Unhinged by Bianca Cole

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Madness is his forte, and I’m entrapped in his chaotic world.

My life was good. 
I was about to start my senior year at brown, so I took a last-minute getaway with my best friends to Mexico. 
That is, until we’re snatched on vacation and thrown into a nightmare we could never have imagined. 
Nothing could’ve prepared us for the darkness that awaited us. 

We find ourselves in a dangerous world dominated by Ileana Navarro, a cartel leader whose power is matched only by her cruelty. 
And that’s when I met Taren. 
They say he’s as mad as a hatter, a man driven to insanity not by nature but by the woman who raised him. 
An enigma wrapped in riddles and cloaked with an aura of danger. 

His madness is his charm, and to my surprise, I find myself drawn to him. 
Taren intrigues me, scares me, and draws me in with a force I can’t resist. 
Despite the bars of our gilded cage, I find myself captivated by his madness. 
He is a riddle I can’t solve, a storm I can’t weather, yet my heart can’t seem to stay away. 

Will I survive the darkness that awaits? 
There’s one painfully clear thing: once you step into Taren’s world, there is no way out.

Down the Rabbit Hole Where the Safe Word is “Wonderland”

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💚🩷💙
Spice/Heat: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: 😋😀😉🥰
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Duet Narration

Character Backgrounds and Plot Summary

Taren works for Ileana Navarro; the woman everyone calls The Red Queen. He despises her and sees her as soulless and hollow, which is exactly what she has spent years shaping him into. She is not his mother, but she took him as a child and molded him into her weapon. Now she is sending him into Mexico City to investigate the Estrada Cartel. Ileana herself is barred from entering the city, so Taren must go in her place. His reputation precedes him. People call him The Mad Hatter because he has been unhinged ever since Iliana stole his childhood. What she does not know is that he has plans of his own, plans to finally reclaim the life she took from him.

Alice and her friends are vacationing in Mexico before their final year at Brown University. Her group includes Blake who is full of energy, Kali who loves men but never finds the right one, and Luna who is brilliant with computers. Alice is majoring in creative writing and already has an internship lined up as a junior editor at a major publishing house. Her adoptive parents wish she had chosen something more practical, but she is determined to follow her passion. The group has lived together for years and found a resort online that was affordable and located on the Northwest coast. The area is known to be more dangerous than other tourist regions, but the resort itself turns out to be wonderful.

Everything changes when they hear gunshots on the beach and see ten armed men approaching. The group is handcuffed and taken away. Alice hears the men calling them putas perfectas. Taren had ordered his men to eliminate members of another cartel who were hiding at the resort. Ileana had been clear that she did not want tourists involved, but her soldiers ignored that order and took several of the women hostage because they were beautiful and would sell well at auction. Taren understands why they thought that when he sees them, especially one girl who immediately captures his attention. He calls her his little bird and although he knows Ileana would never allow it, he wants her for himself. He convinces Iliana to let him train Alice by taking her as his date to the event he must attend in Mexico City.

Highlights

Each book in this series plays with the themes of a well-known fairytale. Hook drew from Peter Pan, Beast drew from Beauty and the Beast, and this one draws from Alice in Wonderland. None of them are retellings, but they use familiar elements in creative ways that I genuinely enjoyed.

I loved that Taren falls first and falls hard. He had already planned to escape Iliana Navarro’s control, but meeting Alice accelerates everything. His desire to protect her becomes more important than his own freedom, which adds emotional weight to his choices.

Alice has some very dirty kinks despite her innocent appearance. Her desires align perfectly with the things Taren has been trained to do during his years with the Navarro cartel. He loves her kinks and can barely stand the wait before acting on them. Like the other books in this series, this one blends intense intimate scenes with strong storylines, which is something I always appreciate.

Limitations

One of the biggest limitations of Unhinged is the emotional development between Taren and Alice. Their connection is meant to feel overwhelming and immediate, but at times it leans too heavily on physical attraction and obsession. The shift from captor and captive to romantic partners can feel rushed, especially for readers who prefer a slower emotional build.

Another limitation is the balance between plot and romance. The story spends a lot of time on cartel politics, revenge, and violence. Combined with the heavy focus on intimate scenes, the romance itself sometimes gets overshadowed. I personally enjoyed that there is plenty of both story and smut, but I would not have minded a bit more emotional development between the characters.

Character relatability is also a challenge, especially with Taren. His trauma and brutality make him compelling, but not always easy to connect with. His habit of speaking in riddles can feel repetitive and occasionally frustrating. For some readers this adds atmosphere, but for others it creates distance. Personally, I am terrible at solving riddles, so instead of making Taren and Alice seem clever, it just made me feel dumb for not being able to figure them out.

Narration

This installment uses duet narration like the previous books, but with a different pair of performers. Aaron Shedlock and Marie Hawkins are both excellent choices for this story. Aaron’s low gravelly voice fits Taren perfectly and captures both the villainous and vulnerable sides of his character. Marie’s soft feminine tone suits Alice beautifully. I enjoyed every minute of their performance and thought they elevated the entire experience.

Final Opinion

Unhinged delivers exactly what this series promises. It is dark, intense, and full of high stakes, with a blend of violence, obsession, and twisted devotion. The fairytale inspiration adds a fun thematic layer without overwhelming the plot. While the emotional development between Taren and Alice could have been stronger, the story still offers plenty of tension, danger, and heat. The narration is outstanding and makes the audiobook the best way to experience this installment. For listeners who enjoy dark romance with cartel elements, morally damaged characters, and a mix of story and spice, this book is a strong and satisfying addition to the series.

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