Does Sophie Lark's Sinners duet live up to the BookTok hype?

If there is one thing that TikTok can be commended for, it would have to be its ability to give authors an unexpected boost. The world of BookTok is both a scary and wonderful place, filled with book suggestions that we may never have found on our own. But at the same time, it is also a place that is filled with books that are not nearly as good as all the hype that surrounds them.

As readers, we are always looking for new bookish suggestions. After all, can a TBR ever be full? I think not! And for romance readers, especially dark romance readers, finding a good book can be as challenging as finding a needle in a haystack. That is where BookTok comes in. BookTok is the perfect place for readers to fall down a rabbit hole of book suggestions for every genre and trope.

However, the dark romance section of BookTok is definitely one we take with a grain of salt. After all, there are a lot of trigger warnings and potential pitfalls to this subgenre of romance. And that is where this series comes in. We want to know if some of these books are worth all of the hype that they get on TikTok.

To start this series off, we are taking a look at the Sophie Lark Sinners Duet, which features There are No Saints and There is No Devil. (Considering this story is told across the two books, it is not fair to separate them, as the story is simply not complete by the end of There are No Saints.)

Does There Are No Saints and There Is No Devil live up to the hype they receive on TikTok?

***Trigger Warnings for the Sinners Duet by Sophie Lark include murder, attempted murder, self-harm, mentions of child abuse, kidnapping, torture, and stalking.***

I have to start off by saying that if it were not for TikTok, I would not have known the trigger warnings for this duet ahead of time. The print books, which is how I read the books, does not contain trigger warnings that I can see, and even on the author's website, I did not seem to find them on the book page for either book. Instead, the author had this warning for the readers:

"Reader be warned: this book contains extremely dark themes that might be triggering to some. This is a steamy serial killer romance that will take you on a journey through the twisted mind of an artist on the brink of madness."

- Sophie Lark

In terms of the books themselves, they are very well written. The author was able to perfectly weave the thriller aspect of the story in with the romance. That being said, this is definitely dark. The fact that this book is about two serial killers who go head to head to prove who is better is not something we can overlook in terms of the storyline being almost beyond the idea of a dark romance. And that doesn't even take into account the fact that the female love interest was a victim (that obviously survived) almost being killed by one of these serial killers. So when it comes to dark, these books have that in spades.

However, the author definitely knows how to tell a story and make you want to find out what comes next. This is much more of a suspense/thriller with a romance versus a romance with suspense. And that is important to note, at least as dark romance readers.

This duet works as a dark romance, but it is definitely boundary pushing. At times, it almost crosses the line into being too much and too dark. And yet, it is hard to deny that Sophie Lark has a way with words. I will admit that I would never re-read these two books. I read them for what they were and can absolutely appreciate the writing itself. But when it comes to going back to "enjoy the story," I can honestly say that I am good.

Would I recommend this to other dark romance readers? I can't answer that. For me, the fact that I would not read it again is enough of an answer for why I might not recommend it. However, I also have to admit that Lark knows how to craft an intricate tale that is gripping and even engaging. So in that regard, it could be exactly what other dark romance readers are after.

So does the Sinners duet live up to the BookTok hype? For me the answer is no. But I can absolutely understand why it has garnered the attention that it has.

Are you a fan of Sophie Lark? Have you read the Sinners duet? What do you think of the books and they hype they have received?