Book Review: The Anti-Hero by Sara Cate

The Anti-Hero (The Goode Brothers #1) by Sara Cate

Pages: 380
Publish date: July 14, 2023
Publisher: –
ASIN: B0C28VD15F
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

I’ve been good long enough. As the eldest son of Austin’s most prominent preacher, I’ve lived my life on the virtuous side. No scandals. Flawless image. Clean reputation. That’s the way it must be if I’m going to take his place someday. But everything changes when I find out my father is a VIP member of a local kink club. A liar. A cheater. A hypocrite.

Now, I’m done being righteous. And when the club owner’s jaded girlfriend comes to me with a proposal, I can’t resist. Sage is nothing like the women I’ve dated before. Pink hair, tattoos, piercings. I know it’ll burn my father’s reputation to the ground when she and I are seen together. But our fake dating scheme isn’t enough. We need videos— dirty videos.

The more we film these scenes, the more I like it. She wants me to degrade her, hurt her, violate her. And God help me, I want it too. But it’s hardly fake anymore, and before long I don’t recognize the Goode man I used to be.

The Anti-Hero:

Thank you to Sara Cate and The Author Agency for an earc of The Anti-Hero. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

Please check trigger and content warnings before hopping into The Anti-Hero by Sara Cate.

I was nervous going into The Anti-Hero by Sara Cate. I have loved some Sara Cate and then didn’t really feel some others. But this one caught my eye, and you know what? As soon as I started it, I didn’t want to put it down. It’s jumped to the top of my Sara Cate list.

What do you do when two people are thrown together and both their lives are turned on their heads? You make sex tapes and pop them online for everyone to see, ruining your and your family’s reputation. Adam Goode has grown up in the church. He doesn’t know much else. But when everything he once knew, isn’t what he believed, he feels lost.

Adam wanted to be so much like this father. He wanted him to respect him, to be proud of him. But he isn’t the man that Adam thought he was. He is the opposite. And he not only hurt his family, but he hurt Adam in a way that he doesn’t know how to recover from. Then he runs into Sage and she is the opposite of everything he thought he wanted in a partner. Both are hurt by those they thought loved them, and a plan is put into place to ruin everything.

Photo by Diego Lozano on Unsplash

Let me start with how much I loved Adam Goode. There was something right from the start that just worked with him. He has gone through a lot of trauma and he doesn’t even realise it. Adam has to find himself again after everything happens with his father and that takes a toll on him. It was heartbreaking but also beautiful seeing him find himself again. He has been so closed off most of his life, he has lived it in such a certain way. His growth was kinda amazing and I haven’t seen it much with male characters before.

Sage is such a fantastic female protagonist. I knew from the start that I was going to like her, but I didn’t know how much. I don’t even know exactly why I liked her so much. She just captured me. Her character growth like Adam is really well done. The reader is able to see her change throughout the story. Before the book even starts Sage has gone through some stuff and it’s already shaped her. But meeting Adam, and learning to love him, takes her on a journey. Sage is strong and capable and she says all the right of stuff! Some of her lines hit!

There was a lot of healing in The Anti-Hero. It has a lot of emotional abuse that both Adam and Sage experience and it’s tough going. There is a lot of gaslighting and this takes a toll on both our characters. As I said both Adam and Sage have some fantastic character growth and it really is explored through all the heartbreak and events they go through. Adam has to navigate a new life, and Sage has to figure out what she wants. There are a lot of scenes between Adam and his father that are very hard to read. His father hurts him in so many different ways, but I think the emotional side is the big one. I liked that we get to see both our main characters vulnerable. It added so much depth and power to the book.

Photo by Sasha Freemind on Unsplash

I loved the revenge aspect of The Anti-Hero. While it’s been done before. The impact that it had was much greater. Adam didn’t want to ruin his whole family. But he felt that it was the only way for anyone. to listen to them. For Sage, I felt that is more about freedom for her than it being revenge on her ex. Honestly, he just left and there wasn’t a whole lot to do with him, except for one scene. But gosh this revenge was hot! I wished we got to see a little bit more of them filming and the viral aspect of it all. But that wasn’t a massive deal for it.

And of course, what starts as a revenge pact, turns into something more. The reader does get to see them two fall in love. While at times it did feel a little insta-lovey, it took them both a while to admit their feelings. But I felt that fit in with the book. They both had a lot to sort through emotionally and if they just jumped into a relationship, it would have not let them grow. I liked how they both pushed each other. Pushed each other to love the other, be better people. And to simply believe in themselves. There is a small use of the miscommunication trope. It’s not a massive deal, more like ‘I don’t believe I am good enough for you.’

In true Sara Cate fashion, this book is sexy and hot. I mean they are making dirty videos for revenge and oohh it was good. There is a few content warnings here so just double-check before you delve into this book, especially in relation to the smutty scenes.

Photo by Aleksandr Popov on Unsplash

I am also super excited to read the rest of the brother’s stories. We know a little bit about them, we know the titles and a few words about them. But I am so ready. I already know that they are going to be as heartbreaking and smutty as this one.

Overall, The Anti-Hero is a challenging read. But it’s also beautiful, heartwarming and smutty as hell. It explores the power our families could have over us. And sometimes we need to step away to find ourselves. This story explores what someone does with their family and their faith betrayed them. How they pick up those pieces and put themselves back together in a different way. The Anti-Hero also explores the romance between Adam and Sage and how they push each other to be even better. If you are looking got a very sexy and smutty book that also has a depth of characters and a plot that keeps you wanting more, then The Anti-Hero by Sara Cate might be for you.

Have you read any books from Sara Cate? Which is your favourite? Are you planning on reading The Anti-Hero? What has been a book that you have loved so far this already? Let’s chat!