This review contains spoilers for The Ritual. A list of trigger warnings can be found here.
TikTok made me do it. I thought that I would hold out a little longer before reading this, but nearly every other video on my page was a blurb from this book. Since reading Haunting Adeline, my definition of dark romance has certainly taken a turn, and obviously I do not condone the vast majority of anything that happens in this book, but boy does this book hook you in. Ryat and Zade need to start a little club for people who stalk the girls that they are into and also murder people.
For a society filled with secrets and straight up murder, they sure do love to throw a party and have people talk about them on campus. The Lords feel like a bunch of college students roleplaying that they are in the mafia or in some type of cult, which is not entirely incorrect. Ryat walks around talking in cryptic messages and basically gives off the vibe of a sexually frustrated twenty-something. Definitely on brand for him since being in the Lords means they cannot have sex for three years, but he is making it everyone's problem.
Blakely is just trying to actually hook up with her boyfriend of many years but he's not having it because -- surprise, surprise -- he is also in the Lords, but for some reason won't just tell her that they can't have sex. Matt continues to literally annoy me every time he pops up on my page, and I simply pretend that he does not exist as such an immense pain in my side and acting like such a little freak all of the time. It is beyond me on why he is so mad that she broke up with him after putting up with his BS for so long. He's also a kink-shamer, which was the most surprising thing about him considering he is in an organization that literally claims women as property. But I digress.
This vow can't be legally binding... I'm actually laughing at the way that everyone treats the Ritual vow ceremony and how Ryat is always running around saying he owns Blakely but this boy is so blindsided by the fact that he can finally screw someone that he sets his own sort of rules up for him and Blakely, apart from the rules the Lords have for their chosen. I am genuinely surprised that with the amount of sedatives Blakely was given that she was not just knocked out for the entirety of the book. She's got to have some lasting effects after getting roofied every other chapter.
I am not even going to lie when I say that Ryat offering $500,00 to marry Blakely had me giggling and kicking my feet in the air. Honestly, anything to get her away from Matt and whatever the heck he had planned to do to her once they were married. Do I think Ryat is downright insane? Absolutely. Do I cheer every time he pops up on the page? Sure thing. There were probably at least ten moments while reading this book that I straight up thought that Ryat was going to kill Blakely just because he could, because boy oh boy was that man on a mission.
Probably about 98% of this book is not for the faint of heart. Blakely and Ryat literally have sex in front of the corpse of a girl that Ryat strangled in a basement for crying out loud. There is so much murder and so so much sex that pushes the limits of what society deems as acceptable. I mean, people are torturing and kidnapping and drugging people left and right and the most of the characters will react as if it is just another Tuesday as a college student. The smut is top tier and basically dominates the book over plot, but is balanced enough that it does not feel like the same scene over and over again.
Sarah and Gunner are basically there so that Blakely has other people to talk to when Ryat is not around, and it was nice to see that she has something resembling a support system while she went through everything. We really did not get to see many other faces besides some Lords and Ryat and Blakely's parents throughout the book, but I did not mind that since I was so focused on their relationship. I have so much distaste for Valerie, especially because she definitely knew what Matt would have done to her if they ended up getting married. So glad they both kicked the can by the end of the book.
You know what... I had such a blast reading this entire book because just when I thought it could not get crazier, it did. I was thoroughly entertained every page, and I actually really enjoyed the dynamic between Blakely and Ryat -- it was so extremely complicated yet had great development as they both discovered what they wanted, and it was not for a lack of effort or mishaps along the way. Fans of Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton and The Dare by Harley LaRoux will certainly enjoy this standalone taboo romance.
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