Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Still Beating

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann

56 reviews

siffpedersen's review

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challenging dark hopeful mysterious 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

2.0

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amanda_reads13's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-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

4.0

*Please check the trigger warnings before reading this book*

Cora hates her sisters fiance Dean. He has been a thorn in her side for the past 15 years. After attending her sister's birthday party, her wallet is stolen and she has to call Dean for a ride. She figures she will just sit through the awkward car ride home. What she doesn't anticipate is waking up the next morning handcuffed in a psychos basement, next to Dean. The two of them must lean on one another to survive and support each other as they are tested in unimaginable ways.

When I say I cried, I mean I sobbed. This story tore my heart open. It was tragic and heartbreaking, yet beautiful. There were parts that were really hard to read. Everyone deals with trauma differently, I think that Cora and Dean's story shows that in a realistic and sensitive way.

Dean was extremely traumatized and definitely suffering from PTSD, yet he still had this incredible emotional maturity.

He loved Cora, but realized that they were in this toxic spiral. He always put her first and did everything possible to protect her and help her heal, even when that meant walking away. He is much stronger than he gave himself credit for.

Cora went through something unimaginable. Not many people would have been able to survive what she did.

She struggles with being pulled between Dean and her sister. Dean is the only one she can lean on and she depends on him heavily. She is going through a rollercoaster of emotions and really struggles to deal with the trauma she has endured. She is scared to be 100% in with Dean because of Mandy and she kind of treats him like crap. She doesn't realize that Dean's sacrifice is really what she needed, she needs to heal herself, he can't heal her.

A few things that annoyed me:

- I didn't like how everyone pushed Cora to "move on". She has been through something seriously fucked up. No, she doesn't need to date or go out to the bar.
-I disliked Mandy. She is completely devoid of compassion and empathy. At one point she says to Dean that she was surprised that he didn't want to have sex the second he escaped. Like what? He has been through some MAJOR trauma and you are being so disrespectful and overly pushy. She gave him no space to breathe and just expected Dean and Cora to go back to "normal".
- I didn't like that we got this backstory of Dean and Cora hating each other, but not really hating each other. We are supposed to believe that they have formed a trauma bond, which makes total sense, but then we are shown all these flashbacks that lead us to believe that there were feelings between them for a long time. I wish that there wasn't this "we loved each other all along" undertone to the story. It kind of takes a away from it.

Tropes: Dark, Taboo, enemies to lovers

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sjj1993's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

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chaniesgirl's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

One of the best book I've ever read.
It was so we'll written and the story was so we'll thought and executed.
I felt every emotions the characters went through
Dean is perfect for Cora and is the best male protagonist ever.
Love the dual POV

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pibblemama97's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-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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didiana24's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I didn't know where I was getting myself into when I started this story... I was about to move on and not read it after a few pages because I kind of doubted that I could get into a relationship between two siblings-in-law, but boy, I am glad I didn't give up on the book. It is also true that at some point I was beating myself for not having stopped my past self from picking this book.

This is where it starts to get spoilerish so...

When it was made clear that the kidnapper was really going to rape Cora, I couldn't put the book down. I think it is the first time I have read a book where the h is fully sexually assaulted, and it broke me completely. I cried, my hands were shaking, and I was even having trouble to breathe normally. I had to know how she was doing, I felt that I couldn't abandon her at that moment. I couldn't stop my heart from hurting for her and for Dean. The author was so good reflecting the hopelessness, de detachment... It's just so wrong that it physically hurts. I couldn't take them off my mind until I picked up the book again and continued reading.
And after all of these feelings that I was having for Cora and Dean, the family and the friends enter the picture. I wanted to yell at all their faces to fuck off, and to take their heads out of their ass for one fucking second. I needed to protect the mcs! Days after the shit show that the mcs had to live, everybody acted completely normal, like they were just coming back from a fucking vacation and had to start living right where they left it! The family and friends were so entitled and impatient and self-centered that couldn't fucking sit down for a minute and think that maybe Cora didn't want to start hooking up with some random dude after being raped for almost a freaking month!
And I haven't started with Mandy yet. Because even if she didn't know that Dean had to have sex with Cora during their time in the basement, she fucking knew that he had seen her sister be raped... And even with that knowledge, she wanted Dean to put out his dick for her because her big baby ego was being neglected! What the freaking fuck is her problem???!!??! And yes, Cora had the worst of it because she had to suffer that pig's body all over her, but Dean was also raped! He didn't want to have sex, he didn't enjoy it, and he wanted to die before hurting Cora. I mean, let's not forget that he was also a victim and that he has to carry in his shoulders what he did, even if it was against his will. And then, the cherry of the fucking cake is when the piece of trash that is Mandy says that she needs more fucking time to get over her breakup with Dean.... Like.... Ohhh soooo time to heal is important now I see.......... You need months to heal a broken heart, but you didn't have the decency to let your fiancé and your sister heal their broken fucking souls for a minute! Anyway, it may look like I am being too hard on Mandy, but I raged reading her reactions and her actions... Of course, she was not the only one that made me pull my hair, because Cora's parents and Lily deserve their own spot in moron city

.

So... Do I regret reading this book? No. It made me feel so many things, even if they aren't necessarily good things. Will I read it ever again? Probably not. I can't pull myself through this again, I shed so many tears that I may be dehydrated.

And well, my recommendation is to really pay attention to the tw because I maybe went in too blindsided. And it is my fault. If you want to go completely raw with your emotions and cry yourself to sleep (which are NOT bad things!!!!) I highly recommend this book.

(sorry for the typos and bad grammar, English is not my first language)

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