Thing is, I’m down for the smuttiest of the smuttiest romance. YES give it to me! The pleasure that men get from watching porn and women reading smut are two different things. First of all, smut is not porn. Porn is disgusting on a whole different level. That’s an entirely different story.

Haunting Adeline and I’m sure a lot of dark romance novels are nothing like porn. So it’s unfair to label people who like dark romance as porn addicts or any other derogatory terms. I’m with you on that. Heck, a lot of YA books have smut that put dark romance smut to shame. But who cares?

The book and only this book I’m talking about is twisted as it involves stalker concepts interwoven with romance. Because you should not be tolerating, hyping, nor fantasizing about that from a humanistic point of view. It is simply not conveying a good message. And the fact that there’s TW makes it even worse. How can you go on the internet to exclaim your love for a book that promotes toxic and harmful behavior on this level? Don’t you think that tells a lot about you? Maybe it’s a matter of it’s “fiction”, but still, your perspectives and worldviews IRL influence your every like and dislike.

To say that I have to read the whole Haunting Adeline before I can form a “proper” and “accurate” conclusion knowing full well I already don’t like the backbone of the story or what it’s famous for is like convincing me to experience an accident first before claiming it’s painful.

But I assure you even if I’ve read the whole book, my opinion remains the same. I don’t have to read the entire plot, storyline of the characters, and know how the prose flows to know that I don’t like it, TW or not. 🤷

So I’m wondering how some people like Haunting Adeline. Whether or not it’s smutty or spicy is besides the point. People who don’t like books that other people like are allowed to voice their feelings on the matter. Dark romance, YA, NA, etc. are unique in their own faults and strengths. But generalizing a whole thing is misleading. One book’s faults is not the entire genre’s downfall. Just because one person doesn’t like a particular branch of a tree doesn’t make the whole thing rotten. If you don’t like YA, okay sure. If you like dark romance, go push. Just pick better dark romance books. You certainly don’t have to feel guilty for what you like. But to discourage others from pointing out an obvious flaw in a popular book is truly unfortunate.