prison romance – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Title: Us Dark Few (Us Dark Few, #1)

Author: Alexis Patton

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 321

Publication Date: 5/5/26 (first published: 6/28/23)

Publisher: Bloom Books

Categories: Dystopian, Dark Romance, Series

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Bloom Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Khalani is a Prisoner
Takeshi is a Guard
Both are slaves to the Underground

Khalani Kanes has never stood on the surface of the earth. In the underground city of Apollo, faith and dreams are as absent as the sun. She longed to visit Genesis, the infamous Domed City and the final place where humanity lives aboveground. But when Khalani is given a life sentence and thrown into prison for a theft she didn’t commit, those wishes shatter into oblivion.

In Braderhelm Prison, murderers are neighbors, ruthless and cold-blooded guards live to punish, and every second is a battle to survive. She thought the danger lay in befriending criminals and avoiding Takeshi Steele, the nefarious Captain who runs her cell block. But darker traps and secrets await her within the shadows of imprisonment. Khalani’s blood will coat the walls in flaming silk before her enemies let her escape to the surface, a feat no one has successfully achieved. If the reclusive and callous Takeshi Steele won’t kill Khalani, then the merciless prisoners and her fractured mind will.

Enter Braderhelm Prison, where only the Wicked remain.

Content Warning: violence, death, sexual assault

World Building: Apollo is a world built underground because of what happened to the Earth years ago. It’s where the poor people live and prisoners like Khalani. Whereas Genesis is a domed city on the surface where there is sunshine and the wealthy afford to live. Khalani is in prison so most of the story takes place there, I think we’ll learn more about the surface throughout the series. Another area that is mentioned is Hermes but we don’t get to know much about that place yet.

Characters: Khalani is an interesting character – she’s lost her parents, now she’s in prison but she doesn’t lose her sweetness in a sense, which made me wish she would toughen up faster so she doesn’t get hurt. She does learn to be harder, and a fighter, but she still doesn’t lose her humanity even with everything she experiences and sees in prison. Takeshi is her prison guard and a captain who is ruthless but he trains Khalani when she dares to ask him. There are some other characters, who make up Khalani’s new found family but would love to get to know them better.

Romance: It’s an enemies to lovers, prisoner/guard romance, and is filled with a lot of dramatic angst at the end. It feels a little young adult at times I think because Khalani comes off sweet and naive, but upper YA since there is a steamy scene but no real spice. But it goes from enemies to lovers to not sure until book two.

Story: Most of the story takes place in the prison where Khalani is adjusting to prison life, but she learns a little bit more about Apollo and Genesis, and even gets to go to Genesis and be around the Governor who seems friendly to Khalani but we aren’t sure why because he comes off evil also. But there is a twist at the end that I wasn’t expecting and sets up for book two.

Vibes: prison break, prison romance, a little bit of poetry (reminded me a tiny bit of Shatter Me)

Final Thoughts:

I think a lot of this story was predictable but it was a quick read. I liked the world building and learning about Apollo, Genesis and I hope we get to learn more about Hermes. The romance is enemies to lovers and for the most part I enjoyed it though it reminded me of some other dystopian romances. I did like the twist in the end and will probably continue the series.

Read if you like:

prison romance – prisoner/guard
prison break
dystopian

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: The Verdant Cage

Author: Jess Lourey

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 416

Publication Date: 4/7/26

Publisher: Entangled: Mayhem Books

Categories: Young Adult Dystopian, Romance, Thriller, Mystery, Series

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Entangled: Mayhem Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Wall was built to keep them safe. Or so they thought.

For as long as seventeen-year-old apothecary Rose Allgood can remember, the towering stone Wall surrounding Noah’s Valley has protected her people. No one leaves. No one fights. And no one questions why.

But their paradise has been hiding its thorns. When Rose’s mother becomes the Valley’s first murder victim and her twin brother is swiftly condemned, she alone is searching for the real killer. Determined to find the truth, she follows a trail of hidden messages, forbidden knowledge, and whispers of a past no one dares to remember.

The deeper she digs, the more certain Rose becomes that her mother’s death was no accident. That the Wall isn’t just keeping something out.

It’s keeping something in.

Fans of The Hunger Games, The Grace Year, and The Maze Runner will devour The Verdant Cage―a chilling dystopian thriller about what it takes to rebel when you discover your entire world is a lie.

Content Warning: violence, death, physical abuse

World Building: In this story there is a placed called Noah’s Valley surrounded by a wall – there are lots of rules, people have their duties, marriages are arranged, once a month – someone is harvested. The Guardian is their leader and he is not a good person and has some ulterior motive that is a mystery throughout the book until the end which is a very big plot twist.

Characters: Rose is our FMC – she’s about to marry the guardian’s son, Gryphon, who she was in love when she was younger but now they are not friends. Rose is a do-gooder, goody-two shoes, someone who abides by the rules because she was conditioned to by her family – to keep themselves safe. She’s a healer. But when she loses her family one by one she knows she has to start breaking rules to make a difference. I did like her growth because at first she is very naive. She becomes brave and fights for the people of their town. Gryphon had lots of animosity towards Rose, but he’s also being abused by his father. He’s also part of a small rebellion group and he does train Rose but I also didn’t trust him until the very end. There are other characters, new friendships for Rose, and some villainous characters in town that made things interesting.

Romance: Rose is arranged to marry Gryphon and they have a past, but are not friends at all in the present. Though I like an ex-friends to lovers romance, the romance in this story kind of came abruptly and felt kind of forced at times, because of the way Gryphon acts towards Rose. Would have loved for them to communicate a bit more. It wasn’t my favorite part of the story.

Story: There is a lot of mystery in this story – what happens to the people who get harvested? Where do they go beyond the wall? And why are people getting sick and dying from an unknown virus? A lot of things are revealed in the end with a very big plot twist that I didn’t see coming.

Vibes: while reading it – it gave me M. Night Shyamalan vibes – The Village! If you know, you know. It’s sort of creepy because you don’t know what’s behind the wall, and the town is strict.

Final Thoughts:

I thought this was a pretty good dystopian thriller especially with the ending! It was really interesting to see Rose and her friends live in this walled town, filled with mysterious illnesses and rumors of animals out there killing people when maybe the real killers are in the town with them. I feel like the ending sets up for a book two so if there is one, I’ll definitely be reading it.

Read if you like: