Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Tryst Six Venom by Penelope Douglas

43 reviews

booklovinmamas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’ve had Tryst Venom Six on my TBR since it was first released back in 2021. When Penelope Douglas announced it was getting published and getting a new cover, I had to make time to sneak this book into my reading schedule. This isn’t my first bully romance from Penelope Douglas, but it is my first FF Romance from them, and I devoured it just like I’ve done with their other books. 

This book made me go through so many emotions while reading it, but I already expected it since it’s a bully romance. I also expected it since it’s a book written by Penelope Douglas, and they are always making my emotions go haywire. The bully in this book, Clay Collins, made me not like her at first because of how mean she was to Olivia ‘Liv’ Jaeger. Clay is the popular, good girl who does no wrong and gets everything she wants, while Liv is the girl on the opposite side of the track who just wants to graduate high school and leave Clay behind. I loved Liv because she dished back what Clay would do to her. Some of the scenes between Liv and Clay were brutal, though, especially when Clay’s so-called friends were involved, but Liv had her five brothers who were sometimes there to protect their sister. Liv could handle herself, though, and I loved how she wasn’t going to let the bully win. 

I may not have liked Clay Collins at first, but she started growing on me after I found out what was going on with her internally while reading her POV. She has anger issues and is still dealing with the grief of losing a loved one. You would think her parents would be there for her and notice what’s going on with her, but they are dealing with their own issues. She also felt pressured to be someone she wasn’t and she saw Liv being her true self, not caring what people thought.

I loved Liv because she was the complete opposite of Clay, who knew what she wanted in life and didn’t hide herself. She was also determined, outspoken, and a fighter. She had lost loved ones, too, but she had a great support system with her five brothers, who I can’t believe our getting their book. 

This is a slow-burn romance, so there’s a lot of angst and emotion before the two characters eventually get together, but I was on the edge of my seat with anticipation the whole time. I saw the signs of the two becoming something more, and these two were definitely meant to be together. Liv helped Clay find herself and even healed her through her grief and everything else that was happening in her life. Clay became a very likable character, especially at the end and what almost happened to Liv.  

The beginning of the book did take me some time to get through, but the second part had me hooked. I needed Clay and Liv’s happily ever after, and Penelope did a phenomenal job with their story, especially in the epilogue. 

I give this book four stars and can’t wait to read Liv’s brothers’ book. I can’t wait to read everything Penelope writes this year. =) They are one of my auto-buy authors. 

If you enjoy reading a spicy, new adult, FF Bully Romance story, then this book is a must-read. 

This book does have some challenging scenes regarding the bullying aspect, so it may not be for everyone, so I recommend checking the TW. 

Trope(s)/Element(s):
✓High School Bully Romance
✓Enemies to Lovers
✓Opposite Sides of the Track

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Sexual content

Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Minor: Abortion and Suicide

becca303's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Outing, and Sexism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Cancer, Child death, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Misogyny, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Grief, Hate crime, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Eating disorder

offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

It should be illegal to put an 18+ warning on a book that revolves around teenage characters. It should also be illegal to write a threesome that features two adult brothers and a teenage girl. Also this is definitely Riverdale fan fiction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Bullying, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Violence, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, and Suicide

lydialou419's review against another edition

emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Let me start by saying I'm a pretty big fan of Penelope Douglas. While I did thoroughly enjoy this book, I just didn’t enjoy it as much as some of her others! 

I had a really hard time empathizing with the “bully” character in this bully romance. I do think Douglas did a great job illustrating some very real conflicts certain communities face and I loved that she did that! 

Overall, it was a nice journey of self discovery. Would definitely recommend to a friend.

As always, check your trigger warnings before reading. 

Happy Reading 😮‍💨📚

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Bullying, Homophobia, Hate crime, and Classism

Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Body shaming

Minor: Terminal illness, Cancer, Abortion, and Suicide

bookishchaos's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.5

Ok so I've got VERY mixed feelings about this one. Really wanted to love it but this book had so many flaws.

First off, I get this was Penelope Douglas's first time writing a F/F love story but she wrote these female characters like alpha males (I've seen other reviews talking about this as well).

Spoilers ahead (very minor tho)

Some of the spicey scenes were icky and cringe. Like weirdly aggressive and forced? Not to mention the book started out with Olivia being underage which felt super unnecessary. Yuck.

Clay also treats Olivia like trash until like 70% into the book. I'm aware this was a bully-romance but the toxicity of this relationship was unrealistic and eye rolling.

Overall the book wasn't awful but wasn't fantastic. It had so much potential but too many flaws which is why I wouldn't recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, and Sexual assault

Minor: Death of parent, Suicide, Violence, and Abortion

ghostie333's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

I overall really enjoyed this book. A lot of spice, not the most graphic but still good. The only thing I have to complain about really is the high school aged characters. Reading graphic sex between high schoolers is a bit off putting to me. But I still found it to be a very good book. Definitely one of my favorite reads this year, I flew through it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Homophobia, Child death, and Death

Minor: Sexual assault and Abortion

annoyingtwig'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

little debauchery is so fun sometimes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Bullying, and Homophobia

Moderate: Child death, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Sexual assault, Violence, Alcohol, and Death

Minor: Abortion and Death of parent

sydsmith23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual content, Death, Sexual assault, and Violence

archiveofrasa's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

the best way I can describe this is a wattpad straight teen fiction book but for the lesbians (finally(?)).
for the girls that don't know, that means:

• juvenile writing
• questionable plots
• too long
• sex scenes (4 to be exact, you judge if that is too much or enough)
• a rollercoaster ride

I'm just gonna dump my thoughts into a less put-together manner, starting off with my grievances:

• the bullying. I have never liked the bullying trope but I knew what I was getting into at least, so I can't personally complain, but I do want to make it clear that Clay is a piece of shit at the beginning
• classism galore but that is essentially the foundation of their enemies relationship, sprinkled in with gay denial from Clay. with classism comes racism because intersectionality. yes Liv and her family are like a fucking quarter Cuban but she's got an olive skin tone (my skin tone) and if you know the issues Latine people face being in the USA... yeah. do with that what you will 
• Liv pressuring Clay to come out like girl how many times do I have to see this plotline

but it did remind me of the fiction I read when I was younger and surrounded by straight couples so it's probably nostalgia talking to me haha

and I did very much appreciate the certain topics discussed, such as:

• lesbians being seen as predatory by straight girls
• the social construct of virginity
• men fetishising lesbians

like, even if this is just a trashy story that people love to read, at least it is sending out a few well-written messages to its audience.

also, that plot twist with Callum, genuinely did not see that coming. that man became just a little more interesting but he's still a fuckass douche

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, Sexual content, and Classism

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death and Abortion

yotsuba's review against another edition

5.0

I was afraid to begin this book based on the reviews but its a bully romance idk what people expected. 
I really enjoyed it, the tension was here and everything, I read it in one sitting

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Bullying, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Child death and Suicide