My mind is absolutely blown by this book in the best kind of way. I stayed up way too late last night reading it and then lay awake for an hour thinking about this book and the characters. But that’s okay- I’ll sleep when I’m dead, as the saying goes. Stitch definitely goes on my list of all-time favorite books.
Here’s the best way I can sum up the book without spoilers: two abuse-surviving serial killers become obsessed with each other, then fall in love while bodies stack up like LEGOs. The characters are rich in layers and backstories. The MC is a place for outsiders and survivors to heal each other and become a family. And there are scenes where the hero is holding and doting upon infants and he’s so hot that my ovaries sat up and started singing in two-part harmony.
This is not an easy book to read. There are more triggers than an NRA swap meet (but no cheating or on-page SA). It’s hella violent and gory. These are antiheroes who are beyond morally gray: more like morally dark plaid. And the two main characters have survived unbelievable physical and psychological torture as children, and it’s very detailed.
But at the heart of this story is a love that is profoundly deep. These characters become embedded in each other’s souls. They embrace the darkness in each other. They don’t exactly heal each other; they are too psychologically damaged for that. They do, however, teach each other to love. It’s a twisted, twisted story, but I found it strangely uplifting (which I can add to the list of reasons why I am likely to keep my psychiatrist in business for years to come). There’s something about a love this deep, and something about a hero who means “touch her and die” literally.
This book gave me all the feels and made me wonder about the dark places in the soul. And it had me by the throat from the moment she saw one of the bodies that he made dead and she stepped over it and continued her evening,
Here’s the breakdown:
Cat’s Stats
MMC/FMC- Stitch and Adley
Genre- very dark MC romance
Length- novel
Heat- ☢️☢️☢️☢️☢️ with explicit blood play, knife play, and bondage.
Series? Y. Although I haven’t read any of the other books in the series, I had no trouble keeping up.
Safety? Oh, son…
Triggers- best bring a chair and a lunch because this list goes on for awhile. Triggers include but are not limited to on-page physical and psychological abuse of children, discussion of SA, explicit sexual content that pushes boundaries, mention of trafficking, creative serial murder, physical abuse of corpses (not sexual), extremely graphic violence featuring a LOT of blood and gore, morally black-on-gray plaid hero and heroine, scars, destructive behavior (both to self and to others), and more blood. This one ain’t for the faint hearted or the weak of stomach, folks.
Tropes- Obsession, Safe Stalking, Soulmates, The Couple Who Slays Together Stays Together, Found Family, Double V Cards. It’s not very tropey because it’s so original.
If I could give this book more stars, I would.
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