Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa

55 reviews

jen1804's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

My overall feeling having finished book one of The Bargainer series is ‘hmm that was kind of a weird read’. I really, really enjoyed the set up and the first few chapters where the reader starts to learn about Callie’s past versus what she’s up to now.
The age of Callie when she first meets the bargainer and starts spending so much time with him is a little problematic, why couldn’t Laura Thalassa have made Callie a few years older and that whole problematic-veering-on-the-line-of-child-grooming-thing could have been avoided. I get that Callie refers to him as acting like a nun around her when she’s younger etc etc and nothing technically ever happens between them until he returns later on when she’s 24, and it’s explained that the moment they met he knew she was his mate which is why he kept coming back to spend so much time with her, but that he wouldn’t let himself touch her because she was so young - so guy’s obvs got standards, but it still feels a bit morally grey to me.
The plot itself is kinda bizarre, I don’t feel as though there was quite enough world building or character development along with the narrative for the plot to wholly work. Everything seemed to happen so very quickly! There wasn’t enough detail in the scenes for me to fully grab hold of time passing or relationships growing or fear building etc. it all felt really rushed, when the equilibrium becomes disrupted for example, it’s not for very long.
I’m not in love with Callie/Des’ relationship the same way I am with other book couples because I just don’t feel I have enough depth from the characters yet. I will continue with the series though and will see how things progress.
Satisfactory ending? Meh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol

Forced pregnancy

ajhornedo's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Death of parent, Child abuse, Blood, and Murder

alexandryareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Blood, Violence, Kidnapping, and Death

Minor: Rape, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Grief

hannibanani29's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Incest, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy

Minor: Homophobia and Slavery

tiana_king's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Kidnapping and Alcoholism

Minor: Pregnancy

tea_rea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content

booksofautumn's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Slavery

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

emilysaidhello's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, War, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

maryia's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Enjoyed the storyline of this book. 
Did not like the pet name cherub. Kinda gross considering she was 16 when they first met and ‘fell in love’. Felt like the ending was rushed and didn’t really make a lot of sense so I’m hoping the next book has more about it. 

I liked the world building and their flirty relationship with each other. Can’t wait to read the next book and hopefully get some more insight into the cool new world 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Torture, and Alcoholism

lilli0311's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture