This book is my savior. I feel like I’ve gone months without reading something so truly mind-altering. I can’t tell if I really really loved this book or it just gave me massive whiplash from the many different emotions coursing through my brain. I felt like there were moments where I was terrified for my life, Addie’s life, moments where I was swooning over the littlest quotes and quirks and moments where I was devastated from the evil that goes on in our very real world. It isn’t often that I’m confronted with the dark parts of real life and it’s always an eye-opening experience when I am confronted with them.
The story
I went into Haunting Adeline expecting a dark romance, but like I’ve said in my previous post about this book, I was truly wrong. This might be a dark romance but it’s also a thriller, some might even consider this a horror story. It pushes the boundaries of triggering content and while it shows dark and steamy material like a usual dark romance, we’re also consuming the real evils of the world.
The beginning of this book had my expectations quite high. I thought that the story would continue on the lighter side of evil rather than delving into the darkness, but again, I was deeply wrong. The first half of the book, while lighter in terms of certain content, was almost sinister in nature. We see Zade, a man who is doing the right thing, allowing his job to bleed into his romantic life by stalking Adeline, a girl he’s fallen pretty much head over heels for. While some would consider this to be super questionable behaviour, Zade’s true intentions are to allow Adeline to fall for all of him with his dark sides on display.
Adeline is confronted with Zade being on her doorstep every night, his face covered and roses in her house without her knowledge of him being in the house. It’s creepy how he continues to pursue her despite her incredibly deep fear of him.
“Cat got your tongue, little mouse?”
While this is happening, Adeline finds her great-grandmothers diaries, stating that she was also stalked and fell in love with her stalker, but, plot twist: she was murdered and we don’t know who murdered her. This entire plotline makes the book that much creepier as Zade’s intentions aren’t clear to Addie yet and it’s almost like he’s making history repeat itself.
This part of the book genuinely gave me chills. I was sitting alone in my room with the dark windows right next to me and couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. It’s insane how realistic the author was able to make this side of the story. I couldn’t tell if Addie was getting a thrill from the fear or if she was genuinely terrified, a mix of both in my opinion, and while the book is meant to be viewed this way, the thriller aspect of it was very scary.
I haven’t read many thrillers or horror stories before, and beginning with a young woman who lives alone being stalked probably wasn’t the best idea. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched my fair share of TV, and YOU from Netflix is pretty much the same as this. Somehow Joe Goldberg isn’t half as scary and sinister as Zade though.
“Let me know which stars you prefer. The ones above you, or the ones I make you see.”
The second half of this book had me delving pretty deep into real world horrors. While the majority of the fear from the stalking side of the book had diminished, I was thrust into the world of men and their evilness. It’s terrifying to think that things like this go on in the real world, but I’m not naive enough to believe that this is all fiction. Things like this really do happen, and reading about them only sheds more awareness of this extremely horror-filled topic. From this, I do have to warn you that if you’re planning to read this book, please check out the trigger warnings.
The cliffhanger of Haunting Adeline has me set on edge. I’m currently writing this review, having finished it pretty much ten minutes ago, and I’m shaking with anticipation of getting into the second book. I love a good cliffhanger as much as the next person, but honestly, I’m terrified to see how Zade will behave when he realizes what’s happened.
The characters
I really want to talk about Daya and Addie’s friendship because honestly, they’re what every girl wants in a best friend. I feel like Daya is the kind of girl that every girl searches for. She never judges Addie, despite many of her questionable decisions, she’s always, always there for her and is unfailing in her attempts to help her best friend. Addie is the exact same back. They need help? The other is running. It’s the type of friendship that can’t be found just anywhere and I’m really really glad that the author decided to include it in the book. I feel like Daya gave Addie the support system that she needed while she was going through incredibly difficult emotional turmoil. It’s so nice to see two girls being so genuinely supportive and loving with no judgment or consequences attached.
In terms of Addie, I feel like she’s one of the most relatable main characters ever. She’s hilarious with her sarcasm and deflection. It’s like she knows she’s got bad luck running through her veins and she’s fully accepted it and is just running head first into bad karma. She kept me anchored to this book and the story and I felt like I could understand her and her decisions, despite them being horrible in some cases. She gave me second hand embarrassment multiple times throughout the book but I honestly can’t say I blame her for the decisions she made and the actions she took to ensure she got what she needed. Despite her being very unreliable when it comes to her feelings for Zade, she was reliable in her unwavering search for Gigi’s killer. I found her refreshing as a main character, someone I found myself genuinely loving and wanting more of. I’m excited to see how her character develops throughout the next book and I’m really hoping that she continues to use her bad bitch side and doesn’t turn into someone who cowers in a corner despite real danger.
“I want to slap him. But the asshole would probably like it, and then turn around and slap me back. And my dumbass self would probably like it, too.”
Zade had me questioning my own morals and judgment. I felt like I was switching up on my own brain for a minute there. It was like my body was telling me one thing and my brain was saying the opposite. There are times when I genuinely loved him and felt myself melting for him and his character, and then there were times when I was terrified of him and his power. I feel like he’s so dominating, so sure of himself which shook me a little bit. For the first half of the book I was sure that I wasn’t going to like him, but as the book continued I felt myself wavering on that decision. I felt myself falling to the other side, the side that loved Zade and I realized that his twisted way of getting Addie to fall for him was his way of being real to who he is, keeping Addie fully aware of everything he is and stands for. It’s almost refreshing to see a character like that, while also scary. I felt like he was so upfront with me about everything he is, who he is. He was so ready to give it all to Addie and that’s scary, because he wasn’t even afraid of giving himself all to her. By the end of the book I was falling for Zade and the tiny moments of softness that he provided.
“Because then I wouldn’t be true to myself, little mouse. I love that I scare you. I love that you try to run from me. The push and pull. The cat and mouse game. I fucking love it. And I think a part of you does, too.”
Zade and Addie are a force to be reckoned with. The two are a pair almost made for each other and I love how easily the author made them fit. Addie and her love of being scared, Zade and his love of scaring her? A match made in heaven. Adding to that, can we talk about the nicknames?! “Little mouse”? It’s so creepy when said in that context but can be so endearing when said in other ways. Addie’s use of sarcasm also makes it hilarious when she counters this with “Kitty cat”, making Zade seem like a tame animal considering who he really is. I feel like their dynamic, while definitely different and running on fear, is amazing. I love how they interact with each other and the reactions they both bring out of each other. It’s the perfect type of dark romance.
“Baby, you rule the fucking kingdom, and I will gladly bow to you.”
Writing style
I want to talk about this briefly just because I feel like it was so easy to read? Despite this book being so heavy in content matter, it was so easy to get through and understand. Carlton left nothing to the imagination and gave me every bit I needed to understand the entire picture, the entire scene. It made visualizing everything so simple and it took no brain power to do so, making this the perfect read to get out of a major slump.
Final thoughts
I don’t think I’ll ever recover from this book. I don’t know what it is about Haunting Adeline, but I’ve been thinking about it every second since I started reading it and I couldn’t put it down. I feel like it’s one of those books that will come back to haunt me. (See what i did there ;)?)
Do I recommend?
Absolutely, but again, check the trigger warnings. This book is definitely not for everyone and definitely isn’t to everybody’s taste. While I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the characters, the subject matter is extremely difficult to get through at times and it might not be a good book if you’re looking for something on the lighter side of the dark romance spectrum! Overall though, this book got me out of a crazy major slump and it was super easy to get through. It’s probably the fastest I’ve ever read 500+ pages and I have 0 regrets with binge-reading it!
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️
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