Paperback: 496
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 2015
Language: English
Rating: 3 / 5 stars
To say I am confused would be a total understatement.
After almost a decade since its release, I finally picked up Penelope Douglas' perhaps most popular series, the Devil's Night, and the adventure starts with Michael and Rika in Corrupt. Did I go in with any expectations?
Not really. A first, I know.
Did I end up feeling a rollercoaster of emotions?
Damn right I did.
I should probably start this review by saying that the book contains many heavy themes and topics, explicit sexual content and violence, use of substances, therefore it is not recommended for readers under the age of 18. Some of the themes talked about in the book could also be triggering, so be careful and read all the trigger warnings if you are interested in giving it a chance.
With that being said, let's discuss because what in the fuckity fuck did I just finish reading?
First we meet Erika, or Rika. I constantly had to remind myself that she is a 2015 character in order to not hold the 'not like other girls' mentality against her. She is the it girl, the icon, the girl every boy in a 500 mile radius is lusting after 🙄 but surprise, surprise, she doesn't see it, because she only has eyes for one guy - Michael. There were many times throughout the novel where I would just stop reading, put the book down and scream into a pillow because I felt like I was taking a trip down memory lane and reading Wattpad stories all over again.
And not necessarily the good kind, more like the trashy One Direction fanfics.
Disclaimer - I am not, by any means, hating on those stories, I was just as addicted as the next person. But looking back, we can all agree that '2014 Wattpad Y/N' was a thing that transpired into published works for a while.
I should probably add that I don't dislike Rika, per se, I just didn't really care about her. It probably has to do with how conflicting and indecisive she was. One moment we are faced with a scared little girl who seeks validation from a man and next thing we know, she's all powerful and fierce and taking over the world. And the latter wasn't even there to stay. She would constantly remind herself that she was not a victim, then act like a victim, channel Xena for a few paragraphs and then she's back where she started. The repetition became annoying around the 150 page mark.
There is also the issue of everything happening to her and Rika never moving a finger to change anything. I was spoiled about the plot so I sort of knew beforehand what I was getting into. I did not know the specifics, but I was looking forward to some scenes and lines. And truthfully I was disappointed for the most part.
The character building lacked, she had no depth and her whole personality was built on a never ending cycle of trauma. Despite her goals, she never matured and always relied on other people to do things for her. Some may call it strategic, but I beg to differ.
All in all, Rika was a disappointment.
But buckle up, guys, because Michael was no better.
Him and his friends, the Horsemen, are every girl's wet dream and supposedly, a 'force'.
I honestly don't know what was worse, Michael as a character or the whole group.
Michael Crist, NBA player and tantrum thrower in his spare time, licensed coward and incredibly selfish. I did not like his character, if it were after me, I'd have shut him up from page one. I think his only appeal was his dominant personality and him being the older brother that didn't give two shits about the girl until halfway through the book.
If you ask me, Rika could have done better.
Then we have the resident psycho, Damon Torrance, literal toddler Will Grayson III and level-headed Kai Mori.
The group had some appeal though, it was actually the whole reason I started the series, but the imbalance shown in the first novel was absolutely criminal and not at all promising. Every time I see this series mentioned on BookTok or Bookstagram, their dynamic is flawless and the characters seem really mature and put together.
But if you single them out, the foundation starts cracking.
While I understand that this was Michael's book and the focus was, of course, on him, I don't think infantilizing the others was a smart choice on the author's part. It is mentioned countless times that Damon and Will have no control, Will is described as laughing or acting like he's just woken up from a lobotomy in every scene and Kai is shrouded in darkness.
To be completely fair, he might be the only one described as an adult in the whole novel and I don't know if that influenced anything, but so far, he's my favourite Horseman. There is some humanity left in him and even Rika and Michael described him as having a clear idea of right and wrong.
The bar is low enough that decency and morals feel like the bare minimum.
And while we are still talking about characters - I loved Alex Palmer. Aside from Kai, she's my favourite character in the book. That girl owned her body, mind and soul and knew what she wanted and how far she would go in order to get it. I applaud her and I cannot wait to read more about her in the next novels.
The plot in itself was better structured than I was expecting, to be honest, and aside from the way Penelope shaped the characters, the writing style surprised me. I've always been a big fan of dual perspectives as we are getting an insight into both mains' minds and we learn what makes them tick versus playing tons of guessing games and going around in circles until we get dizzy and end up writing pages upon pages of theories that never come true.
The suspense was somewhat overused, but not unpleasant.
I also really like the bigger picture. I like that there is a point to everything that is happening, I like that there are politics and power plays and desires and ambitions. I like that they're breaking cycles and that they're making the world their own. I love that romance is not the ultimate goal, but a stop along the way to the real purpose.
That's what makes a good book. Or at least a first step towards a great series.
I know it may appear so, but I did not actually hate this book. I got bored a lot in the beginning, but it grew on me over time. Sadly, it was not mind-blowing or addictive, merely a stepping stone in order to move on to the others. I'm anticipating loving book two and crying my eyes out during book three.
Corrupt was my first taste of dark romance so I'm still adjusting - both my mind and my stomach. Wish me luck, I will probably need it.
