(Actual rating: 3.5/5)

Spoiler Alert: This review contains spoilers for Credence by Penelope Douglas.

This book left me feeling conflicted. On one hand, it’s bold, emotional, and unafraid to dive into messy dynamics and taboo territory—but on the other, some of those same choices completely pulled me out of the story.

Let me start with this: the taboo elements themselves didn’t bother me. I knew what I was getting into with Credence, and I can appreciate a well-written, morally gray setup. My issues came down to two things—Tiernan and Kaleb, and how their relationship developed.

I hated their interactions. Truly. Kaleb is written as this “caveman hunk” who communicates through grunts, silence, and aggressive physicality. And while I get that it’s meant to be primal and passionate, it often read more as emotionally stunted and borderline abusive in tone. I struggled to connect with Tiernan’s choice to be with him when Noah—who actually encouraged her to open up, communicate, and feel safe—was right there.

Jake was always her first experience and a mentor figure, so I never saw that lasting. But Noah? He’s the one who brought light into her life. He helped her laugh again, trust again, and learn to love without fear. I genuinely believed she could have found real happiness with him just as much as she “finds it” with Kaleb.

I’ll give Kaleb some credit for his small redemption arc near the end, but honestly, it felt way too quick. Six weeks is not enough time to undo the kind of deep-seated trauma and behavioral issues that define him. They all needed therapy—Tiernan, Noah, and Kaleb especially. These are characters carrying serious emotional scars, and while the story tries to tie things up neatly with a baby at the end, that felt like a dangerous cycle waiting to repeat itself. Healing doesn’t just happen off-page, and pretending it does undercuts the weight of everything they went through.

The spice was undeniably great—Penelope Douglas knows how to write tension and chemistry—but the storyline felt mid, and the characters were the kind you either love or absolutely can’t stand. There’s no middle ground here.

I’ll admit, the isolation and survival setting were done beautifully—the snow, the quiet, the mountain life—it all created an atmosphere that matched the emotional coldness and heat between the characters. But I just couldn’t shake the feeling that the emotional growth wasn’t earned, especially when the ending asks us to believe in happily ever after for a group of people who clearly still need a lot of healing.

Also, can we please talk about Noah? He deserved so much more. He’s such a solid, emotionally intelligent character, and by the end he’s left with no one but a bike sponsor. Really? He needs his own story, or at least closure.

In the end, Credence is one of those books that makes you feel a lot, but not always in the ways you expect. It’s spicy, messy, frustrating, and thought-provoking—but for me, it missed the mark emotionally. I wanted depth where I got drama, and healing where I got heat.

Still, I can’t deny that it kept me reading until the very last page.