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

arwen

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

Sophia

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 Palacio

Victoria Yu

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

nikki 

It's funny when people say that this is a dark romance book. Like no it's not dark romance it's disgusting romance.

 or wtv started off when she's 16 and he's 19 which I wasn't aware of when I bought it.

Nimi

3.3* star review out of 5

It's funny when people say that this is a dark romance book. Like no it's not dark romance it's disgusting romance.

Oh also their relationship or wtv started off when she's 16 and he's 19 which I wasn't aware of when I bought it.



I think I just became obsessed with a romance series? Worth every penny and bought the other five as a result. Main character was an absolute badass and I immediately became obsessed with the horsemen almost IMMEDIATELY. Can't wait to start book 2.

ariah 

Lacy W

TW: unwanted sexual contact, drug and alcohol abuse, drugging, attempted rape and sexual assault, slut shaming (challenged), sexism, child abuse

This is my first experience with Penelope Douglas and it won’t be my last. I loved this book and I love Penelope. I got a chance to meet them at a book con that was held in the town next to me (I’ll get a post up about that sooner or later). She was very sweet and signed my book I had just bought. I think Penelope Douglas is two authors but I’m not sure.

Anyway. On to the actual book review. Like I mentioned above, this was great! The first page had a playlist, as songs were mentioned throughout the course of the book. I love it when authors add those fun little details to a book. It gives me a more authentic experience. Not to mention, the playlist was pretty good with bands like Drowning Pool and Disturbed.

The book itself is split into past and present. Ericka or Rika, as she is commonly called is one of the main characters. She has both past and present chapters. I liked Rika well enough but I wasn’t in love with her. I can’t quite put my finger on why I didn’t love her. She was entitled but was aware of her entitlement. She wasn’t weak but seemed to rely on others to save her but then get upset when those people came to rescue her. She forgave and forget far too easily for me (but I’m just a bitter old lady). I just don’t know. Something was off.

Michael was the other main character and he had present chapters. I liked him a lot. There was no BS with him. He did not apologize for who he was as a person, which was an asshole but had a heart of gold waaaaay deep on the inside. I preferred his honesty to himself and to others, even though he sometimes came off as a bit cruel. He knew this and owned it and I couldn’t help but love him for it.

The premise of the book was alright but it almost seemed to drag. The book was probably around 400 pages or so. While I enjoyed the steamier parts, the plot took a while to get too. I just wanted to know what happened between Rika and Michael to make Michael hate her so much. We were eventually given the story through Rika’s past chapters, but man, it just took far too long for my taste.

Overall, this was still a very good book despite some of the flaws that I mentioned. I enjoyed the steamy parts and I loved Rika and Michael together. The plot was slow which got to be frustrating at times. Despite that, I’m excited to continue the series and read about Kai, one of the Horsemen and Michael’s friend. I enjoyed him and his softness and can’t wait to see what happens to him.

melanie alvarez 

3.5 ⭐️ really. it was so twisted but addicting? i look forward to the next books 😵‍💫

rhiannon ludolph

Read if your into toxic, dominant, morally grey guys… but lets be honest, who isnt into them.

Beatrix Haase

6 October 2022
For some reason for the past week I have had this urge to re-read this series again.

Dimi ♡

4 out of 5 stars. 
I'll tell you what; I know Peneope Douglas recieves a lot of negative criticism on her controversial charachters and the taboo topics (*cough* sex scenes) she writes about but what I've realised is that what I need from a book is not for it to align with my morals and be politically correct per se but to captivate me, make me feel things and honestly, give me the escapism I desire. 
I couldn't put this book down. Rikas' and Michaels' story is beautiful in it's own disturbed way, but that's exactly what I loved about it. It was gripping, never a moment of down time, unconventional and honestly, Penelope is very talented at making you invested in her charachters. In my opinion she is a fabulous story teller and I trully am obsessed with her and her books. She pushes boundaries. I really enjoy how weirded out I feel at times and the moral greyness that she portrays in her books.

Kiley H

This book…..this book was something else. 

Did I finish the book? Yes. Would I recommend it? No. Was it spicy?….hehe yes. 

The story line and characters are so toxic and the characters need A LOT of psychological help but the smut do be smutting. Also look up triggers because there’s heavy stuff going on in this book.

Aishling

I sorta finished this but also skipped the last several pages. I only wanted to find out what the whole secret was and I lost all interest then

Corrupt Devil's Night #1

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