This isn’t another “I hate you because I secretly love you” story. Boy really does hate girl. I don’t believe in fairy tales and Prince Charming.I believe in fear.He taught me how to be afraid.We first met on a playground on a wonderful summer day. It was the first time he hurt me and it wouldn’t be the last. For ten years, he’s been my tormentor and I’ve been his forbidden. But then he went … and I’ve been his forbidden. But then he went away, and yet I was still afraid.
Now he’s back and wants more than just my tears. You see…he thinks I sent him away so now he wants revenge…and he knows just how to get it.
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Love this whole series. I love Kieran even though he was a big jackass most of the time. I also liked how Lake never backed down and never showed she was scared.
For once, I can’t find the words to describe how much I love this book!!! Keiran and Lake are so much alike yet so different. All of these characters seem so real. The guys are like neanderthals and cavemen, yet deep down they care for the females that they’re involved with.This is a total reread!!!
First, let me start by saying, this book is a work of fiction. You know what that means, NOT REAL. There’s a warning in the book for a reason. There are alot of taboo/dark situations and scenarios in this book and I loved every minute of it!
“Sometimes I think I enjoy pain, physically and mentally. Sick right?”
WOW. I had no idea what this book was or what it was about before I started reading it and then when I did start it, I didn’t want to stop reading it. During the times that I did have to stop reading it, I was thinking about it. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next.
“You messed up when you let me near you. You messed up when you let me touch you. But you fucked up when you let me have you.”
This book is definitely not for the faint of heart or for the easily offended. It is, however, a really good story. It kept me hooked from that first chapter all the way through to the end. This book made me laugh, cry, want to scream, want to throw my phone against the wall (because that’s what I was reading it on)! Our two main characters set my phone on fire! Add to that the complexity of the plot; many interesting characters, the mystery and dark forces and you have 5 star read for me.
“I’m afraid for him because every day, he has to fight the person he is in order to be the person he wants to be.”
Lake, a girl whose torment in the hands of Keiran sucked me in from the moment he pushed her off from the monkey bar. Throughout the book, I was at the edge of my seat with their push/pull relationship, and to be honest, there were moments where I truly hated Keiran for his assholeness and Lake’s damsel-in-distress.
That being said, I was 100 percent invested in the backstory of Keiran’s life and the circumstance that made him who he was. And the chemistry between Lake and him was off the chart. I am totally looking forward to reading more of their stories.
Where do I begin with this book?
This book was so hot my thermostat went up to “Are You Kidding Me!” If your into dark/bully romance then you need to read this book. The chemistry between Keiran and Lake was scorching hot!
I have mixed feelings about this story and to be honest I don’t think this one is for me. I read Fear Me 5 years ago, long before I started to enjoy darker romance reads and I thought my dislike was due to its bullying theme because in real life I despise bullying. Maybe it was back then, but after this reread, I still didn’t enjoy this book as much as I had hoped to.
I’m rating Fear Me 2.5-3 stars because there are moments where this story is very good indeed. However, what I found was that the first 60% of the story was much of the same repeated. Keiran would bully/torment/threaten Lake and then they would perform a sexual act. Now I have to admit, that there was one scene that I’d say is one of the hottest I’ve read, so there are moments when this story is a page turner. The dynamics of Keiran and Lake’s relationship changed at around that magic 60% mark and that’s when the book started to hold my attention and I also found myself enjoying the answers we were being given.
My feelings towards Keiran and Lake aren’t particularly favourable. I believe we aren’t meant to like Keiran and the author ensured that happened with me. I can understand Lake’s actions, especially as she is only 18 years of age and my heart hurt for her at times. I thought the supporting characters added to the story and I am interested in learning more about the relationships of Keenan & Sheldon and Willow & Dash. However, I don’t think I’ll be reading any further, even though the ending of Fear Me has left me wanting to know what happens next.
I have friends who loved this story so maybe it’s just me who found the story slow and a little stale. It’s not all bad, so maybe give it a go and see for yourself whether you feel the same way.
You gotta know, that this book is not for the faint of heart! It’s dark, filled with angst and the guy is the perfect anti-hero!
It’s an enemies to lovers bully romance filled with a lot of teen-drama and some fairly good plot twists. Why I said fairly was because I saw those plot twists coming from a mile away.
But overall this story has potential! It has a lot of dark and angsty vibe to it! The writer has developed the secondary characters pretty well too because I felt the need to read more about Keenan and Sheldon. So I believe this is an early work of B. B. Reid and hope she’s upped her game by now.
I recommend this book to all high-school bully-romance fans out there but keep in mind this is a very dark read and I highly recommend you to read the disclaimer before you dive in!
This book utterly consumed me, owned me, with every single page. This book will constantly throw curveballs at you with no chance of catching the storyline up. Just when you think you have figured it out one will hit you in the gut before you can blink. So freaking good. Highly recommend.
Audio review:
Wow, there is a lot to take in from that book.
Lake and Kieran are very interesting.
Not going to lie, I was a little blindsided by some of the stuff that went down.
So many lies, betrayals and truths were revealed that I have NO CLUE how it is going to play out.
Ava did an absolutely fabulous job narrating this book – especially since there were 6+ voices to portray.
This book is definitely a great read if you’re looking for bullying without the HEA. We don’t really get under the surface of why the main characters are enemies, but I’m sure the next books will cover it. The sex scenes are hot, and the possessiveness is spot on. Worth the read!
I never really knew how hard life was until I read this book. Thank you!!
I really liked this book. It’s not your typical bully romance. It’s darker and hotter. I hated Kieran but in the back of my mind I was secretly loving him too. He put Lake through a lot of bullshit through the years and messed up her mind along the way. There’s still so much mystery even after that ending that’s driving me crazy!
I love B.B. Reid, and can’t believe it’s taken me this long to read this series! I’m glad I finally did because I was totally missing out! She’s a great writer!
Wow what world have I entered?! Fear is a bully romance that brings us the story of Kieran and Lake. I’ll admit to being a bit lost in the beginning. Like why did he have so much hate for Lake. Or hate in general. However I kept reading and the story began to really unfold.
Kieran started off as such a d*ck. Towards the end though he definitely turned for me. Lake was a bit different though. She definitely was more of a push over than I’d like in a leading lady but again towards the end she really started to stand tall.
This book ended with quite the cliff hanger so off to Fear You I go!
This is definitely not a sunshine and rainbows bully romance – this is straight up dark bully romance. BB has written an interesting plot full of intriguing characters. I would say to go into this without reading too much into the reviews because some say Lake is such a weak heroine. I would beg to differ, she wanted to understand Keiran. Keiran – man, this kid….I wanted to smack him more than once, but at the same time I wanted to hold him and find out why he is like is. This isn’t just mean girl attitudes – this is forcefully taught. I was pulled in from the beginning – the suspense, the chemistry (yes there is sexual tension between Keiran and Lake), and even all the side characters…I want to know about them all. In my opinion, this story deserves more than 5 stars – BB has created a world that has caught my attention and is not letting go until I have read the entire series.
***5+++++ ^ADDICTIVE^ stars for Keiran & Lake***
OMG!!! Oh my dear God!!! What was that book???
I’m just finished it and i really don’t know what to do!!!
I want to cry, i want to pull my hair out of my sculp, i want to break something, i want to crawl in my bed and curl in a small ball…
I feel angry, depressed, disappointed and sooooo…. sad right now!!!
I wanted a better ending!!! More promising… Only darkness left behind and i have a big ache inside my chest!!!
Phew!!! I really don’t know what to say about this book!!!
I know that some of you loved it and some of you didn’t like it at all…
I belong to the first category…
I don’t know why but it had a really long time to get into me so much a book!!!
The story was dark, intense, addictive and i couldn’t put it down!!!
You could say that it was an ordinary story, but as you are reading it, you can see that it is far from ordinary.
The characters got into me in a deeply level, all of them, but especially Keiran and Lake…
I really want to say so much about this book, but at the same time i don’t want to say anything!!!
I think that this story became a tattoo in my heart and my mind…
Well, Lake was a girl that she was bullying in a way, not physical but verbally and after an incident on school, her tormentor got in juvie and she was starting to make small steps to live again without him around to overshadow her.
But everything are changing when Keiran returns and he demands her absolute fear and submission to him.
““I’ve watched you and I’ve studied you,” he began again, breathing deeply. “I memorized you. I know what makes you hurt… I know what makes you sad… I know what makes you cry. But all your deepest fears, I will know. I’ll take your so-called strengths and I’ll make them your weaknesses.”
If Keiran scared me before, he terrified me now, I admitted with a tear burning a hot trail down my face.
“I’ve got a whole year with you,” he stated… “I’m going to break you. But most importantly, I’m going to make you pay.”
For ten years, Keiran was bullying her because he hated her for unknown reasons but now he returned more wild than ever and that’s because he thinks that she ratted him out and that’s why he went behind the bars…
Yeah, i know what you will say!!! Why she had to do what he asked her to do???
Because she feared him…
He bound her with threats that it wasn’t possible to not take it seriously!!!
“If you had even the smallest idea of all the things I’m going to fucking do to you, you would run and run fast…
But then… I wouldn’t let you get far.”
So, now it is starting a game of the mouse and the cat… Keiran demands and Lake had to obbey and all of them will lead to the ultimate prize.
Keiran wants Lake completely his in every way, if you know what i mean!!!
I won’t say much about that, i will only say that some of the things that he forced her to do were a little bit rough and humiliating, but she did them. Yep, she was trying to resist but usually at the end, Keiran was the winner of the situation!!!
“I embraced the madness he was creating inside me as I fought not to touch him. In the deep recesses of my mind and conscious I was mortified at how I came apart so easily. I was letting him win. But worse than that, I was letting him know I liked it.
“I’m going to enjoy stealing away what you cherish most and making you love it while I do”. I heard his words in my head from the other night. He kept his word as he was known to do. I did love it.”
I know, you probably wondering why the hell i loved that book so much with all these shits that were happening in there???
And you have to believe me that i haven’t reveal you nothing at all!!!
But i loved all this darkness because i saw something beyond the surface of the main characters. I saw a depth in there…
Keiran was a very perplexing character. He was appeared as a cold, manipulating and very dangerous bastard. And he was, don’t fool yourself!!! And he was much more than that… He was a dominant, controlling and very possessive man!!! But underneath all this ugly levels, there were more!!!
He hated so much Lake and he demanded her fear, but i think that he hated himself and he demanded fear because he was the one who was afraid of her and what she could do to him. She could make him feel!! And that’s why he was once hot and once cold with her!!!
Under all this madness, i think that there were intense and fiercy feelings, even though that he was refusing to acknowledge them!!!
He was trying to use her but always underlying a hidden sentiment toward Lake.
““You messed up when you let me near you. You messed up when you let me touch you. But you fucked up when you let me have you.”
“I didn’t have a choice!”
“I decided the first time you let me in between your sweet thighs that guilty or not, you were mine. I’m done denying myself what I want. You want me just as bad.”
As for Lake, many times i was wondering why she was not fighting back and why she was scared of his empty threats, but maybe she knew better that these threats weren’t empty at all!!! I think that all her life she was afraid of him, but at the same time she was having tender feelings too!!! And that is so fucked up, but also so true!!!
“As backwards as it was, his nightly visits were the only time I didn’t feel alone. I also felt like the dumbest girl in the world because no matter how much he turned my world upside down, my body always welcomed him. Every time he touched me he took without giving anything in return. Sometimes I cried after we had sex but it wasn’t from physical pain. It was the suffocating feeling of hopelessness. Keiran had succeeded in making me his prisoner.
Keiran and Lake together had an intense and unique chemistry… They were so wrong for each other, but at the same time so right… Their relationship (if we can call it that!) was agressive and so messed up… They were fighting and they were fucking with a way that turned you on!!!
I liked Keiran when he turned a little bit softer and that made me realize that behind the surface were lying many secrets and many deep feelings, but he denied to himself the happiness and he continue to fight over himself and Lake.
“I liked his kisses and his taste far too much. I shouldn’t like them at all but that didn’t keep me from standing on my toes so that I could reach more of him. He groaned and pulled me closer, pressing his erection hard against my stomach. I’d forgotten that he was angry with me. We didn’t feel like enemies right now. We felt like lovers.”
You’re probably wondering why i’m talking mostly for the monster, bully, tormentor, whatever you want to call Keiran, but i’m doing it because i really loved that guy!!!
I don’t know why, but…
From the first moment, i knew that he will become my best book boyfriend… EVER!!!
I want to apologize to the rest of my book boyfriends for the betrayal, but sue me, if you want!!! I don’t regret it!!!
I also want to tell you that i loved all the second characters, but i will talk to you about them in their own books!!!
This was a young adult book surrounded by much darkness… It was rough around the edges and it had a lot of aggressive sex scenes, so if this was not your style, you don’t have to read it!!!
I will admit that i was afraid of this book too, but i don’t think that it was too dark!!! I have read worst, but it’s not your typical young adult book!!!
That’s all for me!!!
And now, i really have to go to start the next book because the end in this one is killing me… The most fucked-up ending!!!
So, i need something to change it!!!
Ignore the fear & be enthralled by this book! 5 stars
I am so torn about this book, because it is dark, but I couldn’t stop reading. The writing and the story the author weaved was enthralling which is why I am giving 5 stars. But I am torn about how I feel about how Keiran and Lake’s story started and continued, and how he treated her. Keiran’s background is dark, to say the least, and we don’t find out much about until the end. But once he tells it, my heart broke for him. Lake is so much stronger than she thinks, and my heart broke for her in the end too. This book is not for the faint of heart, because it really is not a typical romance. But if you ignore the fear and dare to try it, you will be enthralled!
What the what? How did that book just end like that? BB Reid has me so twisted up with this story, I don’t know which way is which. I need the next book right now! I lived everything about this Kieran, oh how I loved to hate him and hated to love him. He was the ultimate bully and it was delicious! I loved watching Lake find her strength and confidence in dealing with him. The side characters were amazing. I need to know their stories now too. The plot was fast paced and I could not quit reading. I will definitely be shouting about this book to everyone!
4.5 Stars!
I read the prologue and I knew without a doubt I was going to love this book. I immediately started rubbing my hands together with a evil grin on my face.
There was a lingering question before I started this book. Was this dark, was this going to be twisted? The title led me to believe that, so I had to stalk the author, find out details, I need to know these things. If you tell me your book is dark, then it better be. Anyway, she was completely honest and told me she didn’t know what to label her book. This being a new author, I didn’t know what to expect. Well, she threw the book at me, and told me to be the judge. Challenge accepted. I went in with an open mind.
My final answer is Dark Romantic Suspense. I’m using romantic loosely here. There’s isn’t a real clear answer, I see why she struggled with labeling the book. The book needs a warning, that in itself is dark. Vanilla readers might have a hard time swallowing, dark readers may call this light in some ways. I call it a perfect balance and I loved every bit.
Warning, Book contains: Murder, Bullying, Mystery, Suspense, Coerced Non-Con, Alpha-Possessive Male Anti-Hero, and A Weak Frustrating Heroine.
There once was a little girl named Lake, who tried to save a boy on the monkey bars. There once was a boy named Keiran that told her not to. She didn’t listen… The boy pushed her off the monkey bars and the rest is history as they always say. For ten years she lives in fear of this boy, her bully, her enemy. Until he was sent away thinking she was the one that set him up. Revenge is the only thing on his mind when he returns, and Lake is the target. But she was always his target, it just got worse.
I have to say I was hooked from the start. The monkey bar scene totally shocked me, something I did not expect. Why is this boy targeting this little girl? You can feel his need for control through the pages, and THIS IS A LITTLE BOY. I’m thinking, this is going to be good, there’s no way I’m stopping now.
The book skips ahead ten years, both of them in high school. Lake lives with her aunt, her parents disappeared. Keiran lives with his uncle, and his parent aren’t anywhere to found. I was instantly intrigued.
Are the disappearances some how connected? Is that why he’s angry? Why would he torment her for years for no reason. I’m telling you, it’s a real mystery. The book takes place within high school… But the story is not even close to being YA, the content is not your average bullying either. I was pleasantly surprised, this is whole other level of stalking here folks. THIS book has a vibe of Bully by Penelope Douglas, which is a favorite of mine. Except Keiran is 100 times worse. There’s no right or wrong with him, he does what he wants without remorse. He’s a bit terrifying I have to say. This is where the line crosses, I’m not sure vanilla readers are going to enjoy this bully. OF course I did, the meaner the better. He’s cruel, his hostility bleeds from the pages.
“I’ve watched you and I’ve studied you,” he began again, breathing deeply. “I memorized you. I know what makes you hurt …I know what makes you sad… I know what makes you cry. But all your deepest fears, I will know. I’ll take your so-called strengths and I’ll make them your weaknesses.”
The Middle – 4 Stars.
While Keiran makes Lake’s life a miserable HELL, taking control of every aspect, black mailing her into submission… She just takes it, not fighting back, nothing. I was so frustrated beyond belief. Grow a back bone, go to the police, do something for fucks SAKE. She is weak, led my fear. I’m just warning you, she’s going to make you want to pull your hair out. But then again, I wholeheartedly believe I would let Keiran do whatever he wanted to me too. Maybe.
“How about if I wrap this around your neck and strangle the fuck out of you?” I jumped from the bed, forgetting about my naked state and the words were spewing out of my mouth before I even knew what I was going to say. “Go ahead and do it! You’ve been threatening to kill me since we were kids!”
You have to like dark heroes to understand where I’m coming from.
The End – 5 Stars.
Woah Woah Woah. Say what?!?! Some of the mystery from Keiran’s past come to back with a vengeance. This is where the story turns a bit more dark, we find out bits and pieces of why Keiran is damaged, some clues to what happened to Lake’s parents, and whole lot of secrets are revealed. Lake finally grows some balls and does something that knocked me on my butt. After all the complaining I did about her being weak, I was SHOCKED. BRILLIANT MOVE!
I’m anxious to see where this story will go, it’s not over by a long shot. I’d like a book for Dash. (Hint) This is the first book in the series, be prepared.
I’m going to stop now because I could go on and on. Sheesh my review is a frecking book, but before I go…
My dark friends you are going to love this book. My vanilla friends, read my review and decided for yourself.
BB Reid you now have a new stalker, oops I meant fan! 🙂
Have you ever wanted to throat punch a character and throw them down and have your way with them at the same time? That’s exactly how Keiren made me feel throughout the whole book. He was a complete enigma that I just couldn’t figure out. One thing was for sure, he was down right brutal to Lake from the get go. Poor innocent Lake took soooo much from him and he kept coming. Barely giving her time to breathe before he came at her again. It was steeped in sexual tension, the whole thing…every interaction they had as they got older. He didn’t know if he wanted to kill her or f&^% her – and we all know there is a fine line between love and hate. There was a lot going on with more bombs dropped that I can even mention, but not in a confusing way – it all came together in the end. After reading it, the biggest question that remains in my mind is how Lake’s parents play into the whole thing, because you know there’s gonna be something big there.
Fear Me absolutely sucked me in and I wasn’t too happy when I had to put it down to adult. It was dark dark dark, just the way I like it. And yeah, he was a complete dick, but those are the kinds of characters that just do it for me.
This is my first book by B.B. Reid and it definitely won’t be my last. I’m looking forward to seeing how this all wraps up in book 2.
“The malice in his voice was like a bucket of ice water thrown in my face, and suddenly the feeling of his hands and lips on me felt like the kiss of death.”
I’m kicking myself for taking so long to get to this series, because I knew, as with all of this Author’s books, I would be hooked like a starving maniac…and without a doubt, I am. I want to do nothing else until they are all read. Kieran should not have my heart, but he absolutely does!! Psychologically mind warping, this bully romance took me for a ride that I never wanted to end and dove right in to the second book, and probably will inhale the entire series before the week is through…I may need professional help to figure out why, but I will enjoy the ride before then….FLOVED it!!!
“She hated that she wanted me. At least we have that in common.”
~~~Erika, Book Haven Book Blog