Corrupt-- Penelope Douglas

I read it, I was sucked into it, but I don’t know if I liked it. How can that be, you ask? Simple. It was dark and twisty and overall all kinds of f-ed up. Seriously.

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.

The synopsis makes it seem like this is some high-school prankery. It’s not. It’s grown-up, psychopathic terror. Throughout the first half of the book, you honestly aren’t sure of anything. Which way is up, who is right, who to trust or believe? There are glimpses of the past making this novel like a giant jig-saw puzzle that you don’t have a picture of the final outcome.

Some people are comparing it to B.B. Reid’s “Fear Me”, and while I can see the similarities, I would definitely say this has differences for the better. I completely and utterly despised “Fear Me”, “Corrupt” has some similar aspects, i.e. brooding domineering alpha male, who is bordering on being completely abusive and a female character who falls prey to said male. However in this book, our alpha-male, Michael, never truly goes into things looking to physically hurt Rika. Emotionally scar, yes. And Rika, she plays plenty of games on her own. She gives as good as she gets. But the darker, twisty-er part of this book did leave me feeling unsettled.

A few things that I was confused by:

·         Random three-some

·         The prevalence of jumping to conclusions

·         Why is revenge a dish best served cold?

A few things that I greatly enjoyed:

·         Random-three some

·         The epilogue

·         Having to postpone my gym date due to the drama-filled suspense

Will I read this book again? Probably, right before I read Kai’s story, but not on the regular. I fully admit that I enjoy feel good books. This one has some definite feel good moments but also has a lot of moments that made me question why I was reading it. I will say that my favorite thing about this entire book was the epilogue. It brought the storyline to a close in a way that was complete. I would recommend reading it if you like suspense and drama, if you are after a HEA there is one…for the most part.