Lights Out by Navessa Allen

Book Published: 2024 | Genre: Dark Romance

I mentioned in my June round-up that I finally gave Lights Out by Navessa Allen a go, and honestly, I thoroughly enjoyed myself , it was such a fun ride. For the most part, it’s one of those books I just take exactly as it is. I went in with zero expectations, purely to be entertained, and on that front it absolutely delivered. 

Lights Out is a viral BookTok sensation (it even says so right on the cover), surrounded by a ton of buzz and hype. I picked it up thinking, Why the hell not?

However, when I step back and actually think about what I read, I do have some criticisms – in fact, if I’m being honest, I probably have more critiques than highlights. But the highlights completely overshadow the flaws, and the fact that I enjoyed myself so much makes this a solid win in my book!

Summary

Lights Out follows Aly, a burned-out trauma nurse, finds escape in watching masked thirst-trap videos online –  especially one starring Josh, a hacker with a dark family past. When she drunkenly dares him to break into her house, he does, mask, knife, and all. What starts as a terrifying fantasy turns into a hilariously filthy, morally dubious romance full of stalking, primal kink, and sharp banter. It’s messed up, it’s raunchy, and it’s unexpectedly sweet in all the wrong ways.

Highlights

I Was Thoroughly Entertained

If you think about the premise alone its so wildly ridiculous that of course the Lights Out is entertaining! Nothing about Josh (the MMC) was scary. I went in expecting a dark romance with a brooding, morally ambiguous male lead –  someone borderline villainous. Instead, I got the sweetest soul who just happens to have an extremely bizarre kink.

Because the book wasn’t so dark and intense, it actually ended up being really funny. It leans more toward a dark romantic comedy –  heavy on the comedy. Whether or not Navessa Allen intended it that way, I don’t know, but it definitely doesn’t take itself too seriously. For what’s technically a stalker romance (which I usually wouldn’t touch), this book is surprisingly light-hearted. I was never scared or creeped out, which I genuinely appreciated. Authors in this lane often toe the line between what’s edgy and what’s just plain dangerous storytelling.

At the start, there’s a massive trigger warning –  a huge list. But honestly? I don’t think it was all that necessary. There’s no actual abuse, no real violence (well, not literal violence). SPOILER: The only real “violence” is an accident , yes, someone does die, but it’s unintentional and not shown in a disturbing way. No one in this book has crazy murderous tendencies. 

It’s Not Too Serious

I feel like this book was written with a regular person’s thought process in mind. Despite the fact that they’re indulging in some very unusual activities, the characters still feel like everyday people. The writing style is simple, easy to follow, and never overdone. It’s an easy read, and the MMC is definitely the one who brings the laughs.

For what it is, Navessa Allen does a great job – it honestly feels like reading a written-out fantasy and daydream of Navessa Allen. Only, that she didn’t post it on Tumblr or Wattpad; she chose to materialise it in novel form. It definitely gives Wattpad vibes, but because of the subject matter, I’m not mad at it.

Honestly, I think that’s the only way she could write a story like this. I really hope this is the vibe she was aiming for, because the book feels very intentionally written that way. I don’t want to insult her writing ability,  it is simple, but I don’t see that as a bad thing if that was the plan all along. If not… oops, my bad!

This is not the height of literature, honestly it’s not even the height of romance but it serves a very specific niche and if you are someone who falls in that category you will enjoy this.

Sexual themes 

Some might say the subject matter would offend the morally upright,  and honestly, it might, if you’re naturally more on the prudish side. The smut isn’t so out of this world that I was clutching my pearls. Yes, a few scenes get pretty intense, but overall, their sex life isn’t that different from two people who are really obsessed with each other, just with a slightly dubious edge. If explicit smut isn’t your thing, I’d steer clear, but I was never sickened or uncomfortable.

What Didn’t Work

Characters

The characters are pretty one-dimensional. We don’t really know much about Aly, other than that she likes masked men who’ll kidnap her and that she’s a nurse who’s seen a lot of messed-up stuff. We get far more background on Josh than on her, and even then, he only has a bit more depth, but not by much. I would’ve loved to see a deeper dive into who they are as people, and especially into their relationship beyond the obvious kinks and sexual chemistry.

Too Many Tropes

Navessa Allen was trying way too hard to cram everything in. I think if she’d stuck to the stalker romance alone and given the characters more time to really build their connection, it would have worked better. Instead, they go from insta-love to mafia drama in just a few days, and the plot kind of derails. She could have used that space to deepen their relationship or even build a more layered story. But I guess that wasn’t the goal here.

What happened to the original plot of the book??

My biggest problem is that the second half of this book completely derails from the original plotline. It felt like Navessa Allen was trying to do too much, and the premise she started with just wasn’t enough to stretch another 200 pages. It’s like she tried to squeeze two books, with two very different plots,  into one.

The first half was so fun, quirky, and entertaining. While the second half was still funny, the whole mafia–murder shenanigans totally changed the vibe, and we didn’t really get to explore what made the beginning so good. The whole ‘a couple that slays together stays together’ thing felt really forced. I wish it had just stuck to that original storyline and focused more on the relationship instead of throwing in everything else. This probably shouldn’t have been longer than 300 pages and she should’ve stuck to being simple but well done.

“Are you saying that the couple who commits homicide together, stays together?” He snorted. “Too wordy. I prefer the couple who slays together, stays together.”

Navessa Allen

Final Thoughts 

When I review books like this, I look at them in two ways: what it’s supposed to be according to the author and synopsis, and what I wanted or expected from it. Since I went into this book with no expectations, it was easy for me to just enjoy it for what it was. I knew it was a dark romance, but that umbrella can mean a lot of different things – and honestly, there’s not much that’s truly dark here. At times, it even felt satirical, which I’m pretty sure wasn’t the point, but I couldn’t take these characters seriously at all – and that’s exactly what made it fun for me.

It reads as very light-hearted, with pseudo-dark themes , more “baby dark romance.” So on pure enjoyment alone, I’d rate it pretty highly, because I genuinely had a good time. But if you’re going in expecting true dark romance, broody, villainous leads and really sinister themes,  this is not that book.

I’m really enjoying reviewing BookTok sensations so I might keep this going for a while longer! In the meantime please do read my other reviews!

See you next time!