From the Bookshelf of Buddy Read Zone…

Consequences (Consequences, #1)

Aleatha Romig

Discussion: Dark and Disturbing Buddy Reads

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 40 topics — 10,421 comments total

Dark and Disturbing Buddy Reads

New Adult Dark Fantasy Novel Series
By Rusty · 1 post · 16 views

last updated Apr 17, 2015 07:21PM

Captive in the Dark (Dark Duet #1) 1/21/13
By Kelly · 256 posts · 150 views

last updated Mar 14, 2015 10:02AM

showing 7 of 7 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Mar 02, 2013 ✝✝ Ⓓaisy ❣ ✝✝ rated it did not like it

I picked this one with full of excitement with my darling buddy, Harriett! We are so looking for a dark angst read!
And this is nothing close to what we have imagined!

This started slow and then it just moved on to be so dull and BAM boring!!!!!!!!!!!

This book is totally not my kind of reading! It was full of rant and nonsense without any clear storyline.

Let's see, Anthony Rawlings is 45 and kidnaps Claire. And after awhile, she falls in love with him and marries him!!
That was the best I cou ...more

19 likes · Like · see review

Jan 28, 2013 Jen rated it really liked it

I thought long and hard about what rating I was going to give this book, and came to the conclusion that I would give it a four stars. The loss of a point comes from me because I did find the book to be extremely long when it didn't need to be. I felt like a big portion of this book was dedicated to talking about brand names of clothes, and also there was some repetition when describing the marriage of Claire and Anthony and their travelling, and shopping expeditions. I will say also that I was ...more

14 likes · Like · see review

Nov 07, 2012 Brandi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have no words...this book seriously messed with my head. I need to process this for awhile.

12 likes · Like · see review

Feb 21, 2013 DKristin rated it it was ok

Shelves: dnf-awful, meh, own-a-copy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In organizing my thoughts about this book I had planned to describe it by going through the good, the bad, and the ugly... Upon thinking about it some more I found that difficult to tease out. So instead I'll just talk about what affected me most...

~1st and foremost though we don't get the entire story until the last 10 or 15% of the book. I found that I had figured it all out well before then. I liked the idea of a well thought out long stretching plan for revenge and the scope of people that T In organizing my thoughts about this book I had planned to describe it by going through the good, the bad, and the ugly... Upon thinking about it some more I found that difficult to tease out. So instead I'll just talk about what affected me most...

~1st and foremost though we don't get the entire story until the last 10 or 15% of the book. I found that I had figured it all out well before then. I liked the idea of a well thought out long stretching plan for revenge and the scope of people that Tony was able to touch with those plans was amazing. However, I found that I had already figured out maybe 20% in what was going on and what his true intentions were. I just didn't have the details and wondered if part of the story would be that he would back off or change his mind. As the body count started to rise and as he continued to treat Claire as a possession I realized that was probably not going to be the case.

~I felt like during the entire book we were supposed to think that Tony lived his life to a certain code that he was more his grandfather than his father and due to this code that he lived by he had to and has to continue to avenge his family. My only trouble with this is the fact that while he is harping about consequences whether it is the direct actions of someone or the actions of others that influence consequences for others it seemed somewhat hypocritical. His grandfather was supposed to be this smart man and he made choices to follow the lead of these other men whom his own son pointed out to him were involved in shady dealings. All his grandfather could see were dollar signs though and his actions were what caused the consequences of him being put in prison, Tony's parents ending up dead, and Tony having to start from scratch. To punish the people related to those who brought the truth to light appears to me that he is pointing his vengeance in the wrong direction. He should have been angry at his grandfather. If he would have been happy with continuing to grow his company legally there never would have been a problem.

~Claire, good grief, I don't even know where the fuck to start with this bitch! Excuse the language but explain to me how someone who is "sooooo" intelligent can be so utterly ridiculous. If I saw the word "compartmentalize" one more time I was going to throw my Kindle across the room! I can understand Stockholm Syndrome and even she touched on it. SERIOUSLY THOUGH???? I found the fact that she didn't even ever try to escape when he first brought her there to be absolutely ridiculous. If he paid off my debts and had some shit written on a napkin that would never hold up in a court of law I damn sure would have tried to leave. Hell, even if he had a legally binding contract, and got me there the way he did and then kept me locked up I would have at least tried to leave. Especially after finding out that he is all about appearances. Sure he may have tried to kill her but at that point she didn't know that's how he rolled.
When he asked her to marry him and she said yes...SMH... Why the fuck would you consent to having your life governed by those rules and constrictions? Especially when they continued to point out her defiant nature or her strength & her resilience. I just don't think that she would have been that deep in after 9 months. If nothing else I would think she would have asked for some time to really think about it. Afterall, if he really wanted to marry her and be with her forever what did it matter if she took a week or two to think about it. If the violence stopped or if he hadn't almost killed her 6 months in I may be able to understand her wanting to stay with him but at every turn she was being compliant and complacent and taking every little scrap and crumb of freedom he did allow her as though this were a normal arrangement. If she were so strong, and so smart wouldn't she have at least attempted to get away from him and well before the incident at the end of the book. She was never, ever treated as an equal and I don't think any of his actions would have been enough to convince me of otherwise. If I'm going to marry someone and be their wife; you will not tell me that I cannot access certain things while giving me access to others. For instance letting her go with Courtney whenever or talk to Courtney without him standing over her but then always being monitored with her sister. The fact that she would get so many headaches, had lost so much weight, changed her hair color, had no job or any real connection to meteorology; something that everyone claimed she loved and was devoted too - just didn't add up to me. Her character was very contradictory in my eyes. I don't think she would have taken those keys and left based off of her previous actions. I kept hearing of her strong will but why of all the times where she had the chance to do something would she choose right then? I get that she was in an abusive relationship and the things she did in her mind the "compartmentalizing" and so on would weaken her in a way that would make her vulnerable to Tony's manipulation... But I also believe that she did know him to an extent and that knowledge just really makes me question if she would have made a lot of the choices that she did.

~Lastly, I think. This book was entirely too long!!!!! I mean at the 50% mark when I realized what was up and was just trying to get to the part where he finally flipped the script I was just like please make it stop. All the talk about the scenery, the stores, the shopping, the clothes, the destinations... I don't mind having descriptions and getting a picture but shit talk about overkill. I don't need pages upon pages of descriptions of where the exact same three or four activities are taking place... them talking, them eating, them going to a show or out, them fighting, them having sex. Next destination, and repeat! I get that the author was setting up how involved this plan of Tony's was but as stated as soon as you first read a scene where they mention the "Rawls" family and you saw it was about bad decision making it was pretty fucking obvious what was happening. Hearing about all that other stuff just took up time and with my interest already waning at some points I only kept reading because I had invested too much time to stop. I think also some of the inconsistencies: like them going to sleep but then the next page saying they talked all night or them being barely clothed but then them being fully clothed in the next line or how she would be so unwilling, annoyed, or frustrated about talking to her sister but then jumping for joy when Tony said she could, was very distracting.

I suppose I will read the next book and then decide if I am reading the last one... but I am not really sure.

**EDIT** It took a second for it to hit me but now I finally can put a better finger on what about Claire's capitulation bothered me. I could understand it if it were similar to books like Captive in The Dark or Comfort Food. Where there is a systematic breaking down of the victim and then a rebuilding based off the perpetrators desires and expectations. I didn't feel that we got this. We were told she was strong of mind, and will, but she buckled at almost every turn and unlike in those stories she did so with a great deal more freedom then they had. If she was of such strong will I think it would have been more realistic that she would have attempted to regain her freedom more actively than she did. ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Aug 09, 2013 Mochaspresso rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: crazy-love, dark-reads

In many ways, the destructive and dysfunctional marriage at the center of this story reminds me of the one in "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn. "Consequences" about the downward spiral and ruination of Claire Nichols at the hands of her wealthy and secretly sadistic husband, Anthony Rawlings. It was a compelling read but I also felt a little let down this book. It had potential to be amazing as a psychological thriller but the main problem is that the "thrills" are only in the very beginning and at In many ways, the destructive and dysfunctional marriage at the center of this story reminds me of the one in "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn. "Consequences" about the downward spiral and ruination of Claire Nichols at the hands of her wealthy and secretly sadistic husband, Anthony Rawlings. It was a compelling read but I also felt a little let down this book. It had potential to be amazing as a psychological thriller but the main problem is that the "thrills" are only in the very beginning and at the very end of the novel. I would say that the other 80-90% in the middle is mostly repetitive filler.

Imo, this story should have been about the abduction of Claire. The book only briefly mentions that it has happened after the fact, but none of it was actually depicted or detailed in the story. It also should have been about her "ORDEAL" of being held captive and forced/coerced into an abusive marriage while publicly having to keep up the facade of a happy married couple. The word "ordeal" is in all caps because the reader never truly feels her "terror" at being kidnapped, held captive, beaten and raped. The books says that it happened, but she seems rather nonchalant about it all. Mainly because 300+ pages are devoted to describing lazy days by the pool or the lake, shopping trips, spa visits, name brands, fancy cars, fine dining and jet-setting to lavish vacations in exotic locales over and over again. Then there is also the fact that she had multiple opportunities to either tell someone or escape or at least attempt to yet she never does. There is one sentence about Stockholm Syndrome thrown out there at the reader as a possible lame justification, but it's never explored any further than that one sentence and is never mentioned or alluded to again. Lastly and most importantly, it should have been about the mystery surrounding Tony's true motivations for taking her in the first place. The reader gets very few glimpses into the psychology of Tony. Other than a few brief flashbacks intended to foreshadow, the mystery itself was rushed and packed into the last couple of pages. 300+ pages of shopping sprees and name brands and approximately 8 pages of mystery and revelation in the final chapter. Not only that....the story has the audacity to not even be finished because it's a trilogy!

I'm going to read the next installment because I have a compulsion to see a story through to the end but I think I've been spoiled by writers like Stephen King who manage to get their psychological thrillers told from start to finish in one installment.
...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 22, 2013 Demi Aberson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: deep, like-fify, na-challenge

SHIT!!!!!!

Fuck !!!!!!!!!

OMG!!!

Wow just wow I don’t even know what to say where to start…..
just wow.

But what I can say is that Alesha is an amazing writer this book was phenomenon.
If it was possible to give it higher rating I would; it almost insulting to put
this book at the same level as previous one when it was by far the best book I
have read in a while. I experienced so many emotions when I read this book it
was like a roller-coaster from laughi

...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 06, 2013 Millie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Ok, let's get to it...

I didn't know what to expect from this book. I thought this was another troubled guy who falls in love with an innocent girl and they have their HEA (as all the other books I've recently been reading). So going into it with this mind frame, you can understand why I was debating whether or not I should continue reading. I didn't like both the H/h and never did I once relate to either of them (well, exept for Claire at the end).

Tony, is a man of many faces and basically has Ok, let's get to it...

I didn't know what to expect from this book. I thought this was another troubled guy who falls in love with an innocent girl and they have their HEA (as all the other books I've recently been reading). So going into it with this mind frame, you can understand why I was debating whether or not I should continue reading. I didn't like both the H/h and never did I once relate to either of them (well, exept for Claire at the end).

Tony, is a man of many faces and basically has the world in his hands. He's successful, rich, handsome and charming. But the truth is, he is one effed up a-hole! I didn't have to read past the first page to understand that. But apparently Claire needed the entire book to realize it. I don't care if he showed a bit of compassion, sincerity or remorse during the time you've been with him...put your hands on me and force me to do things, I will cut yo ass!

And let's be honest...Claire is one dumb cookie. She had so many opportunities to get away, but I guess she liked Catherine and her lake too much. I could understand she was hesitant at first because Tony was ruthless, but COME ON!!! (view spoiler) I was rolling my eyes throughout the entire time she was having her inner monologue. But I guess you needed a dumb character in order to continue with the story.

Here's where I had a change of heart - towards the end of the book and the BIG revelation, I realized the author flipped the switch and took hold of me the way Tony had a hold on Claire. All the planning, the lies, the links that tied everything together...I felt as stupid and submissive as Claire. I didn't know what to say after that (keep in mind, I thought this was a "girl reforms boy and lives HEA" with him). But I'm only on the first book so anything can happen...I'm hoping not.

I will be reading the next book cause I need to know this girl can take back control of her life (view spoiler) and what she has in store for herself and others surrounding her.

Overall, 3.5 stars. I would have rated it higher, but the stupidity of the main character along with the majority of the book dragging dropped it significantly. ...more

Like · see review

Jan 23, 2013 Daphne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: impacted-me-greatly, gritty, emotionally-drained

Wow. That's about all one can say after finishing this wonderfully written heavy subject matter book. I admit I was nervous about the story line. I decided to take a chance on the book because friends on GR whose opinion I trust gave it such wonderful reviews. I learned from reading the amazing book "On the Island" not to let a subject matter that might seem out of my comfort zone, steer me away from a book. I am very glad that I took a chance on This amazing book. I would absolutely recommend t ...more

Like · see review

Jul 24, 2013 Rebecca rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Oh my this book had me from start from finish I loved Anthony I hated Anthony one minute his nice and loving next well hard and mean and Claire wow sweet and caring and terrified this book will make you want to pull your hair out and also feel good but sad so good read and follow the journey of Anthony and Claire.

Like · see review