Author: H.D. Carlton
Genres: Dark Romance, Thriller
Published: January 28, 2022
Pages: 651
Format read: Paperback
Triggers: Rape, Trafficking, Sexual Assault, Murder, Kidnapping, (Graphic) Violence, Mental illness, Self-harm, Racism, Drug use, Stalking, Pedophilia. If you want to see the whole list, please click here.
Quick Thoughts: Much darker than the first book, delving into heavy topics. But omg! It was so good and I couldn’t put it down!
This book was self purchased.
All reviews are entirely honest and my own opinion.
Rating:
Characters:
Plot:
Spice:
The Diamond
Death walks alongside me,
But the reaper is no match for me.
I’m trapped in a world full of monsters dressed as men, and those who aren’t as they seem.
They won’t keep me forever.
I no longer recognize the person I’ve become,
And I’m fighting to find my way back to the beast who hunts me in the night.
They call me a diamond,
But they’ve only created an angel of death.
The Hunter
I was born a predator,
With ruthlessness ingrained in my bones.
When what’s mine is stolen from me in the night,
Like a diamond hidden within a fortress,
I find that I can no longer contain the beast.
Blood will paint the ground as I tear apart this world to find her.
And bring her back to where she belongs.
No one will escape my wrath,
Especially not those who have betrayed me.
This was the perfect sequel to Haunting Adeline, a thrilling conclusion to Zade and Adeline’s story. It delves into heavy themes, fitting of a dark romance. Such as Sex-trafficking and Abuse. It does it in a very intriguing way, immersing you in Adeline’s traumatic experience. It really pulled on my heart strings.
I’m going to burn the entire fucking world down until I find her, and I don’t care who gets burnt.
This installment of the Cat and Mouse duet is significantly more dark than the first. And I think that was a really good call from the author. Hunting Adeline picks up directly where Haunting Adeline left us on a cliff hanger. It immediately plummets you back into the story,
It’s not often that a book has me stop a couple of times, because it just gets so dark. Now, I barely have any triggers (if I have any) and I always check the trigger warnings before picking up a series, so I was completely aware of what I was getting myself into. Doesn’t mean the sheer depth of these themes didn’t surprise me. This book had my heart thumping in my chest. Sometimes it even felt more like a thriller than a dark romance. Really well done, Carlton!
We get introduced to a couple of new characters, get more depth on older characters and -of course- delve deeper into Zade & Adeline. A surprising, but oddly well-liked, character for me was Rio. I did not expect to like him as much as I did, especially seeing as he is one of the bad guys. And then I am not talking about a Morally Grey or even Morally Black Male Main Character, but truly vile bad guys. The character has such depth, that he very quickly became one of my favourites from book 2 (nobody can defeat my darling Sibby though.).
The pace of this book felt a little slower than the former one, with the first part being an absolute emotional rollercoaster. Even after part one, the aftermath is so greatly potrayed that it feels like you are actually there.
Still, I liked the first book better. But that might be because I was expecting more scenes between Zade and Adeline. I was expecting a continuation of the Dark Romance vibes from Haunting Adeline, but I got a full-blown thriller. At first this took me back a bit, but once I got into it, I simply couldn’t put the book down anymore.
That being said, some scenes in Part One felt a bit slow to me. I struggled a little getting through the chapters, but I am so glad that I pushed my way through them. The aftermath was more than worth it! The whole book is one big rollercoaster, taking you for a spin. Carlton forces you to stare into the darkest parts of humanity, and they have done such a good job at potraying that! Even though it was dark, it felt very tastefully written. And everytime that I thought Addie’s situation couldn’t get any worse, it did.
Zade may be Hades, but the dark God has never been known to bow for anyone but his woman.
I have a lot of feelings about this duet, it’s a bit difficult to put it into words. This conclusion was not entirely what I expected, but I am not mad at all at what I got. Zade is an absolute sweetheart, which is quite a thing to say about a stalker. But the passion between Addie and Zade just jumps out of the pages and you can feel the love between them.
Good bits
Bad bits
- Doesn’t shy away from dark themes
- The romantic parts were very lovely
- Sibby is a great comic relief
- The dark themes are very tastefully written
- An absolute rollercoaster of emotions
- The first part is a bit slow
- Not exactly what I expected (but that’s not bad, just surprised)
Hunting Adeline is a dark romance turned thriller. If you’re planning to read this one, please be cautious and check the trigger warnings! It delves into pretty heavy themes, but does so tastefully. The book is incredibly well written, and I enjoyed it greatly! If you’re a Dark Romance enjoyer, and won’t shy away from heavy dark themes, I definitely recommend this duet!