Review: Deviant Need

Deviant Need by L. Norell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Trigger/Content Warnings
- violence
- murder
- substance abuse/addiction
- on-page suicide attempt
- on-page bullying
- on-page child abuse

If you ever walk into a karaoke bar and see Mikhail belting out The Distance by Hot Chelle Rae: "And just so you know...the distance is what's killing me...", it's because Daniil slept in his arms last night and not on top of his body like a blanket , and Misha cannot handle it when they're that far apart.

A little darker in tone than Violent Devotion, we begin with Daniil and Mikhail some months after Alexei and Kelly have settled into domestic bliss, *taps nose*, and they're searching for information about Daniil's past. Brought into the Avrorin family at only two years old, we get a closer look at their relationship. Raised as brothers, the two are unusually close, intimate in ways that range from sharing a bed to constant physical contact. I was not kidding about Mikhail using Daniil as a human blanket. While Daniil knows that he's demisexual and in love with Mikhail, he's concerned that he'll never have a shot and resolves to break his "addiction" to the man he can't have. Mikhail isn't having it, though. Daniil - Danya - is the only person who has ever loved him, made him feel human, and he's not losing the only person who matters to him.

Even as a minor character, Mikhail stood out as a favorite of mine in Violent Devotion, so getting his story and watching him lose his mind as Daniil pushes him away was something I enjoyed immensely. Daniil, who has selective mutism due to his past, sometimes feels that he's overlooked, and that brought out a bit of an exhibitionist kink in him. Leading up to their first time having sex felt like L. Norell was edging me, and to that, I just want to say, "Thank you..."

We also get a deeper look at Misha and Danya’s relationships with their brothers and their abusive father, Roman—and how he’s manipulated, pressured, and abused them well into adulthood. It was heartbreaking, but it also explains why the brothers have never been able to get along. Roman constantly pits them against each other while insisting they’re family. But to him, family only means the Russian mafia and protecting his power.

I had a great time with this one and can’t wait for Yulian and Mateo to wrap up the series.

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