Corrupt
Penelope Douglas, 2015
★ 3.77 from 464k ratings on Goodreads
A girl leaves the money and protection she has always known for a city where the one person who scares her already lives. The story is a tense, highly charged read that explores themes of power and longing through a sharp, satirical voice.
Feels like dread, longing and unease. About power, identity and family.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you are drawn to intense romance set against a backdrop of wealth and corruption. Be aware that the book features abusive and misogynistic dynamics and contains a significant amount of explicit content.
Why read it
Read this if you want to see a dark, raw exploration of family secrets and the lengths people will go to for power and status.
A page from the book
Under all that money, something in the house is rotting.
Everything was so polished, and when I looked around at all the adults and families I grew up with, their money and designer clothes, I often saw a coat of paint that you apply when you’re trying to cover up rotting wood. There were dark deeds and bad seeds, but who cared if the house was falling apart as long as it was pretty, right? What readers say
Readers are sharply divided: many are disgusted and angered by the abusive, misogynistic dynamics and unlikeable characters, while others find it addictive, steamy, and hard to put down despite calling it messy or problematic.
Penelope Douglas.Douglas first published Corrupt herself in 2015; the Devil's Night series grew from there, passed between readers largely by word of mouth.
Books that feel like this
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Credence
Penelope Douglas, 2020
After her parents die, a guarded teenager is sent to a remote mountain house ruled by her father’s estranged stepbrother and his sons, where solitude sharpens into obsession.
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Questions readers ask
- Is Corrupt for me?
- You may like it if you are drawn to intense romance set against a backdrop of wealth and corruption. Be aware that the book features abusive and misogynistic dynamics and contains a significant amount of explicit content.
- What is Corrupt like?
- The story is a tense, highly charged read that explores themes of power and longing through a sharp, satirical voice. Feels like dread, longing and unease. About power, identity and family.
- What should I read after Corrupt?
- If you liked Corrupt, try Scarlet Angel (S.T. Abby), Does It Hurt? (H.D. Carlton) and Imagine Me (Tahereh Mafi).
A taste of the feed
There is a horror in the person who seems already perfect at hiding.
Romantics always believe in revenge, because romantics love harder, suffer loss more painfully, and hold onto a grudge that has shattered their hearts. Their hearts are of the greatest importance, above all else—body, soul, or mind.
Scarlet Angel · S.T. Abby
The terrifying arithmetic of needing one person to breathe.
There’s a place in the ocean, so deep, where not a single point of light penetrates through it. And for so long, I’ve been trapped there, unable to breathe. When I met you, you lifted me out of that darkness, and it was the first time I came up for air. You’ve become my oxygen, bella ladra, and I can no longer breathe without you.
Does It Hurt? · H.D. Carlton
The particular fury of a wedding morning with nothing to wear.
But it’s my wedding day,” she says. “And I have nothing to wear.” “You’re right.” I kiss the top of her head. “I’m going to kill him.
Imagine Me · Tahereh Mafi
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