Book Review: My Fault (Culpable #1) by Mercedes Ron

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“My Fault” is the first book in a forbidden enemies-to-lovers romance trilogy. The story follows Nick and Noah, they are step-siblings who can’t stand each other; however, we quickly learn that they are more alike than they’d like to admit… and the irresistible attraction between the two is undeniable.

Buy “My Fault”

“My Fault” is a dual POV between Nick and Noah. Noah is a 17-year-old Torontonian who loves her life, her friends, and boyfriend, but everything changes when her mother marries a billionaire. Noah is now forced to move with her mother to LA and join her rich husband and his arrogant, slightly older but very handsome son, Nick. Immediately, Nick and Noah loathe each other, although their attraction is undeniable. Their shared love for racing forces them into a world of danger in which they both have to face their past traumas if they want to be together.

I’m not sure why they changed countries in “My Fault” the book and made Noah and her mother emigrate from Toronto of all places (I’m saying this as someone who lives in Ontario, lol). Is this to appeal to English readers? Is it because Wattpad’s main headquarters are located in Toronto? Who knows.

Besides that, the book is fairly accurate to the movie adaptation, and vice versa.

This book reads really quickly, and yeah, the writing is subpar, but I still needed to see what crazy thing would come next.

I actually loved the racing parts and wished we got more of that – I will say the movie made the ending/car chase scene more rewarding.

Also, I liked that Noah’s flashback and trauma weren’t underplayed (thankfully) as it helps readers understand her as a person who’s against violence and someone who suffers from PTSD/claustrophobia. In this sense, Noah doesn’t *magically* forget about all her problems just because she’s in love with her stepbrother Nick.

And both Nick and Norah need to confront their past traumas and parental issues to come together.

Unfortunately, the first book is the strongest of the trilogy. You can read my reviews for “Your Fault” (Culpable #2) and “Our Fault” (Culpable #3).

“Or else that knot might not be strong enough to hold you.” What did he know about my tattoo or about how strong I was?

In a way, we’d switched roles. She had shown up and dragged me out of the black hole I’d fallen into, but in doing so, she’d wound up taking my place.

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