Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Crossed

Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

nakitahallx's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

It's a good read, I love every bit minus a few pages near the end. (Preference for myself) but the ending is happy.

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oohlalara's review

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dark tense medium-paced

4.0

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taulkstoomuch's review

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challenging dark fast-paced

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

1.0

Yuck. This was one of the worst books I have ever read. The mere fact that I have finished this series makes me feel sick; my entire quality of life has been reduced after reading this particular book. The entire concept of fetishising religion just makes me want to gouge my eyes out. I miss the days I was illiterate.

My only silver lining is that this series is finally finished.

UPDATE: so I just found out that there is another one coming... I am genuinely reconsidering my life choices. What is the reason for all this torture?

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kdelong's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

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bookboxbabe's review

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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tacochelle's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

This is the one where I am least familiar with the story it was based on, but I dont think it changes much for me. Amaya is like every other protagonist in this series. Her personality is all sass and attitude, with a little bit of trauma from sexual assault/rape. Cade is interesting as a character, but not so much as a romantic lead, even by dark romance standards. Right off the bat, we know he's a serial killer flying under the radar as a priest. He has a specific m.o. of strangling those he sees as full of sin, and he gets a little horny over it. He's suddenly obsessed with Amaya after seeing her at her strip club job, so obsessed that he's breaking his usual order and bringing bad attention to them both. It's an interesting concept, but they have little chemistry together. They're supposed to bond over their trauma from childhood centered around guilt, religious and familial, but they never fully confide in each other until the very end. It just gets told to the readers. And the ending is extra violent and bloody like the rest of the series, in a way that shouldn't really solve their problems, but does so anyways because it needs to wrap up soon. All in all, not the worst of the series, but still more of the same.

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readyforit's review against another edition

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dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

4⭐️3🌶️
This book is a hunchback of notre dame retelling, set in a modern-day small Parisian-esque town in Vermont. Amaya grew up with a narcissistic mother, who moved them around a lot and exposed her to her abusive boyfriends. When Amaya was older her mother became jealous of her looks, accusing her of trying to steal her boyfriend, Parker, who calls himself the king of Festivalé. They fight, and her mother abandons a then 19yo Amaya with her baby brother, Quentin. The story takes place 5 years later, with festivalé in ruin and father Cade is hired to come clean up the town and instill the sense of god back into it. He has unusual methods though, and tries to find the worst sinners and kill them, rationalizing that god will forgive him. To the public he’s just the hot, charming, mysterious new priest. He meets Amaya at the strip club where she dances as Esmeralda and is convinced she really is the witch the townspeople say she is. He formulates a plan to off her for her temptation, but he still finds himself drawn to her. Meanwhile Parker has been blackmailing her, saying her mother left behind debts that is now Amaya’s problem.

This book has decent disability/neurodivergent representation in quinten, who is autistic. However, he kind of plays the “hunchback” character and if you know the story and will be triggered by bullying, maybe skip this one. Otherwise, I think Amaya is a great caretaker, most of the time. I would also suggest skipping if you have religious trauma, as cade had a rough childhood, growing up in an orphanage with abusive nuns.

This book touches on forbidden romance, religious taboo, temptation, obsession, possession, and vacillating moral compasses. Cade starts out morally black (although he wouldn’t call it that), using religion to purge evil as he saw fit. Then his obsession with Amaya was the only thing that drove him. Amaya has no shame or guilt about being an exotic dancer. She knows she’s not the witch everyone calls her. But as she spends more time with Cade, she slips into the darkness that surrounds him too. I would say this book is probably the darkest in the series. There are plenty of light moments with Quentin, but there is so much darkness and guilt when you read Cade’s pov. I really love Amaya’s character but Cade was not my favorite love interest we’ve had in this series for that reason. I wish he could’ve had some more fun or flirtation, but if you enjoy true obsession, you’ll like him. He is the type of MMC who will kill anyone who wrongs Amaya, and clean up her messes too. In the end, his only goal is to take care of her and quin. It’s more of a bittersweet ending than a true HEA. The extended epilogue that is available through the author’s website was also bittersweet and a nice wrap up for how Amaya, Cade, and quin moved forward.

This book is also less spicy than the others since it’s about a forbidden romance. It’s pretty descriptive but there aren’t a lot of scenes, and the scenes aren’t long. If you prefer tension to spice you’ll be happy.

I listened along to the audiobook while reading and I think that is the superior way to read this series because all of these men have accents that you don’t get otherwise. Cade’s narrator does a great job with his French accent! I also loved that Amaya had a deeper voice, as it fit her character. The audiobook didn’t have any discrepancies to the ebook like with the first 3 books in the series. I liked the book overall and it had some crazy plot twists I had no idea were coming! I may reread in the future, a few years from now if I forget the plot.

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