I picked up a copy of Nikki St. Crowe’s The Dark One to start the Vicious Lost Boys series I’ve heard so much about. Only to get it home and realize that I must not have been paying enough attention because I bought book 2, The Dark One, instead of book 1. So, I purchased e-copies of The Never King and Their Vicious Darling, and later borrowed The Fae Princes from the library (though there was a several-week wait for it).

The stories were all wrong — Hook was never the villain.

For two centuries, all of the Darling women have disappeared on their 18th birthday. Sometimes they’re gone for only a day, some for a week or a month. But they always return broken.

Now, on the afternoon of my 18th birthday, my mother is running around the house making sure all the windows are barred and the doors locked.

But it’s pointless.

Because when night falls, he comes for me. And this time, the Never King and the Lost Boys aren’t willing to let me go.

Reviews:

The Never King

You know, I didn’t hate it. 100% it is problematic as hell. And I’ll fully admit that the particular kinks (and the sex, honestly) are not the sort I particularly go for in my erotica. However, I acknowledge that St. Crowe made it more than apparent that they are the ones that Winnie enjoys, and I respect Winnie for going for it. I liked that, even in a kidnapping situation, she creates agency for herself. She’s practical. She makes a plan and executes it. I’ll read the next one.

The Dark One

I’m still enjoying this series. Though I am admittedly just kind of tolerating the sex, as it’s not a set of kinks that I particularly click with. But the way St. Crowe lets Winnie use it, both for her own pleasure and in the Machiavellian sense, is appreciable. I like watching her take the initiative and the Lost Boys bend to her whims while their perspectives shift. The plot (past the erotic element) is fairly predictable, and (as is often the case with such books) I’m not thrilled that the FMC is made to seem special, in part, by being treated well while every other woman is seen and treated as worthless. But all in all, to my great surprise, I’m continuing the series.

Their Vicious Darling

I’m still generally enjoying this series, though I think some of the lustre has worn off. I’m basically skimming the sex scenes by this point because they aren’t what is keeping me reading, and I’ve started to find them redundant. (Yes, I realize this is an erotic series, but still.) What is keeping me reading is the familial love. This series has such a good representation of it, both blood-related family and found family, and I’m really appreciating how characters go to bat for their family. I’ll finish the series out. But I’m in the queue to get the last book from the library. Which tells you I want to read it, but not so badly that I need it right now.

The Fae Princes

I’m happy to have finished the series. I really appreciate the growth that happened here in the found family, with the men even being willing to express love for one another. I still found the sex kind of meh, though there’s less here than in previous books. And oddly, the whole thing felt a little rushed to me despite being 250+ pages long. But all in all, I finished pretty happy.

Other Reviews:

Nightmode Reading: Vicious Lost Boys