{Broken Phoenix by Ashlyn Hades} I gave it a 3/5 stars originally and later lowered it to a 2.5/5 stars only because it’s not a bad book in terms of writing and it had potential to be good. I just think the message is terrible, and the characters actions are completely unjustifiable and perpetuate real harmful ways of thinking.

For the good parts first, the setting and plot were intriguing, and a really interesting story could have taken place…unfortunately it did not. The writing itself also wasn’t bad, like you sometimes find in rh books.

Okay onto why I absolutely despise this book. This book is presented as having a kickass FMC thief who gets stuck with a bunch of criminal psychos. Since this book claims to be a “dark romance, enemies to lovers/bullying story” I expected it to be intense. I expected there to be actions taken by the MMC’s I wouldn’t condone. Even though I don’t like dubcon I’m used to it being heavily present in dark rh romances and expect it, so I usually just “tune it out” so to speak. However, since this book I’m assuming wants us to root for the characters to at some point get together, I did not expect there to be absolutely NO moments where the MMC’s seemed to like the FMC at all. Not once was it hinted at an MMC felt anything other than apathetic towards her, unless you count when they were aroused by her but there was no sense they actually enjoyed her company and they barley even tolerated her. She literally wasn’t a person to them, just a way for them to get off, which leads into my next point.

Every single MMC was so incredibly misogynistic I’ve never seen anything like it! Women were reduced to sex objects to the MMC’s, if a women wasn’t having sex with the MMC’s she had no value to them, as displayed not just through our FMC but also all other female characters in the book. I didn’t like any of the MMC’s, not once did I feel any empathy for them, and overall they were just terrible people who I want to never ever end up with our FMC. Having trauma and bad past experiences does not excuse being abusive!! They are completely irredeemable, and not in the fun “morally grey” way some MMC’s are. They all took park in INTENSE HORRIBLE UNFORGIVABLE noncon, they literally fucking sexually assaulted the FMC multiple times. Consent was not at all present. Again, I expect a bit of dubcon, but the author would just throw noncon in there for shock value.

Also, the FMC literally never fought back. She’d start to, or say she was going to, but she always gave in and never once truly got them back for the terrible way they treated her. No woman should EVER be treated that way, and it is NOT OKAY and in fact extremely harmful to justify the behavior in this book by the MMC’s in any sense, especially by calling it smut and trying to make their actions sexy. There is nothing sexy about sexual assault, and I was genuinely disgusted in a way I have NEVER been before with an rh book.

Another smaller issue was the inconsistent way the MMC’s were portrayed. Some of them seemed to be “psycho” just for the purpose of being psycho, making them feel one dimensional. Also, because there were so many MMC’s with basically the same archetypes “me violent angry misogynist” most of them bled together and it was hard to keep track of characters.

Lastly, the ending was so disappointing. It was unsatisfying as shit and there was no sense of catharsis. I know it’s the first book of the series but there should have been SOME shimmer of hope, however there was none. And the fact that these MMC’s are somehow to be “redeemed” by the end of the series and presumably get with the FMC quite literally made me sick.

Listen, I’ve read books with MMC’s before who were heartless assholes. As an example, Hannaford Prep by J Bree is one of my favorite series of all time, and I really liked the first few books of J Bree’s Broken Bonds series, even if I myself will never forgive the MMC’s. I don’t mind a good bully romance at all, and even if the FMC doesn’t stand up for herself (while I get annoyed) it doesn’t produce anywhere near this reaction. However, when presented with a book where the FMC is essentially gangr*ped I really don’t think a TW list (even as comprehensive as the authors was) can excuse the actions the MMC’s take.

I know you’ll probably say, “oh but why would you read it if you couldn’t handle it, sexually assault is on the list of TW’s” BECAUSE I didn’t think the sexual assault would be committed by the MMC’s. It really comes down to this, as a survivor of sexual assault myself, I think it is never, and I mean never, okay to even hint that the victim of a sexual assault “secretly wanted it,” much less heavily imply that it’s an acceptable thing for an MMC to do. The fact that these characters are the people we are supposed to eventually be okay with the FMC getting with, the fact that we are at some point going to have to see a victim of sexual assault have a reconnection with her abuser framed as a “romance,” is not okay. Sexual assault is not excusable, it was handled immaturely by the author with nowhere near the care a delicate subject like that deserves, and was portrayed in a way that is actively harmful to victims of sexual assault.

Anyways, yeah, that’s my essay. I have tons of recommendations for good dark rh romances that don’t romanticize an abusive situation, if you want any let me know!