Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

There Are No Saints by Sophie Lark

65 reviews

smcrain's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

This is a serial killer AU, and like most or almost all serial killer setups requires some suspension of disbelief. Reader must be ready to allow for some stretches like the police are incredibly incompetent, DNA and forensic science doesn't exist, people and bodies are easily unalived and disappeared with very little or no curiosity/questions or investigation. Okay that makes it sound terrible but I really love these kind of dark romances so I will allow it. I was invested enough to keep turning the page. Admittedly as an art school kid the characters all being artists gave me a huge laugh. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Stalking, and Death

Moderate: Kidnapping and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

serial killer AU, toxic MMC, obsessive MMC, possessive MMC

hapalyn's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

The book would've been a lot more riveting if the conflict and main point of plot wasn't so simple and somewhat bland. It definitely feels a lot more like a character study of a serial killer and his muse (much like "You", but without the intellectual charm). I found aspects to be really enjoyable and then found myself like "WTF did I just read", but not in a great way? I think the backstory of the FMC was a lot to unwind, and I enjoyed seeing her overcome some of it, but in the sexual manner that she did made some of it feel incredibly icky to me sometimes. I wish there had been more explanation of the MMC's nature than we were given. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Cursing, Torture, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Rape

hereiskyra's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

This was… different, to say the least. I’m finished and still not sold on Cole, though. Honestly, all of these characters range from a little bit fucked in the head to a lot fucked in the head and I don’t know who I even like. But I know I love effed up books and this one is no different. 

Mara went through some serious trauma before Cole got ahold of her (because of Cole, but that isn’t really the point here). Then, like any gentleman would, he inflicts more trauma on her because after all he is a psychopath and he doesn’t really need to worry about the lines he is crossing to get what he wants. 

I like the thriller/serial killer aspects of this book the most, definitely more than the overall romance between the two MC’s. Excited to see where we go from here.

Tropes/themes:
Stalker/Obsessive MMC

Spice: 🌶️🌶️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

rachelmoss2017's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Moderate: Stalking, Sexual content, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

kaalex12's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Murder, Stalking, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

olivia_k_wood's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Self harm, and Death

cash_mama's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

I wanted to like this book. Cole was supposed to be complicated but turned out so 1 dimensional. Mara was just kind of dumb through the whole thing. The book started great with Mara being so strong but the more she was built, the less interesting she got. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Classism, Kidnapping, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Mental illness

gottbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.5

I enjoyed this book. I feel like the characters are missing some character development that would really make me LOVE this book. Definitely dark. Check TW. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse

erinlaura's review against another edition

3.75

3.75⭐️ 

Warning, a couple spoilers lie ahead, but honestly, nothing much beyond what would have been listed in a list of trigger warnings if this book, y’know, had one. 

I have extremely mixed feelings about this book. I’ve read a few dark romances before that have been really solid, where usually one or both main characters do or have done bad things for some reason that’s explainable or justifiable, especially in the context of fiction. This is not one of those books. The MMC is a serial killer because he - get this - likes killing people, and the FMC is into him despite him leaving her for dead in the woods because she had ✨childhood trauma✨. No, seriously. This guy seems to be actively aware that he’s a bad person and doesn’t care for the wellbeing of others. He repeatedly reminds us that he does only things that bring him pleasure, and will literally do whatever he feels like doing. 

Despite all this I found myself morbidly curious about the plot and what was going to happen next. I was fascinated, and couldn’t bring myself to look away, even though the MMC, his “rival”, and the main “relationship” were seriously disturbing. I was definitely entertained in more of a thriller/horror kind of way than a romance. 

Lastly, for someone who seems so traumatized by her (objectively terrible) childhood, she really seems to bounce back fast from all the terrible things that happen to her throughout the course of this book. 

Also, PSA for any of you KU girlies, the cover with the snakes is the only one I had ever seen, and the one that's listed on KU, but when I used the very convenient "mark as currently reading" kindle feature, it set my goodreads edition to the "half-naked couple clinging to one another" cover

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Stalking, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, Gore, Confinement, and Body horror

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death, Bullying, Body shaming, and Self harm

The FMC gets kidnapped by the MMC's rival, is tortured by him, and left to die in the woods so that the MMC will find her and be tempted to kill her. Instead he leaves her for dead. It's super graphic, and then she just breezes past it. So, PSA

angiebanuelos's review

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, and Gore

Minor: Death of parent and Suicide