That Sik Luv

4/5⭐️ • 5/5🌶️

So while this wasn’t bad it wasn’t great. Especially when people say this gives off haunting Adeline vibes and the Aero and Zade are similar. I didn’t feel that. But that could also be because I listened to this book and I have decided I don’t like Joe Arden as a narrator and am seriously wondering why anyone ever has because everytime I hear his narration I literally cringe because he doesn’t give the character anything and they are all the same. But the storyline was interesting I just couldn’t get fully into it to really see the whole appeal to the book.

Amazing I came across this book on TikTok and I’m so glad I decided to read it. I’m starting to become very into dark romance books and this book only helped that obsession. I can’t wait to read more books of Jescie’s!

I liked this book it wasn’t bad but this was basically all smut and no plot.💀🖤

yalllllll. if you haven’t read this and like dark romance, don’t walk.. RUN. READ IT. the twists. how dark it was. the SPICE. it was soo fucking good! i’m so mad it took me as long as it did to finally pick it up!! briony was such a bad ass!!! her and aero had (and still have) me in a complete chokehold!!! i love them SO much. but i’m not going to go into detail so definitely go in blind aside from checking trigger warnings!!

Listened to the audiobook after seeing this one pop up several times in “if you like this, then try that” lists.

the narrators were trying their best, but the writing is just so bad.

I wonder if this writer had an honest and committed editor, because just some flow and language adjustments would have benefited this story greatly.

the spicy scenes are not even worth plowing through the rest.

This is not dark and intriguing as Haunting Adeline, not cute and funny as Butcher & Blackbird.

Hey folks, can we please stop comparing this one to Haunting Adeline and then get mad because it’s different and Aero isn’t Zade and Briony isn’t Addie? That sik luv isn’t HA 2.0 and doesn’t aim to be, just because it has a stalker element in it. Thank you.

With that being out of the way, here comes the actual review 🙃

Short and spoilerfree: this book is problematic and not worth the time it takes to read nearly 500 pages. I’m neither mad nor disappointed and not even surprised, but I have a lot to say. If the author doesn’t reflect on the serious aspects of this book, I will.

🚨 Spoilers from here on 🚨

If you read this for the plot, you’ll be disappointed. There is .. none. And I’m not saying every story needs hundred twists and turns and smart built up, but knowing the stakes and goals of the main characters would at least be a thing? Speaking of characters I’ve rarely met ones being that shallow and implausible - if they became some screen time and a backstory. Even if it’s a potential deal breaker, I was curious about the religious setting and how growing up in a community affected the MCs. Unfortunately I didn’t find out. You could change the setting to a random different one and the story could take place just the same. The premise of a religious girl coming of age and questioning the morals she grew up with sounded promising, the execution of her giving up on her beliefs in 10 seconds and the solution of simply killing everyone they hate didn’t live up to that.

So what else could you read a book for if not the plot? Right, the spice.

The spice per se was .. spicy and the scenes themselves written quite good, if you’re into dark and kinky. Some aspects however, made me consider dropping the book on several occasions because they crossed even my pretty flexible limits.

The age gap

"I couldn’t wait any longer. You turned eighteen. I had to touch you. Had to fuck you,” he says softly, almost to himself as my clit aches at his desire. Eighteen. Not twenty, like I’d been told."

I have some ground rules when reading smut and one of them is that I like my FMCs to be at least around 21. I hate to have a feeling like „oh that just happens because he’s taking advantage of her inexperience and non existent rationality at that age“. Finding out our FMC is 20 made me slightly uncomfortable already, discovering she’s actually 18 made it worse and with the context, that Aero is 29 and stalked her for several years, anticipating her legal adulthood so he can make a move and that THIS was sold as hot was highly problematic for me. Like .. the man generously waited until her 18 birthday to fuck her? Wow. Give the man a medal and a warm applause 🙄 everything that happened afterwards didn’t feel like the equal relationship it obviously should be perceived as, but grooming. I don’t mind exploring heavier or darker topics in books, but please do it properly then, raise awareness on sensible topics and don’t romanticize it.

Degradation

"Easy, my little slut," he whispers into my ear. "I’d hate to hurt you while you aren’t awake enough to feel it."

If I’d start counting how often Briony gets called a slut, a whore or any other fun nickname, I’d be occupied for the rest of the day. Playful degradation ends when it’s no longer playful, but taken too serious. When it’s not used to create sexual tension but becomes part of the core beliefs of one participants. And from how Aero acts, I’ve got the impression he really started believing what he was calling her.

Consent

"We got at least seven more."

"No," I whine into the blankets.

"You need to trust me, Briony," he breathes.

Trust that I’ve got you. I need you to love this because I plan on doing it often."

"She’d asked to shower alone, but I denied her that. I wanted to wash her."

Ufffff. Okay. Take a deep breath. CNC CAN be a thing, and even dub-con scenes are not necessarily a no go for me, but this book crossed some boundaries. From small actions like denying the FMC to shower alone or forcing her to perform something sexual, she’s not comfortable with yet - He fucks her while she sleeps, he drugs her to record videos of him touching her, he pierces her while she’s unconscious well knowing she doesn’t want those piercings, the lost goes on. He disrespects EVERY "no" she voices during those scenes - and I don’t care about what she disagrees in detail, an explicitly voiced „no“ defines a boundary that should always be respected. That’s a non-negotiable. And if you still continue, that’s assault.

To conclude, I‘m not blaming a dark romance story when it’s dark. I‘m blaming the book for not addressing and reflecting the things that happen in a respectful and mature way.

My review on That Sik Luv: The only thing I like about this book was Aero. I honestly felt like B was a tool and only purpose was to just be there. She didn’t feel like she was a well thought out character, more like a sticker. I thought her internal dialogue was repetitive her choices were 🙄. There were many times where I skipped a whole part and still knew what was going on. I did like how she fought back sometimes but that was very short lived… I gave it 2 stars because the spicy scenes were good and I didn’t like the plot. There’s no way this book is comparable to HA.

2 words. JESUS CHRIST