Corrupt

Rating: 4/5⭐️

Review:
Corrupt is dark, twisted, and seriously addictive—the kind of book that pulls you in and doesn’t let go. The tension between Rika and Michael? Absolutely insane. Penelope Douglas does such a good job weaving the past and present together, and I was on edge the whole time. The revenge, the mind games, the toxic obsession—it’s all so intense, but fair warning, some of the darker moments definitely push boundaries and might not be for everyone. But if you’re into morally gray characters and stories that make your heart race, this one totally delivers.

Who Should Read This:
Perfect for fans of dark romance with a mix of psychological suspense and steam.

Favorite Quote:
"She and I were the same, after all. We show more fought shame every day, struggling with who we could let see the real us, and we'd finally found each other." show less

4.5 "Monster Games" Stars!

Having fallen in love with Penelope Douglas' Fallen Away series, I took one look at the blurb for Corrupt and knew I had to read it. Sure enough Corrupt reminded me a lot of that constant push and pull and angsty romance between Tate and Jared in Bully and Until You, but on a much more amped up, erotic boundary pushing and darker spectrum. For readers that enjoy dark romance that challenge your sense of right and wrong and socially acceptable mores, Corrupt is sure to leave you all tingly and evaluating just how much you would be willing to accept and forgive in the name of love.

Erika "Rika" Fane has been in love with her ex-boyfriend's older brother, Michael Crist, since they were kids. Having practically show more grown up in their household, however, she was used to his blatant indifference when it came to her. Then one day three years ago, all that changed when Erika got to spend some dedicated time with Michael, and his gang of privileged, prankster loving brothers called The Four Horsemen. However, what started as a dream come true ended in one of the worst nightmares imaginable.

Michael knows that he features prominently in Rika's secret desires. Try, though she might, even her healthy sense of fear of him hasn't managed to thwart her feelings for him. Finally all alone in a new college and city and away from his brother's and family's grasp, Michael, and his friends, plan to finish a chain of events that were kicked off that fateful night three years ago. But not everything is quite what it seems, and not everyone's motivations are true to what they seem. Could there possibly be a HEA in the cards for Rika under such corrupt circumstances?

Please note that the subject matter of this book is dark and as consequence contains a number of disturbing situations, including abuse and threatened rape, as well as, certain nontraditional erotic encounters. The feelings and emotions that this book elicits are by no means warm and fuzzy, but if you enjoy dark romance reads that take you to the edge and then back again, then Corrupt is sure to be one twisty, salacious journey!

Source: Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review. show less

2.75 stars. After hearing all of the hype and seeing this book rec'd so many times, I had high expectations for this book. It did not meet them. This was just okay for me. While there were parts that had me sitting up straight and hanging on to the narrators' every word, I did not love this story as I had hoped. The plot was intriguing, but I didn't care enough about the characters to be fully invested. The story was unhinged, which I love, but it was definitely too long. Without being invested in the characters, I really didn't care what happened to them. The epilogue was completely unnecessary. The spice and sexual tension between the MCs were great. While this was a disappointment, I will probably try another book by the author.

[b:Corrupt|21981841|Corrupt (Devil's Night, #1)|Penelope Douglas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1398947518l/21981841._SY75_.jpg|41292505]
Need to Make More Time for Romance
I know you are looking at this title and thinking how do I not have enough for Romance? What I am saying is that I haven’t made friends with the genre as much as I would like to. Admittedly I have to say Penelope Douglas is slowly shifting my gears. I read this with my friend Anna and somehow, she couldn’t get into it as much as I did because I had it finished in a day and she is still working on it. Sadly, I don’t know if she finished it. I loved the dark atmosphere and the romantic undertones that Ms. Douglas writes so show more beautifully. I haven’t fully gotten a feel for her writing style just yet, but to me, it seems that she loves to push her characters to their maximum limit and then go a bit further just for good measure. (my kind of book)
Rika (Erika) is treated like a fragile child. She is protected by those around her at all times. She is constantly being held back and she needs to spread her wings and fly. Then one-night Rika steps out on her own and stands up for herself, showing just how much people have underestimated her all this time. This is the first time she has shown her inner strength and it does not go unnoticed especially by Michael who I loved.
Michael is always indifferent around Rika like she doesn't exist. It felt like it was that Katy Perry song Hot and Cold at times. Each chapter is taken from either perspective and it adds so much to the story.
Throughout the story, we are taken back to a particular day, three years earlier. This is a day that had a huge impact on Rika, Michael and his friends. It is that day, that lays the foundation for the turmoil that takes place between the cast of characters. Along with the suspense angle, there is also the 'will they, won't they' between Rika and Michael. There is so much more that I can say about this story but I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. I will say that I am hoping to read book two in the early days of 2020. show less

Nothing could have prepared me for all the heartbreak and tears I lost reading this book. This series had been sitting on my shelf for the longest time and now finally being able to sit down and read it broke my heart and put it back together. Michael and Rika have a type of love most people wouldn't understand but it makes sense to them. 'he corrupted me' 'she corrupted me' 🥰🥰. The way they both unknowingly pushed one another to be a better version of themself is wonderful.

This book deserves all the hype and the love they've been getting!! I just want to hug all of them, they've all been grieving a loss of their own without help 🤍 My poor babies. I hope throughout the series they're able to heal one another... I mean clearly show more Rika, Michael, and Kai have healed a bit 🥵🥵 show less

OMG, I don't know how to start this review but holy sh*t this book was A-MAZING. The relationship between Rika and Michael was so unique and different. I ended up finishing this book in 2 days and couldn't manage to put it down. For me, this series just hit the spot and we see how Pen pushed the limits but never really goes through the line with the darkness of this book. All the characters were so interesting to learn about and what they have faced. I often in books don like when there are too many flashbacks but this book was so different. The 3-year flashbacks she wrote often kept me over the edge and helped me learn what happened in the past to affect the future. I am definitely going to check out more books from this author and The show more Devil's Night Series(; show less

Ultimately - i liked this book

i don’t think i would have if things hadn’t picked up about 75-80% of the way thru though

i liked michael and rika’s chemistry, and i mean...... penelope douglas could make literally any coupling enjoyable with her sex scenes.

things i liked
- rika was a good heroine, i thought she was tough and i liked that she didn’t get scared off easily (definitely moments when she did, but this is understandable given how psychotic the horsemen often are)
- the steam room threesome CHILE....... anyways
- the plot wrapped up nicely, i spent the majority of this book really not knowing how it could possibly end well for michael/rika so i was incredibly happy when the plot ended up in their favor
- subtle black show more dagger brotherhood vibes

things i didn’t like
- the aesthetic of this book was ... odd to say the least. town of rich, spoiled kids four frat type basketball players who can get away with everything because of daddy’s money, SOMEHOW = partying to the tune of fucking metal and screamo music???? this drove me absolutely crazy, it makes no sense to me. i think p doug was trying prove something by throwing in this type of music, like ‘look how badass they all are, they listen to nine inch nails’ but it honestly just confused me. especially when they go to the warehouse and all these teenagers are writhing around to like bring me the horizon because that’s totally something that makes sense lol. i wished she had picked a personality for the four guys and stick with it. theyre basketball frat dudes? okay cool. they’re dangerous punk types? okay cool. the mix is just WEIRD
- so much of the plot is unrealistic in ways i havent felt in her other works
- HATE split timeline plots. as soon as one gets interesting it jumps back to the other. it also took so fucking long to find out everything that happened that night, i wish we had been told everything that happened at the beginning of the book, and then given everything from the present.

4 stars, because i liked the ending and i was super happy when things worked out for michael/rika. also p doug sex scenes will forever be a win for me. not sure if i want to read the rest of the books, i may eventually try kai’s bc i liked him a lot. show less