Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann

144 reviews

kylieduncan's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

• Trigger warning of a lot of dark content such as rape, torture, suicidal thoughts, injury description 

Jennifer Hartmann is such a beautiful writer. This book kept me hooked from page one. It was a bit hard to read through the earlier part of the book describing Cora and Drew’s experiences, but watching them to be able to flourish and recover after their shared trauma was really beautiful. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for them to get out of their situation. I’m so glad that Drew did the hard thing and left Cora to allow her to be the best version of herself. it felt a bit problematic that Dean falls in love with his financé’s sister, but I think it could happen to anyone given the situation they faced together and previous history of feelings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Torture, Sexual violence, Murder, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

kelseyfreeman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Body horror, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Death, Torture, Violence, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Blood

rose_ndrd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

3.0

This was really dark like dark Af. PLEASE check trigger warnings.  I didn't expect it to get so dark and explicit. Cora got on my DAMN nerves, I get it she was traumatized. The author did a great job raising awareness to the trauma and tribulations she went through and how NO ONE understood  her at all. It was so realistic, this is what victims/survivors go through, it is not an easy thing to get over.  
It was a hard read because of the graphic content because of the explicit scenes because stuff like this actually happens in real life and we don’t know how to move on or how to deal with it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Pregnancy and Suicide attempt

rachael_tee's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Self harm, Torture, Rape, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Murder, and Confinement

mamede's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Dementia, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

aliceloyallaleon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Dementia, Grief, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Rape, and Self harm

smbl's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

It’s like reading a train wreck, you can’t stop even if it’s not the best writing. 

Pros: It dealt with messy process of healing from trauma - it wasn’t perfect which arguably why it’s done a decent job because everyone’s healing journey is different. MMC trauma journey was written well and overall the character had a lot more common sense. The serial killer motives weren’t something common.

Cons: FMC can be a little pick-me and self-centered. Actually she annoyed me a lot more than her sister which it wasn’t written to be that way. And how the sister was written is giving some internalize misogyny. Also no real relationship development on why the MMC was even dating the FMC’s sister. 

I think it had a lot of potential but as a standalone dark romance it missed the mark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Confinement, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Rape, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Self harm, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Death, and Torture

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, and Vomit

firequeen_ash23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

I went into this book blind and I'm glad I did. It wasn't what I expected. (in a good way)
I loved the characters, well most of them and thought the author did a great job with writing about the trauma and the healing. 

I honestly wasn't sure if this book was going to be a HEA especially with all the stuff that happens to Cora and Dean. They go through a very traumatic event and aren't sure if they're going to survive or not. It's a very emotional book. I think the way the author turns the book around and is able to show what love should be when it's healthy was beautiful. 
I know I cried a time or two because the book just spoke to me in a way you want your romantic type of books to do. I think the author did a fantastic job at makin  the readers experience several different emotions throughout the book which in my opinion is the best because if I'm not feeling sad, angry, happy and overjoyed at one point in the book, was it really that good? I need my books to connect to my emotions and feelings. That's how I know I really enjoyed the book. 

Not to mention after everything that Dean and Cora experienced together, they deserved a HEA. I was also glad that Mandy got her happy ending as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Confinement, Cursing, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

amy_mhairi's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Physical abuse, Murder, Alcohol, Rape, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Cursing, Confinement, Kidnapping, Torture, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, and Vomit

niya_books's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Stalking, Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual content