Beautiful Venom

Rounded up 4.5

Rating: 2 stars. “I’m your winter, Dahlia. No flower can survive winter. Not even wildflowers.” Yeah, as you can tell… that easy 4 stars quickly dropped to a 2 the moment I actually sat and thought about it. Funny how a little reflection can completely change how you feel about a book. Another day, another enemies-to-lusters from Rina. She dropped the ball again, and yet here I am, showing up for it like I always do. At this point, I can’t even blame Rina anymore. The problem is clearly me. I’m too far gone, too deep in this universe to stop now. I’ve read every book, main characters, side characters, background cameos, you name it. And no matter how messy it gets, I know I’ll keep coming back. Some of my friends have already quit her books, and maybe one day I’ll be that strong… but today is not that day.➺ Dahlia:oh, Dahlia. She’s bold and dramatic, sure, but her actions often cross the line from passionate to straight-up cringy and annoying. Her desperate attempts to get Kane’s attention, especially the manipulative ones, made it hard to root for her. I wanted to empathize with her pain and vulnerability, but so many of her choices just left me sighing in disbelief.➺ Kane:Kane Davenport is your classic cold, emotionally detached MMC who’s supposed to fall hard for the “sweet but strong” heroine. But instead of slow burn chemistry, we get an emotional sense of war that felt toxic more than romantic. I really wanted to throw up every time this man open his mouth.Ohhh and when he told her that your tears made me a monster, I was like "bruh, are you for real? you are already one!"Their relationship lacked emotional depth and genuine connection. Instead of a powerful enemies to lovers transformation, it felt like two broken people constantly pushing each other’s buttons without ever truly healing or growing. I can’t lie, I was giggling sometimes but other than than it was just disgust and a lot of wth. PLEASE, I’m on my knees begging, Rina, don’t mess this one up. I am such a sucker for the grumpy/sunshine dynamic, and Jude and Violet are serving it perfectly. Give me all the tension, the banter, the emotional whiplash, I want it all. I don’t care how cliché it is, I want this trope injected straight into my veins. _____"In a den of vipers, revenge is the deadliest venom."I was reading The Fake Mate and honestly couldn’t handle the cringe anymore!

3.5 ⭐it was ok, not the strongest plot Rina ever wrote but it's something for sure. I love Dahlia so much high hopes for Jude and violet's book