Does Elle Thorpe's Saint View Psychos Trilogy live up to the BookTok hype?

Finding dark romances that are actually well-written, entertaining, and have romance can be hard. Luckily BookTok has been making it so much easier for so many of us. And while not every TikTok recommendation is worth checking out, there are some winners out there.

For us, we are always willing to give BookTok suggestions a read to see if they are what we are searching for. And in this series, we are trying to figure out whether or not some of the highly recommended books and series are worth picking up. In this case, we are taking a look at the Saint View Psychos trilogy by Elle Thorpe.

Before diving into this trilogy, I need to point out that this the third trilogy set in the world of Saint View. And while it can be read on its own (this was the first Saint View series I read and I read it because of BookTok), the other series definitely helped to build out this world. In fact, you meet one of the leading men from this trilogy in the previous trilogy, Saint View Prison.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let's answer the real question of whether or not this trilogy lives up to the TikTok hype.

Does Start a War, Half the Battle, and It Ends with Violence by Elle Thorpe live up to the hype they have received on TikTok?

Trigger Warnings for this series include sexual assault, abuse of a child, domestic abuse, eating disorder, Dissociative Identity Disorder portrayed in a negative light, fatphobia, murder, alcohol use, mental illness, and more.

It is important to note that this is a dark romance. It is also a reverse harem series where there is a relationship between two of the men involved with the leading lady. There is also a motorcycle club that plays a big part in this series as well.

For me this book more than lived up to the hype from BookTok. In fact, I could not put the first book down and ended up binge-reading the entire trilogy in a matter of two days. Once I was finished with the Saint View Psychos, I immediately did a deep dive into the other books by the author and went back and read everything she had written (including the non-Saint View books).

I wish I had read the Saint View books in order, starting with the Saint View High trilogy, as it would have made it easier to follow some of the backstory and additional characters introduced, but at the same time, this series was just so good. I don't think I lost anything by starting out of order, because the trilogy is quite self-contained in terms of telling the story of these characters.

Considering this is a dark romance, I have to say that the opening of the series sets the tone right away. We start with the murder of the female main character's brother as they are on the phone with each other. And things continue to be dark and twisted thanks to the abuse that she receives from her ex-boyfriend (although they are technically still together when the story begins).

Bliss is a curvy girl determined to catch the person who killed her brother. And the fact that part of that means taking over the bar that her brother owned leads to a new life that includes not one, not two, but three men who will end up proving that they are exactly who and what she needs in her life. Of course, the fact that there will be plenty of bumps in the road along the way is exactly what we hope to find in a series like this.

There is plenty of drama and angst in Saint View Psychos and it might have been the perfect introduction into the world of Elle Thorpe's Saint View. The fact that these are flawed characters with darker sides adds to the enjoyment of these books.

The best part of this series is that it is complete because the cliffhangers will leave you needing to start reading the next book immediately. Honestly, this was definitely a case of TikTok not leading us astray and I am all for this series being hyped up by the BookTok crowd.

Start a War starts with a bang and keeps going strong. Half the Battle kicks things up a notch in startling ways. And finally, It Ends with Violence gives us more drama, but also a resolution that is truly satisfying (for now).

What do you think fellow dark romance readers? Have you given Elle Thorpe's Saint View books a read yet? Will you be giving Saint View Psychos a try?