Rant Review: "Corrupt" by Penelope Douglas

Quick Summary

Type: Novel, part of series

Genre: Dark romance, contemporary

Back Cover: "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."

Read Time: 5 hours

Rating: 1.25 stars

Review

Dark romances are supposed to feature a violent, cruel, abusive man (or men) terrorizing a woman into having a violent, abusive sexual relationship with him. In that respect, Douglas succeeded. The "love interest" gets off on terrorizing the main character, and the character gets off on being terrorized by the "love interest".

But for the moment, I'm going to forgo discussing the very valid ethical concerns of romanticizing a relationship like the one in this book. Instead, I'm going to talk about all the plot holes in this book. The author was so focused on writing violent, coerced sex (one could argue rape) that she didn't consider that the premise of the novel is absolutely absurd. A guy trying to get revenge on a girl for reporting his friends for rape? Sure, except that if they are innocent (which, plot twist! - one is), in which case any halfway decent lawyer would have been able to provide an alibi or tear the girl's story apart (she didn't actually see one guy's face, so the guy went to prison based on supposition rather than on evidence, which any lawyer could have prevented) or they're actually guilty (one of them is), which leads me to my second huge issue with this novel. This novel - and the author and the main character - bend over backwards to convince the reader that the "love interest" is, at his core, a Good Guy. After all, he saves her from the Really Bad Guys at the end, doesn't he? He's a Good Guy. Truly, the mental gymnastics are Olympic-level quality. Never mind the fact that the "love interest" is harassing her, terrorizing her, coercing her into a violent, abusive sexual relationship with himself and his friends in the name of revenge. He's a Good Guy. And besides, the main character is into it. Because he's hot and really, he's a Good Guy once you get to know him. Again, let's ignore the fact that he got an apartment in her building so he and his friends could stalk her and sexually harass her whenever they want. He's a Good Guy. Never mind that he steals her money and holds it over her head as a way of forcing her into being a sex slave for himself and his friends. He's a Good Guy.

Honestly, if you're going to write a dark romance, and you're already crossing lines like this, you might as well go all the way and make the "love interest" an actual Bad Guy. He's already beyond redemption; his actions have been abhorrent. So stop trying to redeem him. Otherwise, aside from the valid ethical concerns of romanticizing abusive relationships and sex trafficking, the story just comes off as annoying. Commit to the bit, dammit.