Ruthless Devotion - Rebecca Kenney

"Imagining another life is a fool's pastime, though. Who's to know if it would have been any better? People suck no matter where you live."

First thing's first; I'd like to thank NetGalley, Rebecca Kenney and Sourcebooks Casablanca for my very first ARC! How crazy is it that I'm about to review a book that isn't available until 22nd July?

I was intrigued by Ruthless Devotion after reading the blurb - a Romantasy retelling of Wuthering Heights? Say no more, beam me up Scotty. As a huge Brontë fan (even the less known third sister, Anne), I had extremely high expectations. Unfortunately, my expectation were probably too high. Whilst this was a fun read that I know a lot of people will devour it just wasn't my cup of tea.

But hey, let's get down to it!

Trigger and Content Warnings

There are plenty of spicy scenes for all you spice lovers out there.

TWs:

• Religious fanaticism

• Cultish overtones

• Parent-child violence and verbal abuse

• Human sacrifice

• Violence and murder

• Kidnap

Tropes

• Forbidden romance 

• Multiple POV

• Lust at first sight

• The outsider

• HEA

Book Summary

Cathy Earnshaw is an outsider - she has a dangerous secret lurking under her skin that if her cultish community discovered, she'd be in serious danger. She can sense when death is coming for someone in her community, and is forced to wander the forests wailing in grief at every loss. She's stuck, unable to confide in anyone or escape the confines of her curse and community.

Until she meets a rugged stranger...

Heathcliff is just as stuck. Stolen at age 5 by the Lockwoods and raised to be the most powerful necromancer alive, Heathcliff is no stranger to hardship and violence. Their connection is instant, as if they are two halves of a whole. Both are desperate to escape the lives they've been forced into, together. But their families have different plans.

Can their love survive the sickening plots of a cult and the awakening of forbidden gods?

My Reading Journey

Where do I start?

I wanted to love this, I really did. Going in I was expecting Sookie Stackhouse meets Wuthering Heights, but what I was met with was more of a Wattpad fan fiction where the characters are absolutely nothing like their namesakes.

Heathcliff and Linton, for example, could not be further from the characters on which they are based. In Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff is a classic Byronic Hero - brooding and cynical, dangerous and charismatic. Edgar Linton is his polar opposite - patient and level-headed, sweet and doting. These personalities do not translate into Ruthless Love, with Heathcliff being rough but sweet and Edgar being a fanatical cult leader ready to sacrifice Cathy's life for his own ends. I found this really jarring to start with, but once you distance yourself from the fact it's supposed to be a retelling, it's quite a fun story.

The other aspect of the novel that I didn't enjoy was the way the sex scenes were written. After each scene, I felt like I needed a shower . The language used just didn't appeal to me, it was strangely pornographic, there really should be a limit an author can use the word 'pussy' on a single page. There was a lack of sensuality and eroticism that came from the graphic language. I much prefer the more euphemistic language used in most other Romantasy books which is evocative of a deeper connection between the FMC and MMC. I want storms and waves of pleasure, not 'and then I came'. I did like the banshee scream smashing windows when Cathy and Heathcliff climaxed though - I'd always felt that their joining would be cataclysmic.

Peaks

• Once I distanced myself from the source material, I loved Heathcliff. He was extremely sweet and I really rooted for him.

• The relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff was charming.

• I love Celtic mythology being in any story, this was no different

• The supernatural identities and elements fit into the world in an interesting way

• Nellie being called out for being a passive bystander was a huge boon for me. It always bothered me that her counterpart was seen as the moral centre of the novel.

• Some of the passages were fantastic call-backs to some of the most beautiful parts of Wuthering Heights, my favourite being the famous "my love for Heathcliff is like the eternal rocks" being referenced during a tender moment.

Pits

• The character bearing absolutely no likeness to the source material.

• The story only casting the smallest resemblance to the plot of Wuthering Heights.

• So many things are told rather shown.

• The writing style really wasn't to my taste.

• Too many elements cobbled together; Wuthering Heights, Celtic lore, religious extremism, cults... one or two alone would've been great, but it felt a little Frankenstein's monster to me.

• The word 'pussy' being used approximately seven thousand times.

The BookCat’s 9 Lives

I would read this in three out of nine lives.

The breakdown:

Writing style 😿

Pacing 😻

Plot and storyline 😿

World building 😻

Magic system 😻

Originality 😿

Emotional impact and engagement😿

Lasting impact 😿

Character development 😿

As an Emily Brontë fan, my expectations were far too high; I was expecting a modern retelling of a classic gothic romance, albeit with a happy ending and a side of magic. I didn't get that. I wanted to love this book, but in all honesty it was a struggle to get through. Yes, the story was fun and flirty, but I couldn't keep myself distanced enough from the classic it was based on to fully enjoy Ruthless Devotion. I don't think I'll be reading any of the other books in this shared universe, the writing style just wasn't to my taste and I'm not sure I'd enjoy other retellings in this fashion.

Thank you for reading my very first ARC review, please let me know below how you found it and any way that would improve my future reviews.

Life before death, fellow Radiants <3