Cruel Beginnings by Lili St. Germain and Lyra Parish

The first book in the Cruel World series, Cruel Beginnings is every bit dark as it promised to be. The book centers around Darius, the rich and entitled antihero that’s searching for information on his missing sister, and Birdie, a young woman from the wrong side of the tracks whose life has went from bad to worse. Sadly, Birdie is forced to make a deal with the devil and finds herself stuck with Darius in his attempt to find his beloved twin. Secrets abound, and things aren’t exactly what they seem, but as the first book in this trilogy, this one ends on a cliffhanger.

Darius is definitely an antihero, and there’s a harshness and cruelty to him that I didn’t anticipate going into this book. So much so that I’d call him a true villain except that we get moments of him being less dastardly. He’s not a character that I liked especially in the first pages, but then I don’t think he’s supposed to be all that likeable at this point in the series. On the other hand, Birdie is tough and scrappy, and I immediately took a liking to her. She’s been dealt a bad hand in life, but still she persists and tries to do what she thinks she’s supposed to.

There’s a lot that happens in this book, and I’m not going to spoil it for you. However, there are twists that I didn’t see coming, and I liked how we get little bits of information that all keep adding up. Also, this book is dark. Like super dark, so I suggest you take note of the trigger warnings given by the authors. Having said that, this is dark romance done well, and I’m looking forward to what happens next.