Corrupt || Penelope Douglas
Trope(s): ad Boy Romance; Enemies to Lovers, Revenge/Bullying, M/F/M (menage)
TW: Attempted SA, Violence, Drugs, Bullying, Underage Drinking, Cursing, Animal Cruelty, Death, Child Abuse (mentioned – Emotional/Physical), Vandalism (there’s possibly more but these are the ones I remember).
A girl that is madly in love with her ex-boyfriend's brother and the brother who blames the girl he could never have
Erika
I was told that dreams were our heart’s desires. My nightmares, however, became my obsession. His
name is Michael Crist.
My boyfriend’s older brother is like that scary movie that you peek through your hand to watch. He is handsome, strong, and completely terrifying. The star of his college’s basketball team and now gone pro, he’s more concerned with the dirt on his shoe than me.
But I noticed him.
I saw him. I heard him. The things that he did, and the deeds that he hid…For years, I bit my nails, unable to look away.
Now, I’ve graduated high school and moved on to college, but I haven’t stopped watching Michael. He’s bad, and the dirt I’ve seen isn’t content to stay in my head anymore.
Because he’s finally noticed me.
Michael
Her name is Erika Fane, but everyone calls her Rika.
My brother’s girlfriend grew up hanging around my house and is always at our dinner table. She looks down when I enter a room and stills when I am close. I can always feel the fear rolling off of her, and while I haven’t had her body, I know that I have her mind. That’s all I really want anyway.
Until my brother leaves for the military, and I find Rika alone at college.
In my city.
Unprotected.
The opportunity is too good to be true as well as the timing. Because you see, three years ago she put a few of my high school friends in prison, and now they’re out.
We’ve waited. We’ve been patient. And now every last one of her nightmares will come true.
Book Details
Published November 13, 2015
Page count 518 pages
Goodreads 3.82/5
My rate
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Bonus content
Spoilers!
Meet the main characters
Erika
A.k.a Rika. A girl who is strong, beautiful, and smart. She also came from a wealthy family, her parents owned a jewelry shop called Fane that owned a lot of expensive jewelry. She was born into a privileged and wealthy place. But that changed when she became older. Her father died in a car ac and after that, a lot in Rika’s life went downwards. Erika is about to go off to her second year of college in another city and can’t wait to get away from thunder bay. Well, not particularly thunder bay more get-away from certain people, especially her mother. Who has been a drug addict since Rika’s father died. For most of her life, she grew up with the Crist. The family Crist consists of Evans, Delia, Trevor, and Michael. She became good friends with Trevor Crist and later she and Trevor were in a relationship. One that didn’t last long though. That’s because Rika has been scared of Trevor's older brother, Michael Crist. Nor was she only scared of him; she loved him most of her life. Michael Crist was the one who gave her nightmares but also an obsession.
Michael
He also grew up in a wealthy family and because of this, he could do anything he wanted. He ruled the school with his three best friends and was a really good basketball player. But even though Michael Crist also had his issues. His father was not a good man and Michael didn’t like speaking to him. Their relationship ended years ago when Michael learned to stent up for himself. As I said, Evan Crist is not a good man, he kept the two lives he lived strictly separated. Mostly focused on business and women that were not his wife. Michael also didn’t like Trevor because he (Trevor) was jealous most of the time. Rika wanted Michael; Trevor knew that. Also, Michael resented Trevor for having her. Trevor had the one thing Michael wanted but he also liked that Rika was his. He liked to chase.
My thoughts
Corrupt wasn’t my first Penelope Douglas book because before I read this series I read punk57, bully, birthday girl, and credence by her. I loved most of them but credence did get me feel a bit shocked and weirded out. I don’t know what I thought of that book.
This book was a dark romance book, but I liked it a lot. It was shocking sometimes, but I really enjoyed it. I was excited about this book but also kind of scared because if dark romance isn’t written well, it makes me feel uncomfortable and I do not like that at all. Though I do need to say, sometimes things we're a little bit too extreme. But I think that's also why it's called DARK romance. Things are really extreme and sometimes the woman or men in question suffers under it. I know a lot of people do not like that and I also understand what they mean, though I really enjoyed this book.
Erika is such a powerful woman and I love her so much. I do not want to say she is my favorite because I love all the cowgirls differently, but I really like Rika. After everything she has been through it made her so strong that she wouldn’t let anyone walk over her. I appreciate that about her.
As for Michael, I know a lot of people despise him because of how he treated Erika but for some reason I liked him. Don’t come at me for this because I first want to explain myself. I think everyone in this series has been through something that made them as they are. Even though Michael’s problems were not brought into the light that much I saw how much he needed for his father to just respect him and care for him. One thing that also stayed with me was when Evan Crist hit his son. It was really disturbing, and I can’t imagine what that would be like for him. Everyone needs a father, and Evan Crist did not care about Michael or his family. I know it doesn’t make up for everything that he did to Erika with the other four horsemen, but you don’t know how people react to things these things. Michael always felt unrespected around his father and when he had that power where everyone respected him because he was one of the four horsemen it made him feel powerful, I guess. Damon, Kai, and Will were Michael’s family and when they ended up in jail because of Erika (so they thought) I got why he got so mad. The reason why they were sent to jail is a different type of conversation.
The pranks they pulled were sometimes a bit extreme, like when Damon filmed winter and him while they were having sex. I know Winter told him to take a photo, but she said a photo, not a video. I kind of understand why he was sent to jail but at the same time, Damon was himself when he was with Winter, and she thought it was all made up. It wasn’t though. The person that winter was around was the real Damon, and not many people got to see the real Damon. though I do think he went a bit to far. The reason Kai and Will were sent to jail got me furious. I know it wasn’t right what they did, but Martin Scott deserved it! He really needed his ass kicked if you ask me. I hated him so much I can’t explain. It’s never okay to beat someone up but Martin Scott really deserved it.
The plot was shocking and I hated Trevor for his jealousy and was also shocked when Michael did what he did. I also hated Damon in the first two books but I think most of us did. I just hated how demanding and selfish he was. But when I read kill switch my opinion changed completely, though I do think he went a bit to far, whit de situation with Winter. That was definitely not okay.
Socials
Final thoughts
This book was a rollercoaster, heavy, but I definitely enjoyed it and also recommend it if YOU LIKE DARK ROMANCE. As I said, dark romance is heavy and really dark, that's why it's called DARK romance. It is heavy and I would definitely think carefully before reading because it is dark. You either love this series or completely hate it.
Please check the TW before reading!
Share Your Thoughts
↓ ↓
Add comment
Comments