Trigger Warning
Particular kinks
As most of you may know already, Haunting Adeline is dark romance, it has many trigger warnings, so I strongly suggest you to read all the warnings before turning the page. Your mental health is the first priority.
The story begins with a stalker “Zade” who falls in love—possessive—at first sight. He first sees “Adeline” through the window at her book event and decides at that moment, she is going to be his. And the story begins.
At first, the story will focus on Adeline and Daya, her best friend. Adeline spends most of her time in the manor she inherited from her grandmother. Surrounded by a cliff and forest. Every night when she looks out the window, she sees a shadow looking at her from a far distance. Little by little, that shadow moves closer to her, leaving roses for her, drinks whiskey and leaves an empty glass in her kitchen to let her know he’s been inside her house. She can’t escape him even if she tries. There’s a thin line between being protective and possessive, Zade is dancing on that very thin line. He cuts off a man’s tongue for calling Adeline a bitch. He cuts a man’s hands for touching her and sends it to her as a reminder that no one is allowed to touch her except him.
Now, girls, if you’re looking for a possessive book boyfriend, Zade is the right guy for you.
Adeline isn’t an innocent girl either. Despite the fact that she’s aware she has a stalker creeping around, she still provokes him just to draw out his twisted, shameless, strong reaction. Everything she does is on purpose. The shadow threatens to kill a man who touches her, and yet she still makes out with a random man in front of her stalker anyway. She definitely matches his freak. She just loves to play the victim and run. Cause nothing turns her on more than the thrill and being scared for her life. Adeline loves when adrenaline pumps through her veins and apparently her vagina too. The more her shadow scares her, the more she loves to challenge him.
Again, for all the girlies who love to play victim and have 6 '6 man stalks you, chases you, drops roses for you, protects you, watches you, you have come to the right place.
I think at this point everyone who’s ever heard of the book already knows the spice scene such as “THE GUN” scene. And let me tell you, the hype on the internet doesn’t even cover it. I thought I was prepared for that scene, but the things that I read? No one is prepared for it. Psychically it could have been hurt, a lot, but hey, this is fictional right? Which means anything could happen. And I mean—anything. After reading all the spice scenes in Haunting Adeline, I don’t think I would be able to read anything but unhinged explicit sex scenes anymore. This book has completely ruined me for good.
But if you think the gun scene is the most unhinged or the best spice scene of the book, oh no, it’s not even close. Compared to the rest of the scenes, the gun scene was just a little baby learning how to walk. A Disney movie. Cause the rest that people on the internet never talk about is just…. Let’s just say I now understand why it has never appeared on the internet before. You either love those scenes and embrace all of them without conditions or you might have to put down the book and feel sick to the stomach. This book is definitely not for the weak.
Now, the dark romance wouldn’t be the dark romance without cnc, yes? So, let’s talk about this.
Zade himself is a professional hacker who tracks down and kills every rapist he could find. The goal of his organization is to destroy human trafficking and sex trafficking. He has helped so many children and women. Hundreds, thousands. He’s so good at his job that the biggest organization of the under world is scared of him. Zade doesn’t do it because he has a tragic background or someone close to him was a victim of human trafficking. If that were the reason, he’d be a stereotypical anti-hero morally grey character. All of his actions would be justified. But no. This isn’t that kind of story. He chose to hunt down every pedophilia and rapist because he can and he want to. As simple as that. And that reason hits me so hard. Zade teaches me that sometimes one doesn’t have to suffer to choose to stand up and do the right thing to help others. To choose whether to help or look the other way is a choice. Zade makes his choice to not look away. Even when sometimes it hurts him so bad. Or even it causes him to be the most wanted man in human trafficking. He wakes up everyday and chooses to help those who are incapable of helping themselves. Bring them home, offering them a safe place. Give them hope and a brand new life. That’s what I respect and admire the most about Zade.
Even so, even though he's helped so many people, it doesn’t justify what he’s done to Adeline, and I won’t make an excuse for him. Zade knows what he is doing. Zade knows he is one of the people he hates the most—the rapist. He even said it himself. He’s assaulted Adeline so many times and he continues to do it even when she tells him to stop. It doesn’t matter how hard he can make Adeline come, it doesn’t matter if her body gives in to him. At the beginning of their encounter, it is anything but consensual. And it’s not an author’s responsibility to write books that align with society’s moral values. It is up to us—the reader, to know what’s acceptable as fantasy made up situations and what’s not acceptable in the real world.
Sure, I love to read consensual non-consensual, it was hot as fuck, but only if it exists in a book. But in the real world? Do I encourage sex without consent? Absolutely not. Consensual non-consensual is only acceptable in the real world only if it was consent from both parties, established rules, and safe word. The most important thing to always keep in mind is that just because cnc is kinda forceful sex, it doesn’t mean the top is the one holding the power, it is the contrary, the bottom is the actual one who holds the power in this particular roleplay. Whenever the bottom feels uncomfortable and uses safe word, everything has to stop immediately. Bottom’s safety is the first priority. It is the top responsibility to take care and make sure their bottom must always feel safe. Otherwise it wouldn’t be cnc role play. It would be sexual assault. And that’s unacceptable.
The only thing I can defend on Zade's behalf is that he never claims to be a good man and knows exactly what he’s doing and that’s all.
In book two is where Adeline gets kidnapped. I guess that’s why it’s called HUNTING ADELINE? The first part is the darkest and hardest part to read. I know what’s going to happen, but when it does happen, I have to close the book to take a deep breath and calm myself. It’s horrified to say the least. Unspeakable things happen in this part not only to Adeline but also other girls. They don’t deserve what happens to them. No one does. What happens in the first part makes me want to throw up.
This isn’t a book where a guy rescues his girl in time and then they live happily ever after. No. Far from it. This is a kind of book where a guy doesn’t save his girl in time. By the time Zade finally finds Adeline, she’s already ruined and traumatized. Everytime I think about what happens to Adeline I want to cry for her. It still haunts me. I don’t think I will recover anytime soon.
The good news is, everything gets better in part two after their reunion. Adeline is safe, back to her manor, recovering. This is as realistic as it could be. One doesn’t escape the rapist without nightmares or scars on their back. Adeline has PTSD after what happened to her. The way an author describes her behavior, her reaction every time a man is around, it’s so vivid and realistic. For someone who’s major in counseling psychology and health psychology, I truly respect this part. It feels like I am living what Adeline has been through. Whatever she feels, I feel it too. The author did a seriously good job doing research for PTSD and other psychological knowledge. If you tell me the author graduated with a psychology degree, I wouldn't be surprised.
What’s so underrated and not talked about enough is how Zade handles Adeline’s PTSD. He appears to be impatient in the first book, he takes what he wants regardless of the other’s feelings. But when it comes to Adeline’s PTSD, he becomes so understanding and patient. Which surprises me. And depths his character. Although his methods on helping Adeline to overcome her nightmares and PTSD is questionable, they work. He’s helped Adeline get rid of her demons one by one until there is none. Until she can no longer feel their hands on her but Zade’s touches.
Although personally I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Please don’t do what Zade does. If you need professional help, please make an appointment with a doctor, not a possessive stalker with permanent scar on his face.
I would be lying if I say I didn’t cry while reading part two. No shit. I cried. More than once or twice. Screamed into the pillow. Heart breaking and shattering into pieces. The only reason keeping me alive is the promising future that is to come—Adeline’s revenge.
According to the comments on the internet, everyone said her revenge is the most satisfying part. And I was intrigued to know how good it can be. Let me tell you my friend, it is as satisfying as hell. The people who torture her finally get a taste of their medicine. They’re so pathetic. They cry like a baby, begging for their lives, when they have zero regard for Adeline's life when she was begging for mercy.
But don’t mistake Adeline’s revenge for an average girl in fantasy movies who has been trained for a day or a week and magically leads an army into a war. No no. She’s been training for her revenge for months with Zade and Sibby. I’m not saying she is a good fighter. There's a time when she’s been hit and almost defeated. But she’s as sure as hell much stronger than she was before. Now she can protect herself. She knows when to fight and when to quit. Which makes the story so much more exciting. This is by far the strongest female character I’ve ever read.
Does it make me a bad person if I tell you that I enjoy the revenge part so badly I can re-read it again and again. Those people aren’t people. They are monsters disguised in human form. They deserve what happens to them. Honestly I wish they should have lived a little longer to suffer the consequences of their actions. Sadly they die too soon. If I were Adeline, I know would have torture them at least for months. To make them suffer to the point they have to beg me to end their miserable lives. I’m sure Zade would have done the same thing. But Adeline is too good to become that kind of person. Which is understandable. After all, she’s not a ruthless murderer.
What makes part two so enjoyable isn’t just the revenge, but also the relationship between the characters. Especially Zade's relationship with Sibby. I can’t say much about Sibby cause I would spoil her character. If you want to know more about her you have to read Satan’s affairs and see for yourself. What I can say is that Sibby is definitely Zade’s long lost sister. They match each other’s freak so bad, Zade has to rub his temple so many times dealing with Sibby. Her character is hilarious. I fucking love her. She is my spirit animal.
Also, Haunting Adeline isn’t just a story of Zade and Adeline, the author did a brilliant job in hiding a mini story within the story. While reading Haunting Adeline and Hunting Adeline you will also be reading other hidden character’s stories as well. Which leads to several books in the same universe. Where’s Molly? Satan’s Affair and Phantom. But there could be more, I’m not 100% sure.
After I finished Haunting Adeline and Hunting Adeline, now looking back, it doesn’t feel like I’ve just finished a book. It feels like I was living someone’s life. Feel their pain, their joy, their laugh, their tears. I don’t think Haunting Adeline will ever be “just a book” for me. It’s so much more than that. I just couldn’t think of how to describe it properly.
One thing I can say for sure is that this book definitely challenges the reader to contemplate their morals that were formed by society with the weight of reality. It will make you question if the world is only separate in black and white, or is there a shade of grey in the between that maybe, just maybe, can justify the violence action toward the bad people to save innocent lives. A real demon doesn’t appear in an ugly or scary form. It appears to be just like the rest of us. Walking among us. Targeting us. Wait for the right opportunity to hurt us. And sometimes the world needs a scarier demon to defeat them. To make us feel safer walking alone at night. It takes courage for a soul to stood up against the monster and fight against society's morals. The blame will be on their shoulders. The blood will be on their hands. Their tainted souls can never be reversed. My only question is—if not Zade then who?
Overall, Haunting Adeline is a great dark romance. It has dark humor, thriller, unhinged explicit sex scenes and mystery. Everything carries its weight at the right amount to make reading something so horrifying tolerable. If it isn’t because of Zade and Sibby dark humor, I don’t know if I can read through all the trauma Adeline has been through. Thank God for a little mercy the author granted me.
Will I re-read it? Sure. Anytime soon? Nope. I need to take a break for a while. I’m still traumatized. Whenever I’m ready, I will definitely read it again.
9.5/10
Minus score for the revenge part, it ends too soon. Definitely recommend to all the girls who want to be chased and fuck in the forest. If you love CNC kink, this is the perfect book for you. If not, put the book down immediately, or you will be traumatized for a very long time.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
“Run, little mouse. If I catch you, I fuck you.”
— Zade Meadows
เข้าสู่ระบบเพื่อแสดงความคิดเห็น
Log in