Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Gild by Raven Kennedy

47 reviews

mikasana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-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

2.75

I am terribly conflicted on what to rate this. I went into this completely blind. I was only a few pages in when my first reaction was just a loud expletive.

And while I couldn’t put the book down, I felt my skin crawl the entire time I was reading this. It was disgusting, offensive, misogynistic, devious and just had a general… sense of utter depravity. Check your trigger warnings because this entire book felt like one giant, heaping pile of red flags.

But again, I couldn’t put it down despite how uncomfortable I felt. It was like watching a car crash in slow motion — you feel your lowest for looking but you can’t look away either. That’s how I felt for 90% of this. I still feel pretty icky.

While I can confidently say I will probably never reread this again purely because of the content, I am very much interested in what will happen next.

This is NOT the book for everyone. This one is going to be a book you either hate or it becomes a guilty pleasure. I think I am the latter if only because I like what happens from here on out. Despite the content I was thoroughly entranced the whole way so I will give credit where credit is due.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Sexism, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Violence, Death, Murder, Sexual violence, and Torture

Minor: Bullying

ntanash's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying

poempelnator's review against another edition

DNF 69%
I was straight up not having a good time.
I don't need fiction, if I wanna read about women being degraded and humiliated.

I didn't wanna judge too soon so I watched a summary/recap of the next two books so I can assume - it does not get better.
Even if you'd say "oh but it's dark fantasy so you're just weak" I think it's not well written. It's not intriguing. I don't care for the characters. I wasn't entertained.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Bullying, and Sexual content

sthesp_2024's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

I hated the characters a lot during this whole book, but all the time but a lot of people did very dumb things… though I can find the love for everyone on there own rights… 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Bullying, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse

itsbrianascall's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Bullying, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Death, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Misogyny, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

lily_is_trying_to_read's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

the writing was quality but the plot was nothingness unfortunately. I think it might develop in the next book... we shall see

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and War

jeez it was all a bit unnecessary.... lots of bad stuff

samskiejo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Confinement, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Death

Minor: Body shaming

azapolya's review against another edition

dark sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

jenminicricket's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I definitely plan to continue this series. I am intrigued by the premise and hopefully that the future books in the series will be fit my reading style a bit better. Of course the genre that it is, there are plenty of red flags a waving everywhere, but we seemed to creep through the plot. It is definitely a character focused book, but I would have loved a few more answers and something a but stronger to pull me through the slower cadence of the novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Gaslighting, Violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

spaghettii's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Kidnapping, Murder, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Physical abuse, Rape, Trafficking, Violence, War, Cursing, Infertility, and Torture