Books Like Butcher & Blackbird
If you finished Butcher & Blackbird and want more morally gray, found family, revenge, start here. Each pick shares at least two tropes with it, and we've rated every one for spice and darkness so you know what you're getting into.
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The picks
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1. Hooked
Shares: revenge, morally gray
Peter Pan, except Hook runs a criminal empire and Wendy is the daughter of the man he wants dead. Each book in the series is a different villain. Great entry point if you want dark romance that isn't relentless.
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Villain Gets the Girl
- Mafia
- Revenge
Content warnings
Murder, Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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2. Deviant King
Shares: revenge, morally gray
Aiden King decides Elsa is his target at their elite British prep school, and he is relentless about it. A bully romance with a buried childhood mystery underneath. Early Rina Kent, so tamer than her college books but still dub-con heavy.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Possessive Hero
- Revenge
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Dubious or non-consent, Harm to children, Physical or emotional abuse
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3. The Lies We Steal
Shares: revenge, morally gray
Ponderosa Springs is rotten, and the Hollow Boys are the four guys nobody in town wants to cross. Rook and Sage start as enemies after her sister dies, and the secrets get uglier from there. Moody small-town gothic with real grief in it.
- Dark Academia
- Revenge
- Enemies to Lovers
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Murder, Death of a loved one, Sexual assault, Drug or alcohol abuse
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4. This Monster of Mine
Shares: revenge, morally gray
A legal thriller in a Rome-inspired city. Four years after someone threw Sarai from a tower, she's back as a Petitor who can hear lies, assigned to Tetrarch Kadra, the feared judge whose voice sounds exactly like her attacker's. She works with him by day and plots against him by night.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Revenge
- Morally Gray
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Torture, Murder, Physical or emotional abuse
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5. Vicious
Shares: revenge, morally gray
Baron Spencer earned the nickname Vicious, and Emilia LeBlanc was the one girl at their Todos Santos high school who saw through him. Ten years later in New York, he's still not done with her. Classic bully-to-lovers angst.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Revenge
- Possessive Hero
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Sexual assault
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