This is a spoiler-free review! Please read trigger warnings - reader discretion is advised.
I am reading the original publication before the edits were made to the first three chapters and oh my god... y'all were not lying when you said this was insane. Killian's first appearance put such a bad taste in my mouth, and this is coming from someone who eats up dark romance like they are my daily vitamin. Now I know in the literal book summary he is described as a predator, but in my mind I was thinking more along the lines of lion hunting in the wilderness-type predator, not a literal sexual predator. I literally would have filed a restraining order against Killian so fast - not like it would have ended up doing Glyndon any favors.
Guys... who was going to tell me I was supposed to read an entire series before reading this book? Y'all are fake for not giving me a warning. I was wondering why everyone in the book seemed to know everything about people's parents and siblings, and here I discover there are six other books I need to get my hands on in order for everything else to make sense. I will be completely honest, I only started reading this because I want to read God of Fury... sue me!! That being said, I absolutely could not stand the parent POV chapters - maybe it is because I have not read that series, but it felt unnecessary when it could have been replaced with a Killian perspective chapter to explain his childhood. On that note, his dad is the absolute worst and it was like nails on a chalkboard getting through his perspective.
When Glyndon was running around during the initiation, I swear Brandon was there too... the world may never know. It was fun to match everyone's mask colors with characters - you could tell by the description and pin who it was under the mask. The entire sequence of the initiation was fun and I enjoyed that we were able to experience Killian and Glyndon's perspectives. The little bit of Nikolai and Brandon crumbs that were in this book, I'll take it! The majority of the side characters did not interest me and honestly became a nuisance
Sometimes during this book, Glyndon would have me so frustrated that I thought I was going to rip the book in half. She has zero survival instincts one minute, and then suddenly is running around like a trained professional the next. Her logic goes out the window a decent amount of times, and I was just baffled that she decided to keep everything that was happening to her a literal secret. It should not have taken her well into the book before she grew a backbone, especially considering her family is high up in ranks when it comes to power. Spice scenes went crazy though and I will admit Rina Kent knows how to write them well.
I probably said the same thing about Shantel Tessier's The Ritual and The Sinner, but my word... Killian, you are in COLLEGE who taught you to act like this?? We get it, you are a psychopath, but literally how in the world did you become this person? In all seriousness, he is a nineteen-year-old acting like he can do no wrong, and is confused on how anyone would see it otherwise. And the way he speaks to Glyndon and everyone else.. where is his decorum? The whole "Doesn't no mean yes sometimes?" had my jaw on the floor... I could not believe this is the man y'all are thirsting over on TikTok.
It was hard to root for Killian and Glyndon's relationship in the beginning - they grew on me throughout the middle of the book, but then it felt as though their relationship was backtracking and the miscommunication drove me insane. Glyndon spent nearly the entire book afraid that Killian was going to attack her in some form and we were supposed to think that was normal?? The random plot twist towards the end of the book was probably the most interesting plot point besides the initiation night, and yet it felt so surreal that I could not believe this was something that people were going crazy over. In the end I did end up wanting them to be together, but I expect them to go through a lot of up and downs in the future.
As far as a dark romance college bully book can go, God of Malice excels in some areas while falls short in others. While I was giggling and kicking my feet at a lot of Killian and Glyndon's interactions, I felt as though Killian's character kept getting pulled back, whereas Glyndon was allowed to grow and develop. The writing is fast paced and allows the reader to speed through the story, which goes well with the timeline as the events take place over a short interval. However, as far as interconnected stand alones go, the set up for the next couple did not spark an interest in me where I found myself desperately needing to get my hands on the second book. I will most likely be seeing this series through, because it is an extensive plot that draws the reader in.
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