Untouchable by Sam Mariano
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, I was very dubious when I came into this book. I found it when going through friends recent updates and being that it is normally one of my absolute favorite Tropes, I was naturally very drawn to it, but I saw some less than stellar reviews by some of my fellow good reads friends.

Here's me: Read synopsis... "Yes! I LOVE this type of story!! CAN'T WAIT!!!"
See friend's 1 star reveiw....



I am not one to let bed reviews dissuade my interest in reading a book (unless there is major Cheating between the MC's or lots of descriptive OW scenes, those are pretty Hard Pass for me).

I am SO GLAD I read this one!

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!!

"I love being the place he puts his darkness. I love being the keeper of the secret of who Carter really is. I love him, dammit. I didn’t entirely mean it when the words slipped out that night in a post-orgasmic bliss bubble, but God help me, I do. I love Carter Mahoney, and that means I am well and truly fucked."

If you read any reviews at all you will know that this is a dark and gritty read with a H that is pretty morally fucked up. Some people had a big problem with his character's actions in the beginning of the book. (view spoiler)[ the basically Rape-y scene. Forced BJ by hero with his friends in the room. (hide spoiler)]

~ Personally, I thought this scene was completely unnecessary. He could still be the anti-hero the story needed without going as far a he did in that scene. It was almost strange because in most parts of the book between their banter back and forth and his easy going charm, he almost felt like totally different character. Almost a totally different book from the beginning. He wasn't nearly as awful throughout the book as the first scene would have led you to believe.

~ I REALLY wish we had some Carter POV chapters. I really feel like it would have helped the readers who hated him connect to him a little more. It would have help us to accept his behavior a bit within the context of the story.

I WANT TO CLARIFY, I AM IN NO WAY CONDONING THIS TYPE OF BEHAVIOR IN THE REAL WORLD. I THINK SEXUAL ASSAULT IN ANY FORM IS COMPLETELY DEPLORABLE AND UNACCEPTABLE AND SHOULD BE APPROPRIATELY PUNISHED.
HOWEVER, this is a work of fiction and a work of fiction in the Dark Romance genre. The point of a fictional novel or story is to create circumstances and plots that would not be plausible/acceptable in the real world. Dark Romance is full of anti-heros and characters who do awful things and are awful people but somehow we end up rooting for their success.
Carter was a bad kid who had a severely skewed moral compass, but he did grow as a character within the story. He learned to care for someone other than himself and Chloe, and he did allow Zoey to influence him in positive ways. He went through some tough stuff in his childhood that really messed with him mentally and helped to create the monster we see here.
Zoeywas as unbelievably strong and caring as she was self admittedly deeply flawed. Any sane girl would have run far away from this guy ASAP after the things he had put her through, but Zoey has this curiosity about him. Even more than curiosity, I think she had a yearning to help him even from the beginning. She could see that he was closed off and isolated even though he is the "golden boy" with a million friends and more wealth than he knew what to do with. Even though she knew it was cracked of her to be intrigued by him, she couldn't stop it.

"You keep trying to sell yourself on this narrative that I’m not serious about you, Zoey, but it’s wrong. I am serious about you, more serious than I’ve ever been about anything else in my life.”





As messed up of a couple as they are their chemistry was OVARY EXPLODING ... Those neck kisses tho.... Jeysus!


I liked how the book also didn't follow the average plot line of - ' MC's Meet - fall in love - H changes bad ways - argument and break up - happy ending make up '. It was filled with emotional ups and downs and kept you craving the next thing, flipping pages like a maniac!

I really like this book and in all honesty I will probably read again in the future. It reminded me a lot of Fear Me by B.B. Reid and I freaking LOVE that book.
Stats - (view spoiler)[ HEA , Ne real cheating , no OW action , There is a separation but no intimacy with others during that time. (hide spoiler)]

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