Review: Dear Reader
Title: Dear Reader
Series: Devil's Backbone
Author: Tate James
Release Date: May 2025
The first in an all-new spicy and suspenseful "why choose" romance series from TikTok sensation Tate James.
Dear Reader,
You want my advice? Never look a gift horse in the mouth. You don't want to see the rotten teeth.
In this case, the gift is a scholarship to attend the prestigious Neveah University. The rotten teeth? Well, they came in the form of my brand new stepbrother and his little cohort of entitled, arrogant best friends. Four dangerously handsome and stupidly wealthy men who made up their minds about me long before we met. Men who are used to getting everything they want no matter what the price.
I was a big girl, I could ignore them. Then came the secret society hazing. Kidnappings. Crazy parties. Insane stunts. Mindblowing prizes. Even so, I could handle myself... until the secret and stolen moments with men I had no business falling for. It was enough to give a girl a nightmares.
What the heck did I just read?!
So I decided to finally dive into the Devil's Backbone series by Tate James - bc I finally got all 3 books & I wanted to read something from my physical TBR. I wasin the mood for a dark why choose and decided on Dear Reader - bc I have loved Tate James in the past.
Dear Reader follows Ashley - heading off to college on a scholarship and stumbling upon a secret society & possible mysterious deaths from the past. Not only did she end up in the same college as her new step brother and his friends, but they were also apart of this secret society; a new step brother that couldn't stand her. But soon what she was learning started happening to her and now she didn't know who to trust.
So, this book started off a little slow and it wasn't as dark, at least in the beginning s I originally thought it might be - but I also went in blind not reading the blurb or anything and all I knew about it before starting was it was a dark why choose secret society romance. But even if it didn't start out how I expected (honestly I had zero expectations - and no idea what I thought was going to happen) - I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Yes it had some dark moments but it was definitely on the lighter end for a dark romance. And I found myself laughing throughout. I loved diving into the world and these characters and I am quite pissed over the ending bc what the heck was THAT?! - I desperately need sleep otherwise I'd be diving into the next book to get answers. (Honestly I should have known and stopped sooner - bc like I said I have read Tate James books before but silly me, I didn't and now I'm emotional 😂😂) But overall I am glad Ifinally picked up this book (& also equally as glad that I didn't read it as it released bc I would be raging waiting for the next book 😂😂) - I definitely need more from this story & these characters and I need answers!
4⭐ out of 5⭐
2 🌶️ out of 5🌶️
Tropes:
• dark romance
- NA Romance
• why choose
• secret society
• over protective MMCs
• enemies to lovers
- fake dating
- stepbrother
- dark academia
• mystery/suspense
Trigger Warnings:
- kidnapping/abduction
- murder
- death
- suicide
- violence
- blood/injury
- bullying
- dub-con
- attempted sexual assault
- mugging
- cheating (not between MCs)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tate James is a USA Today Bestselling Author of Contemporary Romance and Suspense Romance, with occasional forays into Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, and Urban Fantasy. She was born and raised in Aotearoa (New Zealand) but now lives in Australia with her husband and their adorable crotchfruit.
She is a lover of books, booze, cats and coffee and is most definitely not a morning person. Tate is a bit too sarcastic, swears far too much for polite society, and definitely tells too many dirty jokes.
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