My Dreadful Darling by H. D. Carlton Book Review [In Progress]

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My Dreadful Darling is H. D. Carlton’s newest enemies-to-lovers dark romance set to be a two-part series dubbed the Hollow Graves Duet. Packed with serial killer fathers and dead mothers, a dark academia setting, and gore galore, it’s a fresh take on Carlton’s delightfully dark storytelling direction. 

Writing: ?/5
Story: ?/5
Darkness: ?/5
Spice: ?/5
Editing: ?/5

Trigger warnings: Extreme bullying, sexual harassment, noncon, lost pregnancy, serial killer murder & gore,
Tropes: Enemies-to-lovers, THAIKY

Review of Chapters 1 – 5

My Dreadful Darling opens with one of those lines that knocks the wind out of you.

There are a lot of ways my mother could’ve tried to kill me, but I’ve always been grateful she chose a method that left me with only internal scars. That was the first kindness she offered me in life. The last was hanging herself seven months ago.

And the punches keep coming after that. 

Let’s get something out of the way first: the FMC calling the MMC “Dread” instead of using his real name is corny as heck. If someone terrorizes me for years, there’s no way in Hell I’m using the goofy nickname they champion for themselves. I’m calling them Shitdick or something. 

I promise not to harp on it, though. So, anyway…

My Dreadful Darling opens with one of those lines that knocks the wind out of you.

There are a lot of ways my mother could’ve tried to kill me, but I’ve always been grateful she chose a method that left me with only internal scars. That was the first kindness she offered me in life. The last was hanging herself seven months ago.

And the punches keep coming after that. 

Let’s get something out of the way first: the FMC calling the MMC “Dread” instead of using his real name is corny as heck. If someone terrorizes me for years, there’s no way in Hell I’m using the goofy nickname they champion for themselves. I’m calling them Shitdick or something. 

I promise not to harp on it, though. So, anyway…

Reverie Adams (aka Charlotte D’Amour, more on that later) is the daughter of the infamous Locksmith serial killer. Many believe her father to be innocent; Reverie is not one of them. Her father’s last victim was Katherine Sharpe—and it was for her murder that he finally went away. Now, Katherine’s lone surviving son (Kellan Sharpe aka Dread) is out for blood. Or, if not blood, then whatever sick prank he can get away with on campus. 

While Reverie studies criminal justice, Dread studies her: how to make her hurt, how to get under her skin, how to push her to the brink of destruction. He followed her to Hollow
Canyon University, and he seems determined to pursue her to the ends of the Earth and back again. In a few years, Reverie can finish her program and leave the country. Until then, she has no choice but to put up with his harassment and extreme bullying while the university protects him as a star on the swim team.

However, H. D. Carlton delivers another heroine who can punch back. Hard. She drugs Dread with sleeping pills before a big swim meet after he leaves her chained to a flag pole in a snowstorm. The give-and-take is an exciting dynamic to watch, and every retaliation compounds the level of “enemies” these two will have to overcome to get where we know they’re going. 

H. D. Carlton also knocks it out of the part with her familiar “c-plot” storytelling mechanic. Yes, the dark romance burn is center stage. And yes, there is a “serial killer dad reentering society” subplot lurking around the burning edges of our story so far. But Reverie also admits, at the very end of chapter 4, that she sees the ghost of Georgie Farrell—one of her father’s third victims. 

I will say that while My Dreadful Darling has a stronger narrative voice and more tightly tuned plot, there is something…not as “dark” about two twenty-something-year-olds messing with one another over a misunderstanding. In fact, it gets a little slapstick-leaning at times. 

But the sensual scenes are bleak, twisted, and packed with noncon, so readers will for sure get what they’ve come for.

Review of Chapters 6 – 10

H. D. Carlton continues her quest to make the characters in her story feel so real that it hurts. Reverie has panic attacks around water and has been to therapy for it. Athletes and rich kids get away with atrocities while the administration looks the other way. Weird old men date college girls half their age or less. The “dark” in her dark romance comes from reality, which is partly why it’s so compelling. 

However, you’ll never feel weighed down by the muck of the mundane—you also get mothers who try to drown their children, college students who dress up like murder victims, melodramatic TV interviews and corresponding gossip. All the good stuff that keeps the story from getting too bogged down in the tragedy of real life. It stays salacious, and it moves fast. 

I do wish she would stop using phrases like “tickle in his pickle” though. I do feel like Carlton is getting worse at writing as she gets more editorial and goes further mainstream. The edge of her old words was honed on “Oh my god, did she just write that?” and now it’s leaning flaccidly against “Oh, I’ve heard that one before.” 

This is also the kind of book where female best friends call each other “bitch” and “whore” lovingly, which will never be to my taste but it is what it is. 

The conflict in the story is one of those whacky misunderstandings that if the two people involved just spoke to one another, it would be cleared in an instant. It’s very 90s sitcom chic. These are two very young adults going to school, bullying, getting jealous, and being horny. It’s accurate, but not that compelling for the average dark romance reader who expects a sense of maturity to be woven into the cartilage of the story.

Review of Chapters 11 – 20

By the 1/3rd mark, we finally have one saucy, consensual kiss and the very first whisper of what are we anxiety. There is also a pretty fun blend of “she’s mine to torture” and “touch her and I’ll kill you” that I didn’t hate. 

A bit more backstory leaks out around here, mainly around Reverie and her father’s relationship, but a lot is left unsaid. Many of the incoming twists are pretty obvious, and they each work to compound the fact that this whole misunderstanding could have been avoided with one honest conversation. Dress’s actions are narratively justified; Reverie’s actions are narratively justified. They really just need to hash it out over a drink or two. 

Instead, they fight. And we watch them fight, waiting for the (ahem) climax of it all for about five chapters too many. 

The sexual tension hits a peak when bullying turns to kidnapping and kidnapping shifts into coercive sex. The sex isn’t as dark and problematic as Carlton’s better known works. They both know each other, they both want each other, and they have mature conversations about birth control and infections before they get the party going. It’s dubcon but largely forgivable. 

There is a really good scene where Dread goes down on Reverie and it’s the first time a man had ever done this for her. Maybe one of the better ones Carlton has ever written. 

Just under midway through the book, and we have some forced proximity action in the mix. One of my personal favorite tropes is made even more exciting by the fact that the two of them are up against a serial killer—another of my favorite flavors. 

We’ve also unlocked the “can fuck anytime they want” era of the relationship, which is a relief after however many chapters of build up. Like many good dark romance books, the plot softens here to make space for all the raunchy sex. The whole “my serial killer fathers might come after us” take a major backseat to page after page of carnal desire. Which is honestly fine with me.

Review of Chapters 21 – 25

[COMING SOON]

Review of Chapters 26 – 33

[COMING SOON]

Final Verdict

[COMING SOON]

My Dreadful Darling vibe quotes: 

Every single atom in my body comes to a screeching halt. If my body housed Earth itself, it would be spiraling into absolute chaos. Cells crashing into one another like cars before bursting into flames. My blood freezing into solid ice and trapping cells within its glaciers. My organs powering down and falling from the sky like airplanes. – Prologue 

I can survive this. I’ve survived under the roof of a monster, and I’m surviving under the reign of another. – Ch 1

He wants to break me, but I won’t let him. I didn’t survive all these years for nothing. – Ch 2 

Pale blue tints her skin, and her mouth has taken on a purple hue. They’re usually a deep, rosy pink, but I think I like the look of death on her more. It’s so fucking pretty, and it’s unfortunate it can’t stay. – Ch 3

He’s not going to just… let me go. That much, I’m sure of. – Ch 4

“Don’t run too far, darling. I’d hate to give you a reason to come crawling back.” – Ch 6

“If you were nothing, how could I watch you break?” – Ch 7

He’s been tormenting me for years, and kissing me is the absolute lowest he’s ever gone. He doesn’t get to treat me like absolute shit and then shove his tongue down my throat… – Ch 10

I’m just so tired. It’s as if Earth’s gravity has strengthened, weighing my bones down. I want nothing more than to give in to it, collapse to the floor, and curl up like a crumpled piece of paper. – Ch 11 

He’s not a safe place, but right now, I cling to him like he’s my oxygen. – Ch 13 

I think I scream his name, but I also think I’m shattering into tiny pieces, and it could just be the sound of them hitting the floor. – Ch 19