Haunting Adeline Book Review

Writing: 4/5
Story: 3/5
Darkness: 3/5
Spice: 4/5
Editing: 3/5

Triggering topics: Stalking, torture, organized crime, murder, cults and rituals, rape/sexual assault, mentions of child abuse.

You can check out my censored coverage of Haunting Adeline here.

Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton is a dark romance novel about a famous writer being pursued by (and eventually falling for) a stalker. Interwoven is a diary-exposed tale of something similar happening to her great grandmother, and how it ends in murder. Eventually, you will also get a side-plot of the stalker fighting crime or whatever.

First of all: Say what you will about this book in its entirety, but Carlton is a good writer. The way she puts words to the human experience is often blunt and beautiful. Case in point: 

Soon, my body will smolder until there’s nothing left but ashes dancing in the cold wind. (Chapter 11)

A slight, insignificant sound that feels like thunder rolling throughout the bones of the house. (Chapter 15)

My lip wobbles, and all of the fight I had burning inside of me bleeds out in one breath. (Chapter 33)

I’ll gladly sacrifice my name on her tongue if it means climbing up to heaven with her. (Chapter 40)

Argue in the comments if you must, but I am complimenting her prose with a Master’s in English Literature. So it doesn’t mean nothing. Not every sentence is a masterpiece, but she knows how to pepper-in some poetry to keep discerning readers coming back.

I would say the first half of the book is objectively better-written than the second half, though. It’s like she gives up. Or gets rushed. I was never bored, though—even though the romance is what I would consider a “slow burn.” The main couple spends a quarter of the book never being in the same room, as far as the reader is concerned. (Off-page stalking notwithstanding.) 

The most important piece of the puzzle for me is that the cast is stacked with powerful women, and none of them are useless. They have agency, goals, talents, spark, and more than a little attitude. And while most of the conversations revolve around men, they also talk about work, family, shared history. In many ways, Addie subverts romantic heroine expectations: She’s independent, daring, bold, loves her body, knows she’s hot, and isn’t afraid to go after what she wants. 

Adeline is not a stand-in for the reader. She is a whole person, even outside of the romantic coupling.

Adeline hates her mother, viscerally. She experiences l’appel du vide over a cliff face at the edge of her property. She get a thrill out of living in a haunted house. She thinks about casual sex and craves alcohol when stressed. She objectifies good-looking men and berates them in her mind when they disappoint her. She worries about armpit stains on her blouse. When describing people for the reader, she lets you know what she really thinks.

The sex scenes aren’t as titillating as I expected, but I guess it’s more for the extreme noncon crowd. Gun fucking, clit biting, and coerced cum swallowing isn’t really my thing. I enjoy rough scenes, but these were too…clumsy? My favorite thing to read is the MC’s POV of becoming aroused and wanting what’s about to happen. The tingling, the fire, the burn, the bliss. In lieu of not having much of that, the sex (well, rape) scenes fall flat. Maybe they are meant to. But knowing the genre well, I doubt it. 

There was a “risk of exposure” in a movie theater sex scene that started to pique my interest. I think Carlton has a lot of good ideas, they just work best when Addie actively wants to participate in them. The “intercourse in a house of mirrors” was an interesting take, too, although completely ill-timed story-wise. Not sure how they find time to fuck mid-crime spree, but whatever. 

Addie is the main character, but the story shifts between her perspective and that of her stalker with regularity. Speaking from the point-of-view of the shadowy criminal takes the bite out of his looming presence, that’s for sure. It’s hard to stay thunderstruck and afraid with passages like this: “I’m a big man, but I’m just as capable of throwing out my back as the next person. I’m still a human fucking being.” 

“Z,” as we know him for the first quarter of the book, has a background plotline of hunting down and killing some sort of pedophile cult. It’s very involved, pretty melodramatic, and not that interesting. 

If you asked me which I’d rather: solving a great grandma’s murder or taking down a cult, I would think the latter would appeal more. But here we are. Addie is much more compelling and interesting than Z. I could read about her skipping rocks and be happy. As it should be. 

The romance is rather silly, actually. If it weren’t for Addie being so compelling, I probably would have dropped off. The angst of trying to justify her real feelings for an abusive stalker is a rollercoaster read. But some scenes are right out of a sitcom, like when Z’s current target picks Addie out of a crowd randomly and they are forced into a zany “pretend we are dating” scenario. Yes, that actually happens (chapter 22).

I understand that Z is objectively a dark character. He rapes, stalks, murders, and tortures with the best of them. But he was honestly kind of lame, in my opinion. Like, trying too hard to be bad. Which is an insane thing to write, I know. He also falls into the “heart of gold” cliche—he spends his free time tirelessly rescuing sex slaves. 

Is the “romance” dark? Indubitably. But Carlton’s real “darkness” comes from the perfect imperfections of human life. She doesn’t try to romanticize every little thing. It’s a world where I can imagine people spitting, burping, and farting, even if it’s not written on-page. There’s pig-like snoring from a cute sleeping girl on page, even. The author allows characters to be real—so real that they become relatable in their mundanity, even as they are dealing with such hideous and heinous things. 

When people hear “dark romance,” they often imagine “problematic.” But more often than not, it just doesn’t shy away from what’s real. 

The first half of the book is good. It’s grounded, focused on Addie and her weird life, and the peeks of “Z”/Zade haven’t made him into a caricature of himself yet. The latter half of the book cements the relationship, rounding out the “enemies to lovers” trope with some genuinely awe-inspiring mental gymnastics. But it also gets a bit cartoony in the way it handles good and evil. Carlton has the micro plot tension down pat, but the macro storytelling needs some refinement. It’s not remotely believable, incredibly heavy-handed thematically, and—worst of all—not that compelling. 

Haunting Adeline ends in a pretty serious cliffhanger, so you will need to buy the next book to get the full story. I don’t mind this set-up. Some stories require two parts to tell. But just be warned that it’s not complete without book two. 

When I review dark romance books, I compare them to other dark romance books. They are never going to be literary canon, nor do I want them to be. And Haunting Adeline is an above average read for the genre, my personal tastes excluded. 

However, I think almost every book could be made better by reducing its length by around 25%. Word count standards killed the publishing star. For this book, make it 35%. There was too much of it, and it let itself get too romcom true crimey at times, but I would still recommend it to dark romance lovers. It’s a classic for a reason.

Triggering or difficult scenes in Haunting Adeline to be aware of: 

• Adeline is raped several times. Once with a gun. Another time while tied to the bed. 
• Zade is tracking some sort of pedophelic cult group, which mentions child abuse and blood rituals several times. 

Haunting Adeline vibe quotes: 

I want to slap him. But the asshole would probably like it, and then turn around and slap me back. And my dumbass self would probably like it, too. (Chapter 23)

My back is on fire, accompanied by the dull throb radiating between my legs. It’s the sweetest agony I’ve ever felt. (Chapter 34) 

I’ve chased you across time and space, and you’ve never been able to get away. (Chapter 35)

Even with her eyes rounded in panic, she’s the most enthralling creature I’ve ever laid eyes on. (Chapter 35) 

Read Next: The Best Books Like Haunting Adeline [My Recommendations]