Title: Darling Venom
Author: Parker S. Huntington
Publisher: PSH Publishing
Genre: Dark Romance
Pages: 470
My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤
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Darling Venom
Charlotte Richards went through a lot. She lost both of her parents, and her sister is barely speaking to her. She hit a dark place and doesn’t see a way out. One Valentine’s Day, she goes up onto the roof, ready to jump. But she is not alone, Kellan is there too, also ready to jump. They make a pact to meet on the same roof every Valentine’s Day, just to check on each other. But a few years later, Kellan breaks that promise. When Charlotte is 22, she meets Tate, Kellan’s brother, and they can’t stay away from each other.
Review
I saw this book everywhere, and people recommended it to me as well. So of course, I had to find out what it was about. The blurb sounded very interesting and promising, and I was so ready to read this one.
And it started off very strong. The first chapters are about Charlotte and Kellan wanting to kill themselves and jump from the roof, so it was very intense. Surprisingly, I didn’t cry. I found the story sad, but it didn’t really make me emotional. Maybe that’s because I didn’t have a connection with the characters yet. Although beforehand I was expecting this book to be a real tearjerker. I think I cried only once in total. It just didn’t hit me that hard.
I liked Charlotte. It was hard for me to form an opinion about Kellan, because he committed suicide very early on. But I could definitely tell he had been struggling for a very long time, maybe even his whole life. Tate, on the other hand, was a complicated person. He was kind of rude. Okay, he was struggling, and most people wouldn’t be in the best mood if they were dealing with the same guilt. But still, do you have to be rude to other people? I don’t think a bad mood is an excuse to be angry at others.
The story was mostly sad. Tate and Charlotte were both dealing with their grief. On top of that, Tate was dealing with his father, who was addicted to alcohol. Charlotte was living with her sister, but her sister barely spoke to her because she believed Charlotte was the reason their parents had died.But there were at least a few moments that made me laugh. One was when Charlotte first met Tate—it was a very awkward way to meet him. Another was when Charlotte had an awkward moment during an appointment with Tate as well. I think it was good to include these scenes, because they made the book feel a little lighter overall.
This is the first time I’ve read a book by Parker S. Huntington, but it might not be the last. I’m definitely going to check out her other books and add them to my TBR if any of them sound interesting enough.
Overall, I thought this book was pretty good. I gave it a 4/5 star rating. I rarely give a book 5/5 stars unless it really hits me emotionally or makes me laugh out loud. This book deals with heavy topics like losing both parents, suicide, addiction, and more, so it might not be the right book for everyone. Make sure to check the trigger warnings before reading. That said, I would still recommend it. I also really loved that the chapters were super short—some were only 3–6 pages long, and I actually loved that.