Credence
Ratings117
Average rating3.3
She didn't end up with who I was rooting for. Such a shame she picked the literal loser.
overall 4/5 for me. had to suspend quite a bit of disbelief given that this is a genre that isn't meant to be taken seriously at least in terms of plot and tropes, but overall it was surprisingly engaging. that's also something I wanted to emphasize - it is not meant to be taken seriously, and people should also realise that there should be a line between what you might find spicy vs the values you actually espouse and believe in irl. this book leans into the taboos that work for some people but it's not like everyone who enjoys this book is actually going to be acting on these taboos in their real lives. it's pretty normal and common for people to find certain situations spicy in theory or roleplay but would be nauseated and disgusted by it if it happened in a real-life situation.
anyway, spoiler thoughts: the incest thing in this book is fairly mild - Tiernan hooking up with an uncle (half-uncle?) and cousins whom she's never met. relationships like that have been fairly common in human history (and I'm talking about as recently as the early 20th century, at least for cousin marriages and romances). the book really leans into the "family" thing so much that it's actually quite hilarious and makes for funny commentary on these sidelines. i think what was perhaps a bit more taboo was firstly the idea that a teenage girl was having sexual relations with 3 men while stuck in a cabin during winter (albeit consensually and barely legally - the author makes sure to note that she just turns eighteen before anything starts), and some scenes that i guess are supposed to play into non-consent in a BDSM way because Tiernan is shown to be wanting it. i think those non-consent scenes could've been written a bit better though, because it's never made clear to her partner that she wanted it, and we as readers only know from what we can read from her internal monologue. that veers a bit into dangerous territory IMO in validating sexual assault. again though, i only gave this book a bit more leeway because as i said earlier a lot of the events in this book is playing into painting a fantasy of taboo sexual kinks (basically porn in written form and with a bit more story), and non-consent is a big one.and that's also why i don't like Kaleb. he was a huge red flag to me throughout the entire book and I'm honestly surprised that he was end-game for Tiernan. he was the one who bullied and pressed her the most. I kinda couldn't quite buy into the Kaleb romance in the end. I kinda got a little bit why Tiernan might feel sorry for him but couldn't really quite understand why she would fall in love with him at all. also didn't get why the whole Jake affair had to happen either, especially the fact that she had sex for the first time with Jake of all people. he was pretty calm when she eventually moved on to his sons. I know everything settled nicely in the end for Tiernan x Kaleb to happen, what with Jake randomly shifting his attentions to Mirai and Noah deciding he's more in love with moving away than with Tiernan (weird considering he spent so much time saying he loved her), but ultimately I was still Team Noah. Kaleb was just too extreme in every way and the moments of vulnerability felt too contrived and too inconsistent given the rest of his behaviour for me to really get into it.
my first dnf. the only pen doug book so far i could not get through. pls refer to aymans review, it sums up how i feel perfectly.
3.5⭐️
This is a very leave your morals at the door kind of book. I found there to be some interesting themes that didn't have enough depth or presence to give it 4 stars. Light on the plot heavy on the spice (after 200 pages).
Dit boek heeft me toch wel verrast.
Ik dacht eigenlijk gewoon een taboe verhaal te krijgen met wat stoom, eentje om zonder veel na te denken te lezen, puur voor de ontspanning. Maar ondanks het feit dat er heel veel foute dingen gebeuren, heeft dit boek ook hart. Een ganse caleidoscoop aan emoties komen voorbij, die echt en geloofwaardig aanvoelen. Daarmee worden de gebeurtenissen niet goed gepraat, maar ze verlenen het verhaal toch veel meer krediet en inhoud dan wat ik ervan had verwacht.
Dit verhaal is duister, sexy, hartverscheurend, ongewoon en dreigend in een bijzonder atmosferische setting en met goed opgebouwde, complexe personages.
Alleen naar het einde toe vond ik het opeens nogal snel gaan. Emoties en opgebouwde relaties worden opeens vergeten in het voordeel van minder uitgediepte relaties, omdat die de auteurs end game zijn. Maar dat terzijde, een veel complexer en diepgaander boek dan verwacht.
What in the name of the Lord ...
This girl needs Jesus...and a psychiatrist ASAP
I felt horrible reading this. Well written and good parts and I love me some found family but rather creepy tbh. Kaleb especially
Went against my gut based on the reviews. It's just porn. And gross at that. I don't consider myself a prude but this gave me the ick. Nope stars!
Contains spoilers
Okay so... For me it's a 5 star because of the vibe, because of Kaleb and Noah's. Anyways, I first shipped Noah and Tiernan, Jake and Tiernan then Kaleb to Tiernan and then it got to Jake and Mirai. A really cute couple and I love them. Anyways I loved loved loved it
wow....this was fucked up...and i loved every second of it.
not every second though.
i mean why, just WHY, every penelope douglas book i've read has the same epilogue with BABY????? i'm kinda tired of that.
still gonna give this 5 stars though (a first for me in her books). what a ride
A 17 year old girl's parents die and her step-uncle, that she's never met, calls her out of the blue to ask her if she wants to come and stay with him and his 2 twenty something year old sons in an isolated cabin in the mountains. And I get creepy pedo vibes from the uncle who is in his late 40s. This girl is 17 and goes to live in a cabin in the woods with 3 grown men. I am not ok with this. It DOESNT matter that they aren't biologically related. It's just wrong. She is a child! No just no. DNF at chapter 4.
Okay, so Credence by Penelope Douglas... where do I even start? If you're into stories that make zero sense, a weak protagonist and characters that seem to be competing for the “Most Annoying Award,” then this might just be your next read.
The plot is all over the place. It's like Douglas threw together every taboo she could think of and stirred it into a messy, cringe-worthy soup. We've got a girl sent to live with her step-uncle in the mountains (because, of course, that's a great idea), and what follows is a bizarre love “square” that had me rolling my eyes more than turning pages. Truly appalling!
The characters? Well, let's just say they don't do the book any favors. The protagonist, Tiernan, is about as interesting as a wet blanket, and her love interests aren't much better. They're either creepy, over-the-top, or just plain unlikable. The relationships are awkward, the dialogue is cheesy, and by the time I reached the end, I was more relieved than anything else.
As for the writing, it's a bit like riding a roller coaster blindfolded—except without any of the fun. One minute, it's trying too hard to be edgy, and the next, it's painfully predictable. It's like Douglas couldn't decide if she wanted to write a thriller, a romance, or some weird mix of the two. The result? A disjointed, confusing mess that left me wondering why I even started it in the first place. Not to mention several trigger warnings!
If you're looking for a book that'll make you question your life choices, Credence might just be it. But if you're after a good story with well-developed characters and a plot that actually makes sense, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.
It dragged on for me. It felt a little repetitive but the end was worth it
3,5⭐️
I don't think this book was sold correctly to me. I did not know it was going to try to be more than smut.
I was on the fence until the real « romance » started.
It did not redeem everything however so 3,5 stars.
2.25?
no idea which man i was supposed to be rooting for since this isn't even RH but i didn't root for any of them. the ending wasn't even satisfying.
To say that I am disappointed would be an understatement. People on Booktok overhyped this book and I was even scared of reading it because I thought it wouldn’t live up to the expectations I had. I should’ve listened to my gut and kept it as a shelf trophy. I had been trying since June 2024 to finish this book because I am stubborn and really wanted to read AND ENJOY my first Penelope Douglas book… Now I don’t want to pick Birthday Girl up because of the same fear, that it’s overhyped, and it won’t live up to expectations.
Let’s talk about my problem with this book and it certainly wasn’t that she was sleeping with her STEP uncle and STEP cousins. Tiernan being fucking 17 years old when her parents commit suicide and decide that it would be best for her STEP (this is important) uncle to care for her did not sit well with me. She’s shipped off (away from the one person who cared for her when her parents didn’t) to the middle of nowhere with three men she’s never even met before. The smut didn’t happen until she was 18 but I would’ve preferred the FMC a little older from the very beginning. I immediately hated the “you’re the woman you cook for us attitude” and hated Kaleb even more. Kaleb is mute and, in my opinion, has way too many issues that he needs to deal with and heal from. His first encounter with Tiernan was him assaulting her, needing his brother to pull him off of the poor girl. No amount of childhood trauma excuses sexually assaulting someone else or assaulting in general which he did to Tiernan more than once. I will never understand why she chose the psychopath instead of the other brother, EVER.
Do yourselves a favor, read the negative reviews, and listen to them. For once, I agree with them.
Very different from what I'm used to and in a good way. They are broken and they need each other to grow and heal. It's beautiful... And hot! :P