****
4 stars
First things first: this book is dark as hell. TWs for basically everything–sexual assault, drug use, underage drinking, gun use, crime, violence, rape, mental health, and I think maybe attempted suicide (though I can’t remember if this actually is a thing).
I walked into this dark romance, I’ll admit, pretty skeptical. I’ve tried reading some MC romances in which the characters, most often the heroes, are just god awful people with no redeeming qualities or souls to even save them. But Penelope Douglas knows how to write a twisted scenario in which her characters are still human beings, only deeply flawed. Which was kind of the whole point of this first novel, and the romance between Michael and Erika (I’m not gonna say Rika, because although I liked the book that is such an awkward nickname to me.) Michael and Erika are drawn to each other because of their likenesses. They both have a lean towards the darker, more dangerous, things in life. They only gain true reward, from real risk. Oh and they’ve basically always had a thing for each other.
This book was dramatic, and wild, and freaking fun to read. Penelope Douglas takes her stories and her characters to the edge, and I truly never know where she will stop–which is fascinating to follow.
Corrupt was probably my first real introduction the dark romance sub-genre and I feel really excited to explore it more, and also read the rest of this series
