Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Brutal Prince by Sophie Lark

18 reviews

leahthesith's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was the first book I’ve bought blindly due to the cover with the strawberry art. I thought it was beautiful, but I also thought the book was going to be fantasy so I was quite shocked when I realized it definitely wasn’t. 😭 I almost was going to dnf it but since I already bought it, I gave it a shot and I did end up enjoying it! There were aspects that weren’t my favorite and Aida definitely annoyed me a bit in the beginning, but I loved that she really matured towards the end. The ending was very cute!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, and Car accident

witchleaves's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

Terrible book. Awful characters, and dry writing. The plot was interesting but the story itself left nothing in me to want more of the story. Every character sucks.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexism, Stalking, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

vj_thompson's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.5

The writing took some time to get used to, but eventually I didn’t mind all the internal monologuing. It was tough to get through the first part of the book because of the immaturity of the two main characters but once they were together and married, their character development was significant. I surprisingly liked this book. I tend to stay away from mafia type romances because some times they can be a little too dark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Stalking, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Grief, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Torture, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Misogyny

siad's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood

Minor: Alcohol and Death of parent

linnea_tornblom's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Gore, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Blood, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Death, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

booksalacarte's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

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

2.0

Brutal Prince- 2⭐️ 3.25🌶️

Mafia Romance

Dual POV

Arranged marriage

True Enemies to lovers

Forced proximity

Bully moments

Age gap (10 years)

After a public incident between their children, 2 mafia fathers make a deal to have them marry to unite rival families.

I didn’t love the FMC. She came off as an immature and childish character for most of the book. My biggest issue was the strawberry allergy incident. Having a kid with a food allergy, I am very against allergies being used as a prank. Who the hell doesn’t take food allergies seriously?! The girl would have never been forgiven by me… And it’s on the cover? So is this the big draw to the book? Nope. That’s not tomboy/hellcat behavior. That attempted murder. And she doesn’t even think of the implications her actions would have on her family… ever.

Honestly the MMC wasn’t any better. He came off chauvinistic and depreciated the FMC, and women he dated in general… it was gross. Also, he was a 30 year old, living at home having his every thought taken care of by a housekeeper, chef and his parents.

This book wasn’t very lovey-Dovey. It was more enemies than lovers… well except that there were 4+ spicy scenes. So there was a bunch of lust.

There wasn’t and true character development. Nothing to show any growth. The main characters just stayed pretty flat while the plot raced through a bunch of quickly concluded plot points. 

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks bloom books for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Classism, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Classism, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Gore

annaliubych's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Physical abuse

ida_warness's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I can see this book being absolutely perfect for romance readers who likes a true hate-to-love trope, with a dominant, brutal male lead, who sees his woman as his property. His to have, to own, but also to protect.

His (the male lead’s) way of thinking and behaving was a bit too problematic for me, though I know his way of being is exactly what some readers love.

It’s fast paced, has some truly headstrong characters, and lots of steam. If that’s your jam, you’re gonna love this book! 

As well as not being my cup of tea, the plot was also a bit flat, but with 334 pages, a relationship and steam to focus on, I don’t see how a more elaborate plot would fit, to be fair. 

The book gets bonus points for having illustrations in it (coloured illustrations if read on a tablet/phone, the paperback has b&w illustrations). 

Overall, it didn’t wow me, but I think it’s definitely one of those books some readers might end up absolutely loving.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Kidnapping

dawntorow31's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Gun violence

paintinyourwing's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, and Stalking