yada... but I 100% agree and when I first heard you say "That's not a kink that's a crime" I thought yessss I need that shirt 😁
As someone who has experienced my own traumas I have a reeeally hard time understanding how control, abuse, S.A., stalking, the whole shebang is appealing...I realized this when I tried reading 50 shades because of the hype and was nothing but triggered by the small amount I read. ANYWAY...this one takes the cake, all I could think of was someone I know that has been through this and how she would feel knowing this is something people willingly want to read and are willing not to warn others about.
But I truly love your videos and I love how you go over these books..Im a true crime girl as well and I appreciate you taking one for the team and letting us into this little world of dark romance
Also just need to add I don't shame people for liking what they like, my mom and sister devour aallll the romance it's just not my jam
i'm very tempted to write an incredibly graphic novella about murdering this man, tbh. maybe all of us in the comments together killing him, murder on the orient express style. who's in?
dang did you just spoil murder on the orient express
I would write one where he gets killed by an arctic zombie/ghost of the wife.
I would read the hell out of that. Only if you also include a part where Devon gets put into therapy afterwards.
@@WyvernLostThePlot I admit my style leans more towards her becoming a spooky woodland entity of protective vengeance but I could compromise and get her back to society and therapy so long as I get to put in a surreal Wild Hunt stint of psychic connection with her mother's spirit and the woods as she's transported back to a road where she can make human contact. 🤔
I would love to read this
34:52 "I choose the bear" I'm screaming, this was before the trend
I THOUGHT THE SAME THING. SHE PREDICTED IT
Seeing that you've hearted this, can we make the fact that you predicted this go viral, you deserve it, especially for having to go through talking about this TRAUMA AGAIN.
Book reviewer, artist, tiktok trend predictor 😋
I wish authors would consider their books like unmarked buildings when writing their warnings. Imagine someone invites you to hang out with them in this building and the sign out front just says "Warning! You've been warned."
Warned about what? What the fuck is in the building??? Is the foundation crumbling? Is the floor lava? Is someone going to throw a pie at me as soon as I walk in the door?
Just got to the part where you mention your phobia and edited my comment just in case you read this, that was a terrifying coincidence omg
Vibes? Immaculate. Rants? On point. Glasses? Phenomenal. 10/10 would recommend
I'm honored, thank you so much for watching!
The way she implied in her "content warning" that I am not brave because CSA triggers me and I don't want to read about something I barely survived.....thanks, K Webster. A serious, non-sarcastic thank you to you, though, for being so angry about it. It helps.
When I heard the phrase "beastly love" and "isolated snowy setting" I thought this was going to be weird monster smut with a Yeti or whatever. Unfortunately, my initial assessment was proven incorrect. What we have here is far more depraved.
Same a little bit. And I would’ve read that happily!
Devon runs off with a yeti monster boyfriend would have been a better way for this story to go, but so would most ways.
Every time this book takes time to shit on Sabrina for the great crime of becoming clinically depressed, I can feel my whimsy for the world leaving my body.
As somebody who hates actually reading bad books but loves hearing people rant about them, your channel is pretty much tailor made to my specific tastes. Thank you for doing what you're doing, and thank you as well for being so conscientious with your disclaimers.
I am so glad you found me then because I love reading terrible books and adore making it everyone's problem when I do!
I CANNOT understand how authors live with themselves when they choose to not use trigger warnings. So much damage and hurt! Thank you for your rant.
I say it all the time but I will say it again: If providing thorough trigger warnings will ruin your book... WRITE A BETTER BOOK!
@justokayemilay6029 yes! And for anyone who thinks a full trigger list in the front of the book will give spoilers, I feel like it would still be amazing for the front of the book to explicitly state "please see the back of the book for a full list of content warnings". It wouldn't be that hard!
Who needs therapy when you can have relations with your child in the woods??? I will take my fatal snake bite now.
This sounds like a horror novel… I’d prefer it much better if it was… but instead she murders her dad at the end instead of having babies
I have to ask, what is the point of the author trying to make Devon more 'mature' for her age (which isn't an excuse for... everything in this book) by graduating high school early but at the same time also making her incredibly immature and dumb as rocks for her age not knowing that incest babies might have defects, not knowing anything about sex aside from her own sexual feelings, which isn't knowledge- like "ooh she took so many high school classes look at how grown up she is-" she doesn't know what sixty nine-ing is despite being 16 turning 17/being 17 during the book. she is one or the other and they are inherently contradictory
As a person who was molested as a child (I was five and it still haunts me), it's not even the book itself that I'm angry with or hate. It's the author. Literally this woman is using some of the most horrendous trauma a person can endure, but she is discouraging people from being HONEST about the content, because she wants MORE readers/money. She is willing to put someone in a position that could be dangerous to their mental health or even life-threatening and she's actually trying to be funny and jokey about it. You wanna hit Reed with your car... I feel like there's a better target, and that is ALL I'm gonna say.
Also the adoption twist makes it worse because Reed's known the whole time that she's not his bio-daughter and never shared that when she was worried about their kid's health
Skipping over all the horror, I can at least tell you about the delightfulness of frito taco pie which is a staple New Mexican dish. Spicy, crunchy, cheesy, and sometimes with either beef or chicken.
(Side note: Sabrina dying almost immediately is really her best option. Pity the crash didn't take out the husband instead)
Honestly, if both parents died and only Devon survived, I think she would’ve been fine. I mean she did pitch a tent, build a fireplace, skin a bear and harvest it’s meat… she would’ve been fine.
Seriously, they're just holding her back.
Also, Reed's activities (crimes) put him right into the stereotype of an inbred horror hill folk trope.
The fact that she calls it a "beautiful love story" is just the cherry on top of the shit cake.
I didn't grow up with a father, my mom divorced him when I was 8 or 9, but just imagining that vague memory of a dad doing those things... I felt physically ill.
EDIT: I was so icked out I forgot to mention how cool those glasses are! Love the colors :D
father is relatively absent, i do see him sometimes & hes a loving dad, just not a great husband. i felt so sick listening to this i almost had to take a break
The stuff he does to the wife…. When she says no… is one of the main reasons I was terrified to get married… because some people in some circles don’t consider that r.
Before I deconstructed from religion a little.
And though I’m 35, I only began deconstructing three or so years ago…
I’m furious at this author. What an asshole…
Right? I completely get what you mean, I know from my own time in Christianity that there are MANY people who believe that and completely disregard spousal R. It’s so messed up. I’m glad to know you’re deconstructing and I wish you only the best. 💕
I’m also deconstructing and I just want to send you a little note of support and encouragement for this journey 🤍
The “spoiler” argument does absolutely not hold up with trigger warnings and is blatantly absurd. If your plot twist is that the romance is incest, or that your character has schizophrenia, or that there is CSA in the story at all, it didn’t have a strong plot in the first place. Trauma and mental illnesses/disorders are not plot twists. Books need something more than purely shock value to be engaging.
If someone does not want to know anything, they can simply skip the trigger warnings. The trigger warnings are there for the health and safety of your more vulnerable readers, to either be properly mentally prepared, or decide that they just cannot do it right now or ever.
(massive TW for CSA) I remember a few years ago reading a book where a 15yo in high school and a 20yo law student developed feelings for each other. Yeah, the premise was ick, but I thought “well, maybe this book will explore the trauma of it”, because it was YA and, what tradpub YA book would romanticize that? And then chapter 1 she’s in bed with him and it turns out they’ve had sex dozens of times. It was a YA. It had a ‘happy ending’ where she ended up with the r*p*st who preyed on her and isolated her from her family and friends and legally got off with a slap on the wrist because her testimony convinced a jury of predatory creeps that it was all okay. That was NOT the type of story I thought it would be, and I had to throw up (like, actually, a few times). That book is aimed at 11-17 year olds. If I recall correctly, it didn’t even have trigger warnings at all. I don’t even know what to say??
So yeah. Authors, stop intentionally causing psychological harm to your readers. A vague and incomplete trigger warning is almost more sinister, because the reader will think you’re somewhat trustworthy. And never, NEVER aim romanticized ‘taboo’ topics like inc*st or CSA at underage readers. It’s just predatory in itself.
So like, one (1) win for The Wild: at least it was aimed at adults 🙃
I've read plenty of things with dark plot twists that had trigger warnings and it didn't ruin the plot. It's a ridiculous argument. And even if it spoils an element of your story, 1) there should be more elements and the journey should still be worth it and 2) it's worth it to avoid hurting unsuspecting consumers.
Not to mention, the kind of person who sees a specific CW and thinks, "no, not for me," is not to going to suddenly enjoy it when it's sprung on them later. If they don't like that element, the content is not for them, so why try luring them in if they're just going to end up disliking it anyway?
It's like putting hot sauce on someone's food without warning them and then giving it to someone who doesn't like hot food. They're still going to dislike it, but now also their mouth hurts and they're upset with you.
When you said “Alaskan wilderness”, I felt my stomach drop. I am from Alaska and this type of thing happens way too often. In my area alone there is an infamous case of a father taking advantage of his children. It turned my stomach just to hear that sentence.
So due to personal reasons, I can’t keep watching this particular video. I just wanted to say you are so funny, talented, and compassionate, though. Keep up the good work!
Not related to anything at all, but your username made me so happy because The Fly is my favorite horror movie :D
I feel so bad for all the people that were traumatized by this book.
How? You were warned ⚠️ from the start be an adult and grow up .
@@trinistar1930 The author obscured trigger warnings and was disingenuous
She could have just prefaced the trigger warnings with a spoiler warning. Then people could decide if they want to read the tw/spoilers or if they want to go in blind
Exactly. Bare minimum
I'd choose death by snake tbh. There's just something upsetting about getting mauled by something twice my size and then probably having my body eaten
Death by snake can be agonizing depending on what snake bit you, but death by bear is utterly horrific.
The adoption plot twist makes me think of all the incest animes that cop out with “but don’t worry, they’re not blood related” via adoption or something similar. It’s bad writing in my opinion but this “romance” feels like a crime against humanity.
It always gives "your family isn't real because i want porn"
"if you were a good person, you wouldnt be in this situation" is too spot on for SO many romance books
I think something else that shows how horrible and selfish Reed is (besides well, everything) is he had that whole rant at her of what he'd do if he lost her. Yet he wants to impregnate her again when she has no doctors, no OBGYN, none of the medical attention she would need. Oh, and when she just lost a baby and her body is still recovering. Pregnancy can already be dangerous,
Also, lol at Devon wishing her mom was there to see the babies. And Devon saying "depression can't be cured by dead babies". You mean babies she'd know came from rape? Those babies?
The final letter to the reader is so insidious because it… sounds like something predators say to children they abuse. “Don’t tell this to anyone, this is our little secret, no one would understand our love”. It’s just inexcusable to put something like that on a book that deals so poorly with an unfortunately common issue such as CSA. I commend you for tackling this once more, because my stomach churned just listening to what it entailed. Great video as always and thank you for being so considerate to your audience ❤
If Devon is under 18 for most of the book, and the book is pretty obviously not critical of her situation and is supposedto gratify the readers, isn't this illegal to publish with anti cp laws??? How is this allowed!!! 😱
I'm pretty sure this would definitely break an obscenity law or two where I am (UK). Like I find censorship an iffy concept, but I really, REALLY call into concern the wellbeing of people who write and enjoy a publication like this. This is disturbing.
Technically speaking posting content about fictional minors does not count as CSAM/CSEM. Unless it is of real minors and or someone virtually replicated that is identical to a real minor.
@@OmarAyusoVA depends on the country, depends on the laws. Some are also more enforced than others - the UK is a lot harder on it than the US, for instance
Oh, wow, another author that misinterprets/-represents a kink to mean "this is written for/by someone who has this kink and wants to have it presented in a literal sense" instead of "the character(s) has/have this kink and act it out figuratively". Love that for us...
About the "at least they're not blood related" rant- Reed states and shows MULTIPLE times that he views Devon as his daughter and himself as her father regardless of their genetic relation. REED HIMSELF VIEWS IT AS INCEST AND CHILD ABUSE BUT IS JUST CHILL WITH IT! To me its somehow more insidious that they aren't genetically related but he still recognizes her as his daughter because it shows that he had been not only fantasizing about her from a VERY young age but that him having a father/child bond (or lets be real, power balance) with her was somehow part of the fantasy- it really makes my stomach turn at the idea that he really might have been thinking of doing something like this far before they adopted the twins and that his marriage to Sabrina was more so a means to an end for him to fulfill this CRIMINAL fantasy. Idk that's really what I got from this and it makes me think the author thinks Lolita is a romance...
it's so classically father-coded to abuse your wife and child, be pissed when it upsets them, and then act like they're a huge thorn in your side, actually, lmfao.
Nothing says "beautiful love story" more than assaulting someone during CHILD BIRTH. Its amazing how this book somehow has 5 star reviews
I keep seeing this recommended in various spicy book groups as "taboo but so good!" Now i see why the gushing recs are so vague and i hate it. Something kept me from reading it and I've never been happier that i listened to my instincts!
I’m so glad you did! I hate that the mysterious element is still being used. I will continue to spoil it happily 🤪
Knowing nothing about this story I assumed "beast" would mean someone was a shapeshifter because of the recent Baldur's Gate 3 panel where a specific romance option was showcased. I was very wrong.
I am disgusted by this story. I *almost* tapped out because of the warnings but I enjoy your reviews a lot and I think you did an excellent job warning viewers of what was coming as well as breaking down the plot (such as it was). I love the way you edit!
The "no spoilers" AN bothers me SO MUCH. It's one thing to be mindful of people close to you, or if you're in say a chatroom where it's asked to keep discussion to a minimum, or to tag spoilers for fandom spaces. But there's just a lot of media that's frankly kinda awful that I just don't want to engage with in my precious free time. I'd rather know exactly what I'm in for because that doesn't diminish the power of a good story to me.
This is a love story in the same way Lolita is a love story. Basically the same premise, too.
This whole thing feels like an attitude of “triggers are the plot/twists” instead of “triggers are serious and help inform your reader”
You know what, I would read this if after the birthday thing she just straight up killed him and went on her own survival journey
I'm continuously horrorified by how poorly dark romance authors handle the subjects they write about. There's consistently no empathy towards the victims of LITERAL CRIMES, the perpetrators are always romanticized, and their actions excused. No one is saying authors cannot write about these themes; however, they need to be handled with the utmost sensitivity and understanding. I've read books about similar subject matter that are nowhere near as vile as this one and it's because those books didn't try to convince me that the violent assaults I was reading about were sexy or romantic.
the amount of times i said call the police out loud is crazy
LITERALLY
Yikes that author's note at the end. Not only do you ask readers to withhold the cws, you threaten physical assault and go "just kidding *hair twirl* ...or am I?" Like that alone bothers me so much
As someone who grew up in the South, where cobbler is a daily fact of existence, not only is there no icing (not even glaze) But if, for some reason, you were like I love icing and I love cobbler and therefore I'm gonna put them together--if the cobbler was warm the icing would immediately melt and sink into gooey deliciousness that would nevertheless NOT work as a metaphor for a feather bed
" -- and send it down the river with Sabrina." I had to pause the video from how good that line was. Thank you for the crumbs of laughter in the middle of this bloody horrifying story because if we don't laugh, we'll cry.
Now this might be controversial, but some books deserve to be thrown in the fireplace. (Side note: this sounds like a REALLY gross retelling of Deerskin by Robin McKinley which does involve CSA and is itself a retelling of a fairy tale, but like it always portrays it as gross and the dad faces consequences.)
Consequences?? No no, not in dark romance! 😂
Not a parent child incest book 🙄🤦🏽♀️ I'm all for fantasy but goddamn where do we draw the line 😭😭😭😭😭😭
That’s something I’ve been trying to put into words for a while now. Like just because you’re wanting to appeal to a certain kink doesn’t mean you have to go all in. Where are the lines?!
@@weirdobookclubRIGHT like.... please he could've just been her stepfather plssss
@kimaya4503 or he could've been not her dad at all, eg, she is an adult thats young getting into BDSM, and some really experienced man who acts fatherly starts being the one to introduce her while a daddy kink is at play, they don't need to make it a depiction of actual abuse or incest at all in order for it to be spicy or fit the kink
@@Tree-House69 I don't like any of it but the incest is just thee most mind boggling to me. I don't understand why that would ever be a fantasy 😭
@@kimaya4503weirdly, when I see people defend the incest kink, it's almost always on content where they're not biologically related and the defense is "well they're not _actually_ related." Which baffles me because 1) that's incredibly invalidating to non-bio families (who do typically very much see their non-bio family members as family) and 2) then what's the point? Like why are they not childhood friends or something else?
The other explanation I've gotten is that it's the taboo, but I don't get it.
I do sort of get when people ship a fiction pairing that are related and sort of.... Handwave or ignore the fact that they're related. Like the couple has such good chemistry that you ship then despite them being related. But I've never understood when the familial relation is the focus.
As someone who had and has a loving father, when you said "incest" and "csa," I wanted to believe those were unrelated incidents, two different sets of people. I cannot even fathom thinking of a child that you raised in that way. This book makes me want to voluntarily become a single parent if I were ever to have kids
Anyone who refuses to put specific trigger warning because of sPoiLer just angers me because you can tell they only do it as a shock value instead of driving force of the plot lmaao
Anyway just subscribe from your last video. So glad you're putting out more rant review. Your comedic timing is great! ❤
Yesss! Not only do I just adore rant reviews they are so perf to replay in the background, especially lengthy ones they’re a total lifesaver when I can’t focus
I’m glad to be of service 💕
I just can’t imagine not thinking trigger warnings are needed for this book. At the very least it gets the super niche audience you want and it protects others. I’m so glad I didn’t pick this up it would’ve been far too upsetting.
My family and I have been watching Northern Exposure, which is set in Alaska and is actually a decent representation of life in Alaska (imo). In my mind, the town on the other side of the trees is Cicely, and the book ends after 2 chapters when everyone finds out about Reed being a fucking weirdo and he gets eaten by a bear or something, while Devon goes on to live a happy quiet life with the dog in an Emmy winning ensemble comedy
SERIOUS RANT HERE:
I find it so disgusting how s*xualized things children do are in books like this, and honestly even in real life. I had an amazing and loving father and when I was a little girl, like when I was 5-10 years old or something, I would regularly barge into the bathroom when my dad was taking a shower or a bath to tell him about my day or something else that I got excited about. And it was never weird or anything, it was just something a little child does. But sometimes, when I tell people that, they think that was weird and that my father must've felt "very weird". And it's so disgusting.
Don't you dare assume that my father was some kind of p*rvert, if anything that's you, because you hear about a story between a CHILD and her father, and instantly make it s*xual?! Like, honestly, YOU'RE the weirdo here and I don't want you anywhere near around children if that's where your train of thought goes.
I can sort of agree with this. I know that I would feel weird in that situation, but I can’t say I didn’t do similar things. For me, it was regularly keeping up a conversation with my brothers while changing with my bedroom door open, and because we were kids, that was just normal.
What really pisses me off to be honest is the oversexualization of the words daddy and mommy. I still refer to my father as daddy because that’s just what feels right. I tried calling him dad and I don’t like it. It’s the same with my stepsisters calling their mother mommy. I get that kink is a thing and that’s fine, but I shouldn’t have to feel embarrassed when dictating a message to my dad in front of people because I say daddy. Not to mention, those are words that were used by children before they were used by adults. I’m not trying to say that nobody should use mommy/daddy in a sexual context, but sex isn’t the first thing that should come to someone’s mind on hearing those words smh
Dammit, I had rewatch this because my brain refuses to believe this is supposed to be a dark romance story. like in another writer's hands, the basic premise would be a straight up horror story about the darkness of human nature being driven to the brink in the face of surviving in the wildness. I'll even take the version of the story you put forward where Reed, Devon and Sabrina try to band together and survive in the snowy Alaskan wilderness and become stronger together and overcome their shared grief.
Life is full of disappointments, I guess. 💀
Glad Sabrina is free from this book. I know she’s not real, but for her to miscarry multiple times and lose another child a few years prior, while being verbally and sexually abused by her husband to take out his rage on her must be tormenting. Of course she’s not going to be able to care for her daughter properly, she’s barely had time to cope healthily and I believe her husband was always abusive towards her just never mentioned it. Why is she painted as the villain 😭
This entire book was just a man bored of his grieving wife, and using her death as an excuse to sexually abuse his naive daughter who is too touch starved to understand that this isn’t okay. This sounds like a horror novel 😬
I'm sincerely glad that you did this review. I was curious about this book when I hear it got banned from Amazon.
I thought maybe, just maybe, it's a well-written, dark psycho thriller where we follow the characters through so much tragedy and darkness that it begins to make sense to us that they could find themselves in such a relationship. Perhaps we could sympathize with them, and in turn question our own ethics, sense of self, and what WE would do if put through such hardship/isolation from the world. I LOVE books/media like that, that take the reader on a skillfully crafted, dark, twisted psychological journey.
I would have been sooo disappointed and extremely angry if I'd walked into this blind. Thank you for giving transparency. It seems like Amazin actually made a good call on this, for once.
The last bit about the daughter thinking about Sabrina seeing the kids and stuff honestly made me so sad. Like she's so under his spell and groomed that she's genuinely unable to understand that what's happened is wrong and would *never* be something her mother would view positively. It's such an innocent take, a naive child like pov, cause that's exactly where he wants her to be mentally. he hasn't allowed her to continue growing up, and by isolating her from society, he has near complete control over what she does and doesn't learn (like the 69 thing, the potential issues with incest pregnancy, etc)
and I really understand what you were talking about with the first sa scene when he was "asleep"(?), it was horrifyingly accurate to my first encounter with my father when I was 12, and seeing something like that in a context of a dark erotica is fucking revolting.
Having been in labor, that scene makes me want to drop a house on this man.
DO IT 🏠
the way i would've set this book on fire, signature especially
I didn’t even mention that it came with a sticker that said “daddies are my favorite” 🤮
@@weirdobookclubit WHAT
“Send your hope down the river with Sabrina” MY MOUTH DROPPED…..😂 you are hilarious! I recently came across your channel and I’m binging all your videos!! And on a real note, thank you for being so open/vulnerable in this video with us.💛💛
Her writing the trigger warning in such a condescending way is infuriating. I had to nope out of this video, but only knew to do so because of you Natalie, so thank you for that.
These topics are an extreme trigger for my OCD and the fact that she is implying that I am not brave or open minded because of a mental disorder I have no control over is disgusting.
Id choose death by snake, itd be far less painful and gruesome, snake bites that are wholly lethal would just mean things like heart stopping or no longer breathing.
Bear though, sometimes after they have mangled you and have made you things like disemboweled/bleeding out they leave you, they dont care about killing you and they often attack out of fear or territory so theyre not always interested in eating you, so youd be stuck there, in great pain, likely mangled, slowly dying, the only mercy being if you go unconcious from bleeding out before actually dying.
So yea, snake
OH ALSO, snakebite leaves a less gruesome scene for whoever finds my body, maybe less trauma for them.
34:01 Fucking finally someone agrees with me on this 💀
I've seen so many plots where the dude is just "unga bunga man smash all day" like bro, please, who taught you this? And why is it always women writing this up? 🙃
I know it’s advertised as a dark romance novel but this is just a psychological thriller. A pedophilic father who was already isolating his daughter from all other male contact as she grows up uses the death of his son to literally isolate his daughter and wife from society. He then goes on to use his own wife’s death (the mother of his CHILD) to push his feelings onto his daughter knowing he is the only form of comfort and familiarity in a dangerous environment.
Then at the end we see that, despite doubts and being told it’s wrong by others, this child convinces herself that they are madly in love with each other.
She has withdrawn so far into herself out of a fear of her father coupled with the juxtaposition of him being her only means of survival (both physically and ironically emotionally as she is left with literally no one else) that she literally has to justify him raping her while she’s actively in labor.
This could have been done better if it wasn’t for the author’s disturbed sense of right and wrong as well as her “teehee don’t spoil the best bits” attitude like it isn’t a book about isolating and raping a literal child.
'Brave and open-minded defiance of taboo' is when you shelter the wrongly persecuted (eg in The Book Thief) or when you put your social cred on the line to counter stereotypes and violence against a people seen only as monsters, and attempt to build diplomatic relations with them (Inheritance Cycle, I forgot which part but I'm referring to Nausada)
'Brave and open-minded defiance of taboo' is when gay men chose to live and love inspite of very real harm brought to them for it, it is Princess Diana with the AIDS patient, trying to influence change.
'Brave and open-minded defiance of taboo' is not CSA or grooming
I feel sick. Why would anyone write this???? We don’t talk enough about the audacity of women who write about criminal, disgusting things and call it dark romance.
The hot-tub flashback is even more sick because what’s the point of “aging” her up when you’re going to go back in time to add more sexual tension to their relationship?
There was so much time to think “should I write this” and “maybe I should stop” but nooo now we have to deal with it
“Send em down the river with Sabrina” I DIED
*ahem* alright I’ll just get into it I guess. So here’s the thing, why are dark romance twists just incest I feel like dark romance is just an excuse to write their incest fanfiction but that’s neither here nor there. If we take the obviously awful element of incest AND child abuse out of this, it’s still an underaged girl with an angry man. “Unconventional but beautiful love story”? Is a WILD take for a man that forces himself onto his unwell spouse AND underaged girl. Taboo? It’s not just toxic behavior we’re overlooking here. We can take the underaged aspect out of this too and it’s nowhere near right. They’re saying no, they’re not responding, they’re saying stop but that’s the beautiful love story we’re gleaming? At what point was any part of this romantic? Don’t tell me it’s over my head, please, spell it out for me like I’m fcking illiterate at what point does the story hook us? When they’re “stranded” in the woods and he gets progressively angrier, hornier, and possessive.
I get really sick of people equating kink to crimes. Like there's a big difference between a story containing age play/daddy kink and a story containing incest.
Also, there's a lot of vile and awful things here, but the whole beginning with Sabrina made me very sad. I'm someone who has dealt with a lot of physical and mental health issues pretty much my entire life. I also grew up with a dad with anger issues. He definitely lost his temper a few times while I was breaking down. His anger was more about his confusion and helplessness because he didn't know what was going on or how to help, but it still made everything so much worse and was very traumatizing.
My dad loves me and always tried to be a good father, so he did eventually improve both in that his anger calmed down and he learned how to better help in the ways he could (even if he still didn't understand what I was going through at all) but it's undeniable to me that his behavior when I was younger delayed me getting help and pushed me further into isolation. I felt very alone and scared and like I was just a broken human being letting everyone down.
So, yeah, the constant anger and bitterness directed at Sabrina just made me really sad and upset. And given the narrative that you read here, I don't think the author really treated that behavior as awful as it really is.
I am glad you made this video. i was told i should read this from an ex friend, and I pick it up, not knowing what it was about. I been through something so much like the main character and my abuser father is getting out of prison soon, and when i read this, it hurt me so much I start having nightmare about my abuser so I hope this help people know what they are getting into before they read it
dude i love rewatching all of your rant reviews but this is one is just so hard to stomach because of what the book entails. i just. wowsers 😭
OH. NOT TO MENTION THAT FOREST INCEST IS THIS AUTHOR'S THING!! OH YEAH i scrolled through her other shit on goodreads and HOLY FUCK if i remember correctly we have an entire series dedicated to siblings just absolutely rawdogging and "falling in lurve" STOP IT.
Yeah I’ve noticed a theme in a lot of her books 👀🫠
I lost my sweet husband 5 years ago suddenly, and he came into our relationship with 2 daughters from his first marriage. He loved his girls with everything he had. That's what a father is supposed to do. Why the hell this freaking POS author felt compelled to write this awful story and wretched characters is absolutely beyond me
51:15 Honestly, that makes it worse in a way. I don’t care about dark stories AS LONG as the dark aspect isn’t excused and is treated respectfully. Not only is it not treated respectfully, the author couldn’t even commit to it?? Poorly-handled “X and X aren’t actually blood related!” plot twists are ALWAYS, *ALWAYS* only there to excuse the incest. That SCREAMS this exists for sexual fantasy fulfillment and *only* that. I was holding onto a tiny, minuscule shred of hope that the author just wanted to write a disgusting story because dark shit is interesting. But that just confirms this is for smut (and not out of fascination for disturbing stories).
Right! Like, if you are going to write this kind of story, stand up and do it. Don't try to get around it on a technicality. LAZY
Damn just when I think it can’t get worse. The audacity of that “warning” only becomes more insufferable as the abusive plot goes on. I didn’t even know Amazon had standards but I guess this is too low even for them
i didn’t finish this so i didn’t know the plot twist and now i’m Even More Mad
Yes my rage doubled at the reveal 🥲
@@weirdobookclubdoes she still follow you?? 😂
This felt like an amped up version of Cassandra Calres mortal instruments pseudo-incest line just a bit more "hold my beer"
Our brains don't stop maturing until we reach our mid twenties. It felt pertinent to add this little factoid...
RIP Sabrina 😭😭😭😭
this book is just so bone chilling this wouldve been the best horror story
#JusticeforSabrina
This poor woman kept taking Ls even in the afterlife😭
now, I've had my fair share of "dark romance"; romanticized tiktok ones, not romanticized head-on unashamed ones, but THIS. this was just the worst one, with zero redeeming qualities, and absolutely not a single likable thing. I admire you for pushing through
He seems to love to abuse and traumatize women (and girls, because Devin is a CHILD) and then get so angry that they just won't speak to him. Can't imagine why
This is the nastiest book I’ve ever even heard of. Thank you for this video because I’ve been seeing it everywhere and was getting super curious about it. But I’m just so disturbed by this book I can’t even put it into words! Also I’m so sorry you experienced that! No child should have to experience that!
I think this book COULD have been better if it was completely rewritten to get rid of the incest OR portray it as the horrible exploitative thing that it truly is. Like portray it as bad (because it is) or don’t portray it at all .
That was the most condescending warning. Also, I ask readers to give me a chance, not trust me before they try one of my books.
THIS Trust is earned!
I keep coming back to this video because ... the book was godawful, and your rant was awesome - but also because you may be the only person on the Internet to ever make a positive/reasonable statement about 'Daddy kink,' with no sarcasm, vomit emojis, or relentless kink-shaming attached ... after swearing up and down that you "hate kink-shaming/don't kink-shame," and I will be eternally grateful for that.
This means a lot. I genuinely mean it when I say I don’t want to kink shame. Everyone has things they enjoy and their reasons are their own, everyone deserves to be able to do that and do it safely. Exploring kinks can be very therapeutic for people. ♥️