Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward

12 reviews

innae's review against another edition

4.0

I have been recommended this series by several folks.  One just recently started a re-read and didn’t live this one as much as some of the others in the series.  As I liked this one quite a lot I think that bodes well for a fun read in to the future.   

This has a lot of explanation, as we are getting the world building, but I liked a lot of the characters…in particular Zsadist and Butch.    I will be interested to see where this goes moving forward. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Sexual content and Violence

Minor: Animal death and Torture

jamiebrito's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Murder, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Medical content, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, War, Rape, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Car accident, and Sexual assault

glutenfreemaggie's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Alcohol, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Self harm

rachelgreenreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

This was really high quality garbage. Like, it was very cheesy and trashy but the writing was good and the story was well done. There were some things that should have been very cringey, but it went past cringe and into camp, so those bits were actually hilarious. 

But I thought the relationship between the MCs developed well, there was some good hurt/comfort, and the disability representation was surprisingly well done. 

I hated Butch tbh, but maybe I was supposed to? I’ve heard he develops throughout the series. Overall very enjoyable read, but would only recommend to friends tolerant of the cringe/ generally some offensive stuff that just didn’t age well. 

Ps. There’s a lot of sexual assault threat/ attempts floating throughout the book. None from close characters, but still enough to give someone the ick for sure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Misogyny, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Sexism, Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Police brutality

Minor: Pregnancy and Torture

There’s a lot of sexual assault threat/ attempts floating throughout the book. None from close characters, but still enough to give someone the ick for sure. There’s also a lot of misogyny and chauvinism

mostly by Butch, but the way most of the vamps talk about women is not great

. There is also a lot of whorephobia and violence against sex workers in the book.

by the villain(s) but also one of the inner circle, Zsadist, though his actions are not confirmed.

amylynn44's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Torture

moodreadererin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Violence, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Sexism, Drug use, Vomit, and Animal death

Minor: Torture and Slavery

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.0

I don't really know what to say about this book.  It's the first one I managed to pick up and finish in a while so it had that going for it but part of that might have been that I wanted to see where the trainwreck go.

So many things were conveniently coincidental.  It was full of tropes that I hate, like fridging, dubious consent, insta-lust/love, etc...

The take on vampires was different I suppose but the secret society based enemy was decidedly wacky.  Will not be continuing the series.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Slavery, War, Police brutality, Stalking, Addiction, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Violence

marareading's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.0

I really enjoyed this. It is a fun vampire romance. I loved the new take that the vampires don't feed on humans, I haven't seen that in a vampire story before. I also liked that there were the cops, the humans,  the lessers, and the vampires. All balanced and all had a different part of their story. They all came together we'll. It has a great balance of plot and spice.

this story is mainly about Beth. She is an orphan. Half human, half vampire. Yet she doesn't know it. Wrath has been charged to look after her and protect her as she goes through a potential change to a vampire, which is 50/50 at this point given her parentage. As the story escalates, we learn more about the brotherhood, Wrath, The lessers, and the history of the vampires. 

I really enjoyed this and I will definitely continue the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Police brutality, Rape, Torture, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Stalking, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Drug abuse

stephaniemcuervo's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Grief, Violence, Blood, Death, Sexual content, Drug use, and Gore

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual assault

Minor: Transphobia, Child death, Infertility, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, and War

lakea's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Police brutality

Minor: Emotional abuse, Stalking, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Medical content