Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

263 reviews

elonn's review

dark lighthearted 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? No

1.5

This should’ve been two different books - a serial killer romance novel and a chef romance novel, but instead they were crudely crammed into one book. If you’re going to make both your main characters lovable serial killers, you need to commit. The author didn't and consequently I never bought either of them as killers. They had zero killer traits outside of their actual killing. In the scenes where they are killing, they felt like completely different people. I wish I had gotten to spend more time with those people bc they were way more interesting than the normal versions of themselves. I never even understood why Rowan liked killing or what motivated him. The whole serial killer plot (the MAIN fucking plot) felt completely unfinished.

This book was also SO gory in ways it did not earn. I don’t even mind gore. It was just so out of place in this otherwise tame book. 

The dialogue was atrocious, I could barely get through their stupid “banter.” And some parts barely even made sense, like

why did he fly there just to hide behind a tree?? If you had no plans to see her or talk to her, wouldn’t it have been easier to just Instacart her the ingredients from Boston?? Has this author never heard of Postmates or...? I know delivery fees are high but they’re definitely not the $500 you paid some random kid.

I am so confounded by this plot choice.

 
I think the worst part was

the intensely rough sex scene that took place hours after she was severely injured. Maybe I’m CRAZY, but I just don’t enjoy sex scenes when one character has a fresh, grievous injury.

WEIRD, I know.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence

readyforit's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense 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

4.75

4.75⭐️4🌶️(honestly could’ve done w more spice)

Wow I wish every audiobook with dual pov came with duet narration; it really elevated the story for me! I wasn’t sure if I’d vibe with this end of the spectrum of dark romance since there are some pretty graphic scenes involving murder. I think if you like true crime you will probably be okay with the level of gore, unless you’re eating while listening😵‍💫. This is more of a romcom serial killer adventure book than it is dark romance. There are a lot of crossover tropes like touch her/him and die, but I don’t ever expect to laugh while reading dark romance and I laughed a lot during this book! I can definitely see myself rereading and I’m excited to read the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement and Vomit

Minor: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

This book is pretty gory at times, do NOT eat any kind of

meat, lunch meat, or ice cream

while listening.

melaniegrace91's review

dark funny fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

rltcoach's review

dark funny medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement

edilyaaang's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

The perfect book to get me out of the reading slump I had fallen into for more than a month now.

I love morally gray characters especially when their purpose is for the greater good. All those gory details never bothered me. Though, I think being a true crime fan had made me immune to that. And the fact that the "victims" were serial killers and their targets were innocent people kinda lessen's the MCs guilt it, I guess? My moral compass is askew but idc.

I love Sloane and Rowan. I love their banter. How they looked out for each other and accepted their respective flaws because they can relate to one another. I love how Rowan insists on talking and being honest to one another and how Sloane makes an effort to overcome her trauma to trust him.

I also love every one of the side characters and can't wait for their stories, too. And I will definitely be reading more works from the author in the future.

PS:

And proposing by stuffing the ring into a dead serial killer's empty eye sockets was the icing of the cake lmfao. Perfection

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Rape, Vomit, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

catbreath's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny slow-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder

chaoticdaisy11's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Stalking

dovishchoice's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

beetayz's review

dark funny medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Rape

sage_alexandra's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

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

5.0

I really appreciated the author's thoughtfulness of putting a list of trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. I also felt personally attacked by the statement following those warnings:

For those of you who read the trigger warnings and said, "Accidental cannibalism?! Count me in!" This one's for you.

Excited to read Leather and Lark next! I bought it when I was about halfway thru B&B.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Vomit, and Stalking

Minor: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Grief