Name: Lover of Romance 's review of Corrupt by Penelope Douglas
Item: Corrupt
Rating: 4
Author: Lover of Romance

Penelope Douglas

   Erika

I was told that dreams were our heart’s desires. My nightmares, however, became my obsession.

His name is Michael Crist.

My boyfriend’s older brother is like that scary movie that you peek through your hand to watch. He is handsome, strong, and completely terrifying. The star of his college’s basketball team and now gone pro, he’s more concerned with the dirt on his shoe than me.

But I noticed him.

I saw him. I heard him. The things that he did, and the deeds that he hid…For years, I bit my nails, unable to look away.

Now, I’ve graduated high school and moved on to college, but I haven’t stopped watching Michael. He’s bad, and the dirt I’ve seen isn’t content to stay in my head anymore.

Because he’s finally noticed me.

   Michael

Her name is Erika Fane, but everyone calls her Rika.

My brother’s girlfriend grew up hanging around my house and is always at our dinner table. She looks down when I enter a room and stills when I am close. I can always feel the fear rolling off of her, and while I haven’t had her body, I know that I have her mind. That’s all I really want anyway.

Until my brother leaves for the military, and I find Rika alone at college.

In my city.

Unprotected.

The opportunity is too good to be true as well as the timing. Because you see, three years ago she put a few of my high school friends in prison, and now they’re out.

We’ve waited. We’ve been patient. And now every last one of her nightmares will come true.


***Corrupt can be read as a stand-alone. No cliffhanger.

Devil's Night #1

Corrupt

minotaur

,,Own who you are"he commanded.,,And don't 

 you understand?Own it or it will own you"

Anna

But this was where shit got complicated. I was only home for the weekend, and then I'd be it. I'd be going back to school. If we had sex now, it would just malke everything more stressful for her when it came time to be apart.

None of us know the full measure of our power until we start pushing our boundaries and pressing our luck, and the more we do, the less we care what others think. 

"You aren't born with respect and reverence. You learn patience and value through struggle.”

Lieke Nieuwlaat 

Touching my forehead to hers, I ran my thumb across her face, caressing it."I love you, Rika." 

Will twisted and fought, keeping his eyes on the surface, and I yanked and jerked at the rope, trying to get him free

I don't win by playing your games. I win by making you play mine

"'m not playing your games. You were wrong." I crossed my arms over my chest. "You want to know what I've learned? don't win by playing your games. I win by making you play mine!"

Our scrapes and bruises, tattoos, scars, smiles, and wrinkles told our stories, and I didn't want a pristine piece of wallpaper. I wanted her and everything she was.

Own it Don't apologize for who you are. Own it. You can't win if you don't show up, right?

"Own who you are," he commanded. "And don't apologize. Do you understand? Own it or it will own you."

Keira 💫

Hailey

Lover of Romance 

I don’t even have words to explain how bad this book was. I really hope the next book gets better

Amber 

From all the hype, I expected a lot from this series. It was good, but I think I need to finish the series to know for sure. 

Katie Buchanan

this was a wild ride but SO GOOD☺️ michael crist😩

jenna

nany

i just want to sit with them, be one of them, hang out with them

he corrupted her. she corrupted him.

the first dark romance I've read in a while. got me out of my reading slump too. im gonna check out the rest of the series for kai lol

This was so hot and genuinely crazy psychotic that it was making me so angry like girl what is WRONG WITH YOU😟 anyways next😋

Gabriela Kondratyuk

Greer Andersson

DNF @ 73%

I really tried to stick this one out because for the most part I don’t mind a well-written dark ROMANCE. Guys the keyword is romance. Obviously romance isn’t instant but i had to drop this almost THREE QUARTERS in because of how genuinely UNromantic it was. Calling this book a romance is a crime against humanity

arwen

It wasn't really what I expected but at the same time it was exactly what I thought it would be.

Sophia

I’m too much of a softy for a book like this.

I need yearning and romance. This literally almost gave me an aneurism.

Too much threat of rape and violence for me, personally: but at the same time it was like a car crash and I was rubbernecking and couldn’t look away. Still managed to read it pretty quickly.

Why this girl even remotely liked this guy or hung out with these foul people are beyond me. Especially since they basically assaulted her every time, but what do I know? Michael is an ick.

I wanted to see what the TikTok fuss is about, and I’m still wondering. I need a pallet cleanser 😮‍💨

Sarah Campbell

I’m too much of a softy for a book like this.
I need yearning and romance. This literally almost gave me an aneurism.
Too much threat of rape and violence for me, personally: but at the same time it was like a car crash and I was rubbernecking and couldn’t look away. Still managed to read it pretty quickly.
Why this girl even remotely liked this guy or hung out with these foul people are beyond me. Especially since they basically assaulted her every time, but what do I know? Michael is an ick.
I wanted to see what the TikTok fuss is about, and I’m still wondering. I need a pallet cleanser 😮‍💨

sophie

took forever to finish. lots of mixed feelings. all the characters desperately need therapy.
3 stars

Debra Major

Loved it

Beginning to end loved this book! I read it in 2 days! Highly recommend. Read trigger warnings!! This is definitely one of my favorites so far.

Renata

rika corrupted michael and he did the same to her later BUT THEY ALSO CORRUPTED ME MY PARENTS 

fuck i re-read for the 4th time this and i think it even got better than since the first time i’ve read it. 
i love erika sm she’s the baddest istg 

- "They were here. The Four Horsemen (...) Damon Torrance, Kai Mori, Will Grayson III and Michael Crist ."

- "Own who you are,""And don't apologize. Do you understand? Own it or it will own you."

- "And from Michael as well as Damon, Will, and Kai I learned to breathe fire. I learned to walk as if the path were carved for me and me alone, and to treat the world as if it should know I was coming."

- "You watched the games in high school. You were at every one of my games."
"Why did you lie?"
"I didn't," (...) "I just watched you." 

- "And how about me?"
"Disturbed,"(...)"Drowning Pool, Three Days Grace, Five Finger Death Punch,""Thousand Foot Krutch, 10 Years, Nothing More, Breaking Beniamin, Papa Roach, Bush..""Chevelle, Skillet. Garbage, Korn, Trivium, In This Moment..." "You're in everything" 

- "It never escaped my attention how she hid it around my brother, as if it made her less beautiful. No. Our scrapes and bruises, tattoos, scars, smiles, and wrinkles told our stories, and I didn't want a pristine piece of wallpaper. I wanted her and everything she was."

- "When she finally realized that my opinion was the only one that mattered. And even though she was always the one to watch me as we grew up, that didn't mean I wasn't always aware of her, either."

- "I still remembered the day she was born. Sixteen years, eleven months, and eighteen days ago. That crisp November morning when my mother let me hold her and then my Father immediatelv took her out of my arms and laid her next to Trevor, who was just a baby then, too. Even at three I understood. She was Trevor's. And I just sat there, wanting her back, wanting to see the baby and wanting to be included in the fun" 

- "Why her? Why, despite my mother, who always loved me, and my friends, who always had my back, was it Erika Fane who put the air in my lungs or made my blood run hot. She always got to me."

- "The most valuable lesson anyone learns in life should be learned as early as possible. That you don't have to live in the reality someone else had invented. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Ever. Redefine normal. None of us know the full measure of our power until we start pushing our boundaries and pressing our luck, and the more we do, the less we care what others think. The freedom feels too good." 

- "I would always circle her. It never stopped. Even when we were kids, if she moved, I wanted to move. If she left a room, I wanted to follow. My body was always aware of where she was. And it was the same for her."

- ""I need you, I need you every day, every hour, every minute."(...) He was everything. My entire life, I only felt completely alive when he was close, and while I knew nothing would ever be easy with him, I also knew nothing would ever be good without him, either."

- "You know.""I don't remember a time when I didn't love you.""When you look at me,""when you touch me, when you're inside me, I'm completely in love with my life, Michael. I never want to be anywhere else."

- ""I love you, Rika." I've always loved you."(...)
After all the years and all the times when I should've known, it took her nearly getting killed for me to realize what she meant to me. For me to realize how ingrained in every moment of my life she was and how she'd always been there, right in front of me. Her, riding her bike around my driveway when she was five. Her, learning to swim in my pool. Her, running around and doing cart wheels in my backyard. Her, biting her nails when I entered the room. Her, sitting next to my mother at every basketball game in high school. Her, refusing to even look in my direction when I hung out with a girl.
And me, barely able to hold back the smile at the little looks she stole and how nervous she was when I was close. She was always there, and it was always us."

- "He'd corrupted me."

- "She'd corrupted me."

honya

this book was a solid 2.5 stars i’d say 
my thoughts so far:

rika: meh, there were scenes where i loved her but also scenes where i didn’t really vibe with her 

michael: hm, HE WAS SO DARN CUTE AT THE END UGHHH. but again, there were scenes where i wanted to strangle him 

kai: fav so far (he actually felt bad for what he did to rika)

will: k will was kinda funny at some parts but i feel like all he did was laugh at damon’s unfunny jokes🧍🏾‍♀️still don’t really hate him honestly cuz he also did the bare minimum and apologized 

damon: i lowkey felt really bad when i found out why he is how he is, but he’s a -20/10 so far cuz honestly fuck him :)

This book was so hard to follow. It was spicy and spooky. I really enjoyed it.

Meghan Morris

The closer you got to anything beautiful, the less beautiful it became. Allure was in the mystery, not the appearance.

This book was so hard to follow. It was spicy and spooky. I really enjoyed it.

Anaelia

I loved this book, yea sure some scenes were a bit cringey for me maybe but I loved this book especially the last two chaps they were just perfect and Plzz don't get me started on the suspense it was oh too good , I read punk 57 before this so i got some yk spoilers and when I started reading this book I never really thought I would love this as much as punk 57 if not more. 
"She and I were the same, after all. We fought shame every
day, struggling with who we could let see the real us, and we’d
finally found each other.
Unfortunately…we were fucked."
 
I don't know why but this was so deep , so so deep 
And there was this line 

“They tell us that what we want is wrong and that freedom is dirty. They see
chaos, madness, and fucking as ugly, and the older you get, the
smaller that box gets. You feel it closing in already, don’t
you?” 

“There are too many people that try to change us,” he went
on, “and not enough people who want us to be who we really
are. Someone once made me see that, and I wanted to give that
to you.”

You know this is so real , I felt this deep in my bone I tell you it's just so true and in some cases/scenes What Erica and Michael felt was so overpowering , some scenes I felt as if I was there because sometimes well most of the time I feel the same , alone and different than others? But The book was as if a movie was playing in front me and I was just seeing the book instead of reading them. And KAI oh I loved him , he got me crushing on him he got that yk that mysterious air around him that will got you loving him without you knowing. 

 Then there is Damon and Trevor those piece of sh$ts I wanted to kill them and I was so damn happy when trevor died it was just so satisfying yes I know I am talking like a crackhead and don't worry I am and I know it well sorry for writing such a long ass review it's my first time writing one 

So I guess the bottom line is I loved this book ...
Lots of love...

it was hard to read at first, for me at least. but once you're hooked, it's hard to put this one down. 

indeed, the characters are unhinged and need to be checked mentally, clinical at its finest. well, that's the point of dark romance, isn't it? the taboos and sometimes, universally unacceptable. i love the game that michael play, though it's pretty dumb — realistically. love it more that rika fight back at some point. the push and pull, the inconsistency, the uncertainty, and the unhinged things they did; not gonna lie, i'm not a fan of them but it definitely adds more tension. i feel like i want to scratch their faces. 

though michael and rika weren't my favourite, i tolerated them. also, i find it funny that at one night michael isn't around, the other horsemen are arrested. lol.

it was hard to read at first, for me at least. but once you're hooked, it's hard to put this one down. 

indeed, the characters are unhinged and need to be checked mentally, clinical at its finest. well, that's the point of dark romance, isn't it? the taboos and sometimes, universally unacceptable. i love the game that michael play, though it's pretty dumb — realistically. love it more that rika fight back at some point. the push and pull, the inconsistency, the uncertainty, and the unhinged things they did; not gonna lie, i'm not a fan of them but it definitely adds more tension. i feel like i want to scratch their faces. 

though michael and rika weren't my favourite, i tolerated them. also, i find it funny that at one night michael isn't around, the other horsemen are arrested. lol.

Ana Clara Moreno

Great book, had me hooked from the first minute, smut scenes were exceptional especially the steam room 👀 but Michael should’ve grovelled more don’t think he worked enough to be forgiven 

Britany byrne 

julie reads

Victoria Yu

i’m all for spicy books but this shit was actually terrible. like what the fuck was going on 

nikki 

*this review may contain spoilers so be aware before reading this review*

Corrupt is the first book in the Devil's Night series and its definitely been a while since I have read this author but I had just forgotten how addicting her writing is. I couldn't put this book down at all, it was so fascinating to see this book build within its intensity. I did something different with reading this book though that I had never done with this type of writing before. This book contain flash backs almost every other chapter or so. So I really hate that, I would rather the flashback portion of the story happen first and then get to the current time plot or it just feels like I am a ping pong ball trying to keep both timelines straight. And yes I am definitely going to be doing that from now on whenever I see this type of writing style implemented, it made it so much easier to be honest and I don't know why it just didn't occur to me before to do that. 

Corrupt is a story of revenge and friendship and lots of crazy times happening. Now only Penelope Douglas could write such a story and just make it work for me. She definitely does those angst, dark filled almost bully romance style books to a T. Corrupt is a story about our heroine, Erika, who despite growing up with wealth, is a sweet and full of heart type of heroine. She finds herself drawn to the "Four Horsemen" and most specifically one man Michael. She experiences an adventure when she is sixteen with these four friends and becomes one of them but then something happens that night, a misunderstanding and levels of hurt between Michael and Erika. I actually was so drawn to these characters and seeing their early story. But now Michael is out for revenge, because he believes Erika has done something horrible that got his friends in prison and now they are free and have a plan to torment her and wreak havoc upon her life. But is the love Michael still has for her be enough to save her or will the truth come out and save them all? 

This book was INTENSE y'all....whew, and it knocked my socks off. I think reading the chapters with the back story first was a smart move, just because of the way the current time line plot is handled, it just made it easier in many respects. I found that this story was very intense and packed with secrets. My heart just broke for this heroine and even all these "bad boys" within the book though. They are driven apart and put through hell through some big misunderstandings. Erika was such a wonderful heroine and I LOVED her to pieces. She was so sweet and endearing but so strong and full of life at the same time. I felt so drawn to her character and she was very easy to relate to. The hero on the other side is rough around the edges, has such a strong "air" of mystery and intrigue surrounding him and isn't the easiest of heroe's to read in a romance. 

I found that this story was action packed and really keeps you on the edge of your seat in every chapter and I love that this author can invoke such a response. It doesn't happen very often but I was so drawn into this story and seeing all the drama that plays out because there is DRAMA. But its the type of drama that you can get behind because it deals with some very heavy topics here that aren't easy for everyone. But you can see the torment and levels of pain that the characters do deal with. I also would like to mention that there is one scene of menage and yeah I struggled seeing it. I see why it happened, but it just didn't work for me to be honest. 

Overall I found Corrupt to be a stellar ride of thrills and suspense and dark mystery that kept me on edge from beginning to end, its a story that will captive and stun you completely.

Lover of Romance &
Corrupt by Penelope Douglas

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Corrupt by Penelope Douglas