Name: Little Stranger
Rating: 3.6 (35 reviews)

Leigh Rivers

OWNING HER IS ALL HE EVER WANTED

She betrayed him, and now he wants revenge against the sister who became his forbidden obsession the second he laid eyes on her. After she sends him to prison for years, he’s free and ready to haunt her.

Everything about Olivia belongs to Malachi Vize.
Her mind
Her body
Her soul
Her fear
Her pain

On Halloween night, he can no longer lurk in the shadows. All he has left to own is her heart, even if he needs to take it.

This story comes with extremely triggering content. Please read the "Content Warning" page.

Little Stranger

This had potential - the actual idea and plot line could’ve been really good, but I felt it moved way too quickly. I didn’t have any attachment to the characters, felt like I was just reading for the sake of it. It was giving ‘porn without plot’ for a lot of it. Man, I wanted to like this so badly. 

2 stars solely for Joe Arden in the audiobook, that’s my man right there. 

Rose

This had potential - the actual idea and plot line could’ve been really good, but I felt it moved way too quickly. I didn’t have any attachment to the characters, felt like I was just reading for the sake of it. It was giving ‘porn without plot’ for a lot of it. Man, I wanted to like this so badly. 

2 stars solely for Joe Arden in the audiobook, that’s my man right there. 

❗TRIGGER WARNINGS AND SPOILER ALERT ❗

Spice :🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Tropes : sibling (they both are foster siblings), forbidden romance, dark romance, intense and too dark ☠️ but 🥹 (only for some people) please check the trigger warnings of the book.

Characters : i) Olivia — I read few reviews of people saying that olivia didn’t deserve Malachi, and they didn’t like Olivia that much. I get it, but I liked her, and didn’t find her annoying. I liked how she tries to bring some sense to herself and Malachi but fails to do so, she fights against herself but then falls for Malachi. 

ii) Malachi : 🫣🫣🫣👀👀👀😏😭😯😵‍💫🥹🥹🥹🥹 my reactions to reading his pov in the book. Deep…deep breaths, because this man is so obsessed, possessive with her from the start. How only felt comfortable with Olivia, and his obsession is maddest level. 🤌🏼 Malachi even tries to kill their dad for interrupting his meal, as he quotes. 🫣 In the initial years of me venturing into dark romance territory, when I didn’t know anything about this genre, I hated this book, so after opening it, and considering it a horrifying, i closed it, and threw it where i picked it up from. But then, as i slowly for comfortable reading dark romance, the moment I started reading the book, i knew this book would be my favorite! And Malachi is my new favorite mute psycho. The spider? 💗 The kidnapping and not allowing Olivia to leave until he has had his revenge for her testifying against him. He stalks her, drugs her, and tidies her apartment and gets slightly anxious if he placed the rug in it’s place and then smirks knowing Olivia probably won’t notice. He also pleads to olivia on his knees to choose him, learns how to say her name multiple times, and keeps trying even though he finds the name annoying for the four syllables, but tries anyway. He also loves spikey, and furry a lot, they are his precious pets. [Mine too, I love spiders from now on, maybe terrified but still gonna love them 😤😯😵‍💫🫣] (Including Olivia herself) He tracks Olivia movements, takes care of her after well…destroying her. I loved Malachi, and didn’t know I could love him more than i already do. And that one scene of cigarette burn right there for a split second? Who knew Malachi could unlock hidden … let’s not go there. 

What I loved : leigh rivers’s writing is top tier. She writes so well, i loved the flow of the story, the plot, i kept flipping pages, wanting and needing more.

What I struggled with : nothing. This book was so good, it exceeded five stars for me. 

Loveable characters or not : Malachi and Olivia were both loveable to me. 

Plot driven / character driven : plot driven? 1000%, and character driven, this book was a delicious mix of both. 

Favorite quotes/ highlights : “Malachi has… issues. As well as all the trauma from his life before coming here that triggered his mutism, he isn’t mentally normal. Have you ever heard of ASPD?”

“It’s still fresh—I went with him to get it done a few days ago and read a book for nearly six hours while he kept his eyes on me. I asked if it hurt, but he shook his head.”

— “He points to the torch. I can’t fucking talk to you if you can’t see me.”

“He’s waiting for instructions, the clueless look in his eyes making me giddy—Malachi Vize, innocent only for me, on his knees for his sister, looking like I own him.”

“I shove at his chest again and again and again, until he snatches my wrists and pushes me into the wall. His mouth opens, as if he’s trying to say something, his lips shaping, no sound coming from them until he’s whispering, “Ol… Ol… N-N…”

I shake my head and duck under his arm, grabbing the door handle. “Go,” I say sternly. “Just… just go, Malachi. There’s nothing to resolve here.”

— “Sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Fucking sorry.

That damn word echoes in my psyche—a curse that won’t fuck off. Sorry’s just a word to try to get out of something, to dodge trouble if you’ve been caught out. Sorry’s a five-letter disgrace that shouldn’t even need to be used. It should be abolished from the fucking dictionary. Actions do speak louder than words, and if she’s as sorry as than words, than she makes out in her voicemails, then why does she sometimes look happy? Why is she going out partying with her friends? Kissing guys who—shockingly—vanish days later?”

— “For those eight years, I didn’t communicate with a single soul. I’ve kept my voice to myself, where no one else can take it, since I was five years old. The one time I tried to use it, I struggled to pronounce her name, and Olivia yelled at me that I was a liar, that she hated me, that we were done, and slapped me across the face before I could get her name past my lips. I’ve been stuck in my own purgatory since I was born—the different one, the black sheep, the fucking mute weirdo who has an intense fascination with his little sister.”

— “He interrupted my meal—maybe now he’ll know better than to take away my food, the fucking asshole.”

— “It’s a pity I can’t protect her from myself. Her betrayal isn’t something I can shrug off like everything else. Her fucking people while I was locked away, having relationships, being happy, was unacceptable, but I let it all slide after squashing each element. But earning my forgiveness won’t be easy—I’ll have the whore begging on her knees for me to forgive her for all her fucking sins against me.”

“The first year of my imprisonment, I thought Olivia’s silence was because she was pregnant—that I’d got her pregnant from that one time, and I even started asking her in letters if the kid was mine, tricking myself into believing I had a kid out there that was taking all of her attention from me.”

— “I won’t talk. I can barely string a sentence together, even when I was training my voice box in my cell to produce four syllables without pausing. Pathetic, in all honesty. Wanting to say Olivia’s name and struggling to do so made me drive my fist into too many walls.”

— “I know how to fucking talk. I do. But I just… can’t without making a fool of myself. I stutter, and my tone is all over the place.”

— “Firstly, I didn’t cheat. And secondly, we weren’t in a relationship either. I was her secret little fuckboy; someone she could teach what she loved.”

— “Words like “missing you” and “I didn’t think it was possible to be without you, and now there’s a huge wall between us” and “will you visit me? I’m sorry for yelling at court” and my least favorite, a very dark time for me, “I’m not comfortable around these people. They call me a weirdo like the kids at school did because I won’t talk. Please don’t leave me in here,” yet she didn’t reply, even when my letters grew more desperate. No reply. Not to this letter, or the one after, or the fifty-odd after that.”

— “I even begged her in some of these letters, demanding to know why she hadn’t come to see me, if I’d done something wrong. I was in a state of confusion for so long, wondering—no, calculating—what error I’d made in the last few years.”

— “I even told her, in a very messy letter—one of my last—that I had no idea how to control the way I felt about her, and that if I had got her pregnant, I’d step up even though I had no idea how to be a good father, that if she’d visit with my son or daughter, let me see them, I’d do better.”

— “My bones are shaking—I think I might pass out as soon as she vanishes into the building. Being so close to her like this, with her bright eyes and mesmerizing smile, kinda knocks me off my fucked-up axis. I almost want to abort my revenge-fueled mission and tell her I forgive her, that we can be together now that I’m no longer seen as part of the Vize family—yet I still hold the surname on all my documents and bank accounts.”

— “I stare at the letters, tracing my finger over them. “O-liv-a,” I say, shaking my head. “O-lay-ve-a.”

“I know how to say her name, but when I try to sound out the letters, my tone shifts, and I fuck it up.”

“What if I shortened it? She thinks my name is Kai. My real name is Malachi, by the way, not Kai, but she thinks that. What if I called her Liv?”

“I sit up straight and puff my chest and try to say it all as one word. “Ol-i-vara.”

“You w-were my first. I pr-promise. My… first and… my only.”

“Y-You don’t lo-love me?” I stutter the words, but I don’t fucking care. She’s a liar. She’s lying, and I refuse to fucking take it.”

“I shut off the voicemail, and step forward, my body shaking with rage. “It was r-r-real. All o-of it was r-real. Everyth-thing was real. You mean th-the world t-t-to me. But you won’t s-s-say it back, w-will you?”

“I am sorry,” I say, fucking up the enunciation but who the fuck cares? “The spider. The knife. The cameras. All o-o-of it. I’m sorry.” I close my eyes and blow out a breath. “I need you, Ol—” I stop, my heart racing so fast, I think it might stop.”

“I stay against the wall, my hands behind me, and try to think of everything possible to make her stay. Willingly. I want Olivia to choose me.”

“Please choose me. Nobody ever chooses me.”

“Something weird is happening to me. My chest is sore, and my eyes feel immense pressure, and they’re… wet. I think I might be crying for the first time in my life.”

“She opens the door, but I rush in front of her, blocking her exit as I drop to my knees and grab her hands. “Olivia,” I whisper clearly. “Please don’t leave me. Please stay with me.”

“Her sadness is all over her face—she’s looking at me like I’m the one breaking her heart, her eyes following a tear as it slides down my cheek. “Please,” I beg. “Accept my v-version of love. Pl-ease. I love you, Ol-l-l—”

“Olivia doesn’t tell me she loves me back, or that she’ll stay. She just gives me a warm smile and pulls her hand away before squeezing past me. I don’t turn around to watch her walk out of my life for good.”

“Malachi, despite all his craziness, deserves better than me.”

“Olivia was more important. I knew to wait. I knew that one day, even if we were in our fucking thirties, I’d bury my cock in my sister and make her moan my name so damn loud. I’d have the sound in my ears until the day I died. I’ve never been afraid of dying—it’s inevitable. But the thought of dying and leaving Olivia behind? Of leaving her with all the poisonous toxicity in the world? That terrifies me. She can’t trust anyone, especially not Mom. But she can trust me. She can always trust me.”

“All I could do was hide under my bed with my pet spider, who never wanted to talk back to me. Every day and night, we would hide under my bed. He was my best friend. But he never ever spoke, so why would I? He was happy without using his voice. I could be happy as well. He was my comforter. My protector. If he could conceal his voice and be brave enough to hide under my bed and not cry, then I could too. It was the start of the new me. They wanted to hear me scream while they pushed the needle into my arm, so I didn’t. I was starved, thin, weak, but at least I had power over my speech. They wouldn’t take that from me too, because I hid it somewhere only Olivia could find it.”

“I kiss her—the only girl I’ve ever imagined giving my heart to. It might be a little black, a little jagged around the edges, and my mind might be a little wild, but she owns them. Olivia owns my mind, body, and soul. She did when we were kids, when we were teens, when we were giving in and letting go. Even when I had her chained up in the basement, she had a hold over me.

I had it in my head that I wanted revenge on her—I now know I just wanted her back.

Olivia actually chose me, and I intend to keep her.”

Similar authors : i have never read a pitch black hero like Malachi before, leaving caden from beautiful fiend by Lola king, he’s deranged, but Malachi’s obsession exceeded my expectations, and some, so when I read more books, maybe there’ll recommendations? 

Any other details : olivia was kidnapped by Malachi and she was covered in cob webs, blood, come, that was something I liked? (Does loving Malachi become a crime? 😵‍💫🫣) I loved the book, the plot, I wanted to read more of Malachi, why is the book so short and only has two books????? 😤 My man deserves more. I really wonder how Malachi would feel knowing that he wanted to be chosen and loved, and there are so many people who love him. How would he feel, when he sees that he is loved not only by Olivia but us readers too? I really did not see any reason to hate Malachi. I read some reviews that meant that Malachi had gone through a lot as a kid resulting in his mutism, it really broke my heart, at one point, i cried for my Malachi, I love this man, someone please make him real, so I can love him better. 

Ruhaanika  𖹭

❗TRIGGER WARNINGS AND SPOILER ALERT ❗

Plot : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Story :⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Spice :🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Rating :⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Tropes : sibling (they both are foster siblings), forbidden romance, dark romance, intense and too dark ☠️ but 🥹 (only for some people) please check the trigger warnings of the book.

Pacing : medium. 

Characters : i) Olivia — I read few reviews of people saying that olivia didn’t deserve Malachi, and they didn’t like Olivia that much. I get it, but I liked her, and didn’t find her annoying. I liked how she tries to bring some sense to herself and Malachi but fails to do so, she fights against herself but then falls for Malachi. 

ii) Malachi : 🫣🫣🫣👀👀👀😏😭😯😵‍💫🥹🥹🥹🥹 my reactions to reading his pov in the book. Deep…deep breaths, because this man is so obsessed, possessive with her from the start. How only felt comfortable with Olivia, and his obsession is maddest level. 🤌🏼 Malachi even tries to kill their dad for interrupting his meal, as he quotes. 🫣 In the initial years of me venturing into dark romance territory, when I didn’t know anything about this genre, I hated this book, so after opening it, and considering it a horrifying, i closed it, and threw it where i picked it up from. But then, as i slowly for comfortable reading dark romance, the moment I started reading the book, i knew this book would be my favorite! And Malachi is my new favorite mute psycho. The spider? 💗 The kidnapping and not allowing Olivia to leave until he has had his revenge for her testifying against him. He stalks her, drugs her, and tidies her apartment and gets slightly anxious if he placed the rug in it’s place and then smirks knowing Olivia probably won’t notice. He also pleads to olivia on his knees to choose him, learns how to say her name multiple times, and keeps trying even though he finds the name annoying for the four syllables, but tries anyway. He also loves spikey, and furry a lot, they are his precious pets. [Mine too, I love spiders from now on, maybe terrified but still gonna love them 😤😯😵‍💫🫣] (Including Olivia herself) He tracks Olivia movements, takes care of her after well…destroying her. I loved Malachi, and didn’t know I could love him more than i already do. And that one scene of cigarette burn right there for a split second? Who knew Malachi could unlock hidden … let’s not go there. 

What I loved : leigh rivers’s writing is top tier. She writes so well, i loved the flow of the story, the plot, i kept flipping pages, wanting and needing more. 

What I struggled with : nothing. This book was so good, it exceeded five stars for me. 

Loveable characters or not : Malachi and Olivia were both loveable to me. 

Strong character development : yes.

Plot driven / character driven : plot driven? 1000%, and character driven, this book was a delicious mix of both. 

Favorite quotes/ highlights : “Malachi has… issues. As well as all the trauma from his life before coming here that triggered his mutism, he isn’t mentally normal. Have you ever heard of ASPD?”

“It’s still fresh—I went with him to get it done a few days ago and read a book for nearly six hours while he kept his eyes on me. I asked if it hurt, but he shook his head.”

— “He points to the torch. I can’t fucking talk to you if you can’t see me.”

“He’s waiting for instructions, the clueless look in his eyes making me giddy—Malachi Vize, innocent only for me, on his knees for his sister, looking like I own him.”

“I shove at his chest again and again and again, until he snatches my wrists and pushes me into the wall. His mouth opens, as if he’s trying to say something, his lips shaping, no sound coming from them until he’s whispering, “Ol… Ol… N-N…”

I shake my head and duck under his arm, grabbing the door handle. “Go,” I say sternly. “Just… just go, Malachi. There’s nothing to resolve here.”

— “Sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Fucking sorry.

That damn word echoes in my psyche—a curse that won’t fuck off. Sorry’s just a word to try to get out of something, to dodge trouble if you’ve been caught out. Sorry’s a five-letter disgrace that shouldn’t even need to be used. It should be abolished from the fucking dictionary. Actions do speak louder than words, and if she’s as sorry as than words, than she makes out in her voicemails, then why does she sometimes look happy? Why is she going out partying with her friends? Kissing guys who—shockingly—vanish days later?”

— “For those eight years, I didn’t communicate with a single soul. I’ve kept my voice to myself, where no one else can take it, since I was five years old. The one time I tried to use it, I struggled to pronounce her name, and Olivia yelled at me that I was a liar, that she hated me, that we were done, and slapped me across the face before I could get her name past my lips. I’ve been stuck in my own purgatory since I was born—the different one, the black sheep, the fucking mute weirdo who has an intense fascination with his little sister.”

— “He interrupted my meal—maybe now he’ll know better than to take away my food, the fucking asshole.”

— “It’s a pity I can’t protect her from myself. Her betrayal isn’t something I can shrug off like everything else. Her fucking people while I was locked away, having relationships, being happy, was unacceptable, but I let it all slide after squashing each element. But earning my forgiveness won’t be easy—I’ll have the whore begging on her knees for me to forgive her for all her fucking sins against me.”

“The first year of my imprisonment, I thought Olivia’s silence was because she was pregnant—that I’d got her pregnant from that one time, and I even started asking her in letters if the kid was mine, tricking myself into believing I had a kid out there that was taking all of her attention from me.”

— “I won’t talk. I can barely string a sentence together, even when I was training my voice box in my cell to produce four syllables without pausing. Pathetic, in all honesty. Wanting to say Olivia’s name and struggling to do so made me drive my fist into too many walls.”

— “I know how to fucking talk. I do. But I just… can’t without making a fool of myself. I stutter, and my tone is all over the place.”

— “Firstly, I didn’t cheat. And secondly, we weren’t in a relationship either. I was her secret little fuckboy; someone she could teach what she loved.”

— “Words like “missing you” and “I didn’t think it was possible to be without you, and now there’s a huge wall between us” and “will you visit me? I’m sorry for yelling at court” and my least favorite, a very dark time for me, “I’m not comfortable around these people. They call me a weirdo like the kids at school did because I won’t talk. Please don’t leave me in here,” yet she didn’t reply, even when my letters grew more desperate. No reply. Not to this letter, or the one after, or the fifty-odd after that.”

— “I even begged her in some of these letters, demanding to know why she hadn’t come to see me, if I’d done something wrong. I was in a state of confusion for so long, wondering—no, calculating—what error I’d made in the last few years.”

— “I even told her, in a very messy letter—one of my last—that I had no idea how to control the way I felt about her, and that if I had got her pregnant, I’d step up even though I had no idea how to be a good father, that if she’d visit with my son or daughter, let me see them, I’d do better.”

— “My bones are shaking—I think I might pass out as soon as she vanishes into the building. Being so close to her like this, with her bright eyes and mesmerizing smile, kinda knocks me off my fucked-up axis. I almost want to abort my revenge-fueled mission and tell her I forgive her, that we can be together now that I’m no longer seen as part of the Vize family—yet I still hold the surname on all my documents and bank accounts.”

— “I stare at the letters, tracing my finger over them. “O-liv-a,” I say, shaking my head. “O-lay-ve-a.”

“I know how to say her name, but when I try to sound out the letters, my tone shifts, and I fuck it up.”

“What if I shortened it? She thinks my name is Kai. My real name is Malachi, by the way, not Kai, but she thinks that. What if I called her Liv?”

“I sit up straight and puff my chest and try to say it all as one word. “Ol-i-vara.”

“You w-were my first. I pr-promise. My… first and… my only.”

“Y-You don’t lo-love me?” I stutter the words, but I don’t fucking care. She’s a liar. She’s lying, and I refuse to fucking take it.”

“I shut off the voicemail, and step forward, my body shaking with rage. “It was r-r-real. All o-of it was r-real. Everyth-thing was real. You mean th-the world t-t-to me. But you won’t s-s-say it back, w-will you?”

“I am sorry,” I say, fucking up the enunciation but who the fuck cares? “The spider. The knife. The cameras. All o-o-of it. I’m sorry.” I close my eyes and blow out a breath. “I need you, Ol—” I stop, my heart racing so fast, I think it might stop.”

“I stay against the wall, my hands behind me, and try to think of everything possible to make her stay. Willingly. I want Olivia to choose me.”

“Please choose me. Nobody ever chooses me.”

“Something weird is happening to me. My chest is sore, and my eyes feel immense pressure, and they’re… wet. I think I might be crying for the first time in my life.”

“She opens the door, but I rush in front of her, blocking her exit as I drop to my knees and grab her hands. “Olivia,” I whisper clearly. “Please don’t leave me. Please stay with me.”

“Her sadness is all over her face—she’s looking at me like I’m the one breaking her heart, her eyes following a tear as it slides down my cheek. “Please,” I beg. “Accept my v-version of love. Pl-ease. I love you, Ol-l-l—”

“Olivia doesn’t tell me she loves me back, or that she’ll stay. She just gives me a warm smile and pulls her hand away before squeezing past me. I don’t turn around to watch her walk out of my life for good.”

“Malachi, despite all his craziness, deserves better than me.”

“Olivia was more important. I knew to wait. I knew that one day, even if we were in our fucking thirties, I’d bury my cock in my sister and make her moan my name so damn loud. I’d have the sound in my ears until the day I died. I’ve never been afraid of dying—it’s inevitable. But the thought of dying and leaving Olivia behind? Of leaving her with all the poisonous toxicity in the world? That terrifies me. She can’t trust anyone, especially not Mom. But she can trust me. She can always trust me.”

“All I could do was hide under my bed with my pet spider, who never wanted to talk back to me. Every day and night, we would hide under my bed. He was my best friend. But he never ever spoke, so why would I? He was happy without using his voice. I could be happy as well. He was my comforter. My protector. If he could conceal his voice and be brave enough to hide under my bed and not cry, then I could too. It was the start of the new me. They wanted to hear me scream while they pushed the needle into my arm, so I didn’t. I was starved, thin, weak, but at least I had power over my speech. They wouldn’t take that from me too, because I hid it somewhere only Olivia could find it.”

“I kiss her—the only girl I’ve ever imagined giving my heart to. It might be a little black, a little jagged around the edges, and my mind might be a little wild, but she owns them. Olivia owns my mind, body, and soul. She did when we were kids, when we were teens, when we were giving in and letting go. Even when I had her chained up in the basement, she had a hold over me.

I had it in my head that I wanted revenge on her—I now know I just wanted her back.

And guess fucking what?

I got her back. She chose me.

Olivia actually chose me, and I intend to keep her.”

 

Similar authors : i have never read a pitch black hero like Malachi before, leaving caden from beautiful fiend by Lola king, he’s deranged, but Malachi’s obsession exceeded my expectations, and some, so when I read more books, maybe there’ll recommendations? 

Any other details : olivia was kidnapped by Malachi and she was covered in cob webs, blood, come, that was something I liked? (Does loving Malachi become a crime? 😵‍💫🫣) I loved the book, the plot, I wanted to read more of Malachi, why is the book so short and only has two books????? 😤 My man deserves more. I really wonder how Malachi would feel knowing that he wanted to be chosen and loved, and there are so many people who love him. How would he feel, when he sees that he is loved not only by Olivia but us readers too? I really did not see any reason to hate Malachi. I read some reviews that meant that Malachi had gone through a lot as a kid resulting in his mutism, it really broke my heart, at one point, i cried for my Malachi, I love this man, someone please make him real, so I can love him better. 

💗

Amelia

Definitely check the trigger warnings on this bad boy 

Brittany Peterson

This is a quick dark romance read.

Quick burn for sure! 

Definitely check the trigger warnings on this bad boy 

I read it out of morbid curiosity because someone said it was worse than Zade Meadows. And it was concerning for sure but a rapist will always be worse in my opinion so Zade can keep his place as the worst hypocrite ever.

Sophia

Bumping uglies on your unconscious adoptive fathers back is a choice

🥔

omgggg ate it uppp????? unfortunately ate it in whole  week bc im on a kinda reading slump BUT this so deranged and toxic but so addictive loved it agh CHAPTER 9 AND 15 KINDA BROKE ME and the end kinda felt rushed but damm I LOVE MALACHI

- "Do you see me as your sister?"  Without looking at me, he lifts his free hand and signs one last thing before falling asleep.

- ""Tell me you're in love with me, little sister."

He punches the ground next to my head, and my body seizes. Say you love me. Say you feel the fucking same way I do about you!

"I don't love you, Malachi. I could never love someone like you."

His jaw tenses. Because I can't talk? Because I can't tell you how fucking breathtaking you are every second of every day? Because I can't breathe without being near you? Someone like me... I'm different- I can't be normal for you. I can't defend you without using my fists or my bat, and I can't touch you at the same time as telling you that you're everything to me. I can't whisper sweet nothings into your mouth and I can't fucking marry you because not only am I your brother, but I'm defective.

He pushes up to his knees, his hands going nuts as he signs quickly, his eyes red with a mixture of heartbreak and rage I have no idea how to contain for him.

Believe me or don't, but you're the only person in my life, and you always have been. And when you take your last breath, or I take mine, that won't fucking change.

You. Are. Mine. My goddamn property, do you understand?"

- "My beautiful Olivia. My beautiful, smart, and twisted Olivia. You may have everyone else fooled with your kindness, with your warm smiles and soft voice, using them to get what you want in life but I know you. I know the real you. Not this fake façade you show to those near you your posture, your style of clothes, the way you let those delicate moans slip free when you ride your own hand, thinking of what we could've had if you hadn't testified against me. I know the depths of your depravity and the way your mind works. I know you more than you know yourself, you little fucking minx.

My foster sister's touch is like a tattoo on my skin even now, all these years later."

- "I'm a hypocrite. I internally rain havoc on any warm thoughts of Olivia, but deep down, I fucking missed her too. Being separated from her was like being thrown into the sea when you can't swim. Drowning I was fucking drowning until I set eyes on my Olivia again."

- "She's beautiful she has been since we were kids. I think since I met her in the airport, I knew how important she'd be to me, and when she learned sign language, and how to play "Happy Birthday" on the piano for me, I thought I was important to her too. Years passed, but I could never handle being far from her. I always wanted to kiss her and laugh with her, to lie in her bed and watch her sleep, sniff her fucking hair like the drug it is. I was technically—her brother. I'm still classed as one, I think. And as much as I wanted to be special to her, to be with her, I never wanted to be her brother. I wanted to be her first kiss, her first love, her first dance at Homecoming. I wanted to hold her hand and kiss her whenever I wanted. I was never normal enough for her the freak without a voice."

"Take your time," "Just.. breathe. I'm listening. Go slow."

"You w-were my first. I pr-promise. My... first and... my only." At least she isn't laughing at the way my speech is. She's being patient."

- "My version of love isn't enough for her—I love her, I do, but how am I supposed to know what's normal and what's not? My world revolves around her and always has. And if that's not a good-enough version of love for her, and I can't make her happy, then what's the point?"

- "Malachi has been the one for me since forever. He's my forever. My heaven and hell.

"Olivia?" So clear. So clear and pure and full of love.

"You're mine, Malachi. You're mine and I'm yours and I love you more than words can explain. Please forgive me. Please. I want you. I want to be with you, build a life with you, and make memories with you. I want to wake up every morning with you by my side. I want you to chase me through these woods and take me against a tree. I want everything you have to give. All of it. Everything. Because I chose you. I-""

Renata

omgggg ate it uppp????? unfortunately ate it in whole  week bc im on a kinda reading slump BUT this so deranged and toxic but so addictive loved it agh CHAPTER 9 AND 15 KINDA BROKE ME and the end kinda felt rushed but damm I LOVE MALACHI

- "Do you see me as your sister?"  Without looking at me, he lifts his free hand and signs one last thing before falling asleep.

"You're mine."

- ""Tell me you're in love with me, little sister."

"No," I grit.

He punches the ground next to my head, and my body seizes. Say you love me. Say you feel the fucking same way I do about you!

"I don't love you, Malachi. I could never love someone like you."

His jaw tenses. Because I can't talk? Because I can't tell you how fucking breathtaking you are every second of every day? Because I can't breathe without being near you? Someone like me... I'm different- I can't be normal for you. I can't defend you without using my fists or my bat, and I can't touch you at the same time as telling you that you're everything to me. I can't whisper sweet nothings into your mouth and I can't fucking marry you because not only am I your brother, but I'm defective.

He pushes up to his knees, his hands going nuts as he signs quickly, his eyes red with a mixture of heartbreak and rage I have no idea how to contain for him.

Believe me or don't, but you're the only person in my life, and you always have been. And when you take your last breath, or I take mine, that won't fucking change.

You. Are. Mine. My goddamn property, do you understand?"

- "My beautiful Olivia. My beautiful, smart, and twisted Olivia. You may have everyone else fooled with your kindness, with your warm smiles and soft voice, using them to get what you want in life but I know you. I know the real you. Not this fake façade you show to those near you your posture, your style of clothes, the way you let those delicate moans slip free when you ride your own hand, thinking of what we could've had if you hadn't testified against me. I know the depths of your depravity and the way your mind works. I know you more than you know yourself, you little fucking minx.

My foster sister's touch is like a tattoo on my skin even now, all these years later."

- "I'm a hypocrite. I internally rain havoc on any warm thoughts of Olivia, but deep down, I fucking missed her too. Being separated from her was like being thrown into the sea when you can't swim. Drowning I was fucking drowning until I set eyes on my Olivia again."

- "She's beautiful she has been since we were kids. I think since I met her in the airport, I knew how important she'd be to me, and when she learned sign language, and how to play "Happy Birthday" on the piano for me, I thought I was important to her too. Years passed, but I could never handle being far from her. I always wanted to kiss her and laugh with her, to lie in her bed and watch her sleep, sniff her fucking hair like the drug it is. I was technically—her brother. I'm still classed as one, I think. And as much as I wanted to be special to her, to be with her, I never wanted to be her brother. I wanted to be her first kiss, her first love, her first dance at Homecoming. I wanted to hold her hand and kiss her whenever I wanted. I was never normal enough for her the freak without a voice."

- "You w-w-w..." 

"Take your time," "Just.. breathe. I'm listening. Go slow."

"You w-were my first. I pr-promise. My... first and... my only." At least she isn't laughing at the way my speech is. She's being patient."

- "My version of love isn't enough for her—I love her, I do, but how am I supposed to know what's normal and what's not? My world revolves around her and always has. And if that's not a good-enough version of love for her, and I can't make her happy, then what's the point?"

- "Malachi has been the one for me since forever. He's my forever. My heaven and hell.

"Olivia?" So clear. So clear and pure and full of love.

"You're mine, Malachi. You're mine and I'm yours and I love you more than words can explain. Please forgive me. Please. I want you. I want to be with you, build a life with you, and make memories with you. I want to wake up every morning with you by my side. I want you to chase me through these woods and take me against a tree. I want everything you have to give. All of it. Everything. Because I chose you. I-""

It was a fast paced book with two depraved and twisted main characters. I liked the plot and although i’m happy they got a happy ending, i still think the ending was rushed, which is why i gave it 4 stars instead of 5

Little Stranger

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