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psyched_np's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
anastashamarie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
⚠️ Please, for the love of God, heed the trigger warnings at the beginning of this book. The sexual violence, regular violence/torture, and emotional pain throughout this book are all incredible detailed and gruesome. This tips the needle toward vantablack on the darkness scale, and I think it could be damaging for a lot of people if they aren't properly prepared.⚠️
If the first book is a top-rated professional haunted attraction, this one was McKamey fucking Manor. 🏚️🕷️ Something that I, as a major horror fan, would get sucked into, but then wonder "wtf did I do that for?" Haunting Adeline (#1) was an intense, dark story but at its core, but it still felt safe. Uncomfortable at times, fairly violent, but still alluring and still controlled. Hunting (#2) most definitely is not like that. I've seen other reviewers call it unhinged, and that's a good descriptions. I would also describe it as disturbing, painful, and real-life scary.
"Part One" of this was especially difficult to read. The author said she was trying to acknowledge the genuine horror of human trafficking, and this definitely makes you feel all of the fear, sadness, and confusion that's appropriate if that was her goal. But honestly, I think it was a little too well-done which takes me to my biggest issues with this book.
😖 First, I felt like I had to emotionally dissociate so hard from the first half of the book that the second half just seemed flat and a little ridiculous to me. If you've ever been a part of any adrenaline-inducing event, traumatic or not, you know that the effects of the cortisol can only really affect you for so long. Eventually your nervous system levels out, and you just sort of go numb. Not that you don't care, but the feelings get blunted so that you can move instead of being stuck in crisis. Since this book is so long, I hit that numb point right around the time that Addie and Zade reunited. Though this definitely helped me to relate to Addie, it didn't make for the reading experience I had hoped for, especially with how enjoyable the first one was beginning to end.
🤨 Second, I can't help but put my therapist hat on here, and say that the "healing" part of Addie's journey did not seem realistic or healthy. I get it, this is a dark romance where he fell in love with her stalker, it's not supposed to be healthy. But if we are going to go for emotional realism for the terrible stuff Addie faced, let's go for emotional realism for the recovery as well. I wish there was more showing of the easing into normal life that she and Zade needed to do. I wish that there was more of a focus on Addie and Zade BOTH growing from this experience together and growing closer, not just that Addie changed. There was a lot of justifying how Zade was better/different than the people who kidnapped and abused Addie. Though I'm okay with the dark relationship that Zade and Addie had, it almost felt like the human trafficking plotline existed to show that that Zade "wasn't that bad" instead of him really examining how he could also be different/better.
(Also, please don't try to brute force yourself or your partner to just do things that feel scary or uncomfortable one of you is traumatized. It will do more harm than good.)
🌹 But then this book turns around in Part Two, after all the trauma, and gives me such interesting development for Addie. I'm a sucker for a training-to-literally-murder-your-demons empowerment arc. The humor comes back that I loved in the first book. The spicy scenes are still A+ work.
Idk man, this book put me through the wringer. Read it if you can handle it, I guess? But also maybe schedule time for self-care after the fact.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Slavery, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Please read the content warnings at the beginning on the book. This is a very graphic, disturbing story with great detail of trauma the main character facesxlaurareads's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
before starting to read this book, you definitely need to check the trigger warnings and proceed with caution. this one isn't an easy read and tackles a lot of triggering topics. if you're not in the mental state to read this book, please just let it be and stay safe.
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
imogencooper20's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
acajames's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
laura_rheads_too_much's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Murder
This is very hard to read in places - please read the trigger warnings before reading_mad_reads_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
bekand1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail