Margins
Hated book cover
Hated
2026
First Published
4.09
Average Rating
300
Number of Pages

At twelve years old, I killed my mother and found my father dead in the bathtub. I didn’t mean to; at least, that’s what I tell myself. Years of neglect, cruelty, and being told I wasn’t really her daughter pushed something inside me past the point of return. When she stood over me with a shattered wine glass, I snapped. Sometimes I think I regret it. Other times, I wonder if she was right—if I was never meant to be human at all. That was a lifetime ago. I’ve spent years learning how to hide the monster that came out that night. But monsters recognize their own. When my violence resurfaces and blood stains my hands once again, someone notices. Someone who saw me back then too, only he hadn’t found me yet. Larkin never pretended to be anything but a monster. For years, he’s carved a path through the Pacific Northwest, hunting the girl who unknowingly stole his first kill. Instead of ending me, he draws me into a deadly game—one I shouldn’t enjoy, no matter how intoxicating it feels to let go with him, to beg for my hands to be soaked in more blood. As the bodies pile up and Larkin makes it clear he has no intention of leaving, and one truth becomes impossible to ignore. If he brings the monster in me back to life, I may never be able to cage her again. And the most terrifying part? I’m not sure I want to.

Avg Rating
4.09
Number of Ratings
476
5 STARS
42%
4 STARS
32%
3 STARS
20%
2 STARS
7%
1 STARS
0%
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Author

A.J. Merlin
A.J. Merlin
Author · 40 books
AJ Merlin would rather write epic love stories than live them. I mean, who wants to limit themselves to only falling in love once? She is obsessed with dark fantasy, true crime, and also dogs. From serial killers to voyeurs all the way down to the devil himself, AJ's specialty is in writing irredeemable heroes who somehow still manage to captivate their heroines (and her readers).
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