God of Fury by Rina Kent: I Knew Better. I Did It Anyway.
I knew better and read it anyway. One chaotic man, bad decisions, and I kept turning pages while questioning every choice.
Spoilers ahead. Accountability is not invited.
I picked up God of Fury because TikTok told me Nikolai was basically Ilia from Heated Rivalry. Still, I knew better, but acted like someone who reads the warning label and thinks, “That sounds like a suggestion.”
The comparison falls apart almost immediately. Both are Russian. That is where the resemblance clocks out. Ilia is disciplined, and his messiness comes from a core wound. Nikolai walks in like impulse put on shoes. He chooses escalation because he woke up.
I recalibrated expectations right there. Curiosity keeps dragging me into situations I could have avoided. I know, I know, curiosity killed the cat. But don’t forget satisfaction brought him back, so I stand by my choices!
Sir, You Are Entertaining Me.
Nikolai’s sense of humor does most of the work. I cannot stress this enough. He’s self-deprecating in a way that feels natural, not performative. He’ll say something borderline unhinged, then immediately drag himself for it, and somehow that makes it worse and better at the same time. I found myself laughing in places that should have concerned me. That feels like a personal failing, but here we are.
There’s a rhythm to his dialogue that works. He doesn’t sound like anyone else in the book. No polish. Just someone thinking out loud and committing to bad decisions in real time. That gives him presence. You don’t skim his scenes. You brace for them.
Then the book tries to describe him physically. Beautiful. No, bulky. No, chaotic. No, a tank. I tried to construct a mental image and came up with a Russian linebacker who somehow models cologne ads. I like to picture characters the way the author sees them. This reads like the author kept changing her mind mid-sentence.
And still, I enjoyed him. That’s the part that matters, even if I feel guilty about it.
Sir, My Brain Would Like a Word.
At some point, my pattern-recognition brain showed up like it pays rent here. It probably does because it carries my emotional load.
Small inconsistencies started stacking up. Emotional reactions that felt slightly ahead of themselves. Nothing catastrophic, just enough to make me pause and reread a sentence because something was off.
Then we get to the diagnosis. Nikolai is labeled with Borderline Personality Disorder, and I kept waiting for the story to build toward that. I needed a peek into his history. His patterns. How they shaped his life.
Instead, I got behavior first, label second. He’s volatile, obsessive, and violent. Therefore, diagnosis. This is where the story began to feel thin. That structure has nothing holding it up. The label existed to justify what he was already doing.
My brain does not enjoy that kind of shortcut. It wants cause and effect. Patterns that lead to something inevitable.
What it got was vibes and a medical term.
Sir, Boundaries, Sir.
Brandon sends mixed signals early on. That part is real. He reaches out, then pulls back. There’s a moment where he texts Nikolai and then tells him to leave him alone, even though Nikolai already did. I could see the setup. Confusion creates space.
Space does not equal permission.
Nikolai steps into that space like it has his name on it. He physically pushes past Brandon’s clearly set limits. The logic behind it leans on that idea that desire can be interpreted from the outside.
I don’t buy into that. No means no, even if the person using the word is a mess or just drunk out of their minds. People may hesitate, change their minds, and move at their own pace, especially when trauma is involved.
You can trace Brandon’s story. Being compared to his twin has chipped away at him. His mother’s agent using this weakness to groom him isn’t a stretch. The long-term impact is clear. He is anxious about everything and feels safe only when in control. The author shows how this plays out in his relationships. That part earns its space.
Watching his need for control get overridden repeatedly was not romantic. The story didn’t want to sit with it for too long. It quickly turns it into a funny moment or an incredibly hot scene. And that became a pattern that felt familiar in the worst possible way.
It reminded me of my early twenties. A salesman cornering me in the copy room, convinced he knew what I needed. I gave him what he needed. A knee to the groin.
Just to be clear, no still means no.
Sir, You didn’t Wait to be Asked
Then we get to the moment where Nikolai kills Brandon’s rapist. People react viscerally when a child is harmed, so they answer violence with violence. It hits fast. Right where it hurts most. A case of doing it first and asking your rational brain for forgiveness later. So satisfying. I will not pretend otherwise.
Then the scene keeps existing.
Brandon has been clear about his stance on violence. He repeats it. Holds onto it. It’s part of how he maintains control over his life. He never asks for vengeance and is still trying to wrap his head around demanding justice. And then that choice gets taken from him. Again.
Relief shows up. Gratitude gets tangled with everything else. The contradiction persists.
The book moves forward. I didn’t.
After safety, agency matters more than anything else. Justice doesn’t always serve us. Making our own choices, good or bad, empowers us.
Final Turn
I had a great time reading this book while questioning my moral compass the entire time.
Nikolai made me laugh. He also made me pause mid-page and say, “Sir, absolutely not.” Brandon’s story gave the book weight that made everything else feel more significant, even when it didn’t fully hold together.
I went in expecting one thing and got something else entirely. I argued with this book while enjoying it. That feels like the most honest version of my reading experience.
I saw the cracks. I kept stepping over them.
Shelve Test: 4 – Loved
Sometimes a book just needs one chaotic man, questionable decisions, and enough emotional damage to keep you turning the page while quietly judging yourself for loving it.
Book Details
Title: God of Fury
Author: Rina Kent
Published: December 6, 2023
Genre: Dark Romance, MM Romance, Contemporary Romance
Thank you for reading.
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