Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Credence by Penelope Douglas

57 reviews

booksalacarte's review against another edition

1.0

dark sad tense slow-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

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Credence- 1⭐️ 5🌶️

Contemporary Romance

Taboo Romance

Multi POV 

Small town

Polyamorous FMC

Tw: suicide, parental death, SA, Rape, emotional abuse, physical abuse, pedophilia, predatory behavior, grooming a minor

The start of this book is interesting. A 17yo, raised by her parent’s assistant, looses her narcissist parents to suicide and goes to live with her step uncle in the middle of nowhere… but then the FMC turns 18 and things take a turn that I knew was coming, but by the end I felt like I was reading a train wreck I wanted to just finish and be done with. I think the setting was the only thing I enjoyed about the story. The rest just was a giant red flag. I think I kept reading because I was interested in how the situation could be sustainable enough to be considered a happily ever after.

This… was not the book for me. I don’t enjoy reading about the romantic couples abusing each other. I don’t consider that romance.

All of the characters were sad and depressing. There wasn’t a single person in this book that knew what joy or contentment looked like. Every single person in this book needed interventional therapy. The men were all misogynistic and gross. And once they had their “turn” they basically disappear from the plot . How? What? 

The POV shifts were fine, but the 1 POV from the MMC (who is barely in the book other than SA/R scenes) was written to make his internal monologue sound like an absolute psychopath. 

 This was definitely a “taboo romance”. Although there was not really anything romantic about it. The girl sleeps with her step-uncle and step-cousins, who are supposed to be alpha males, but didn’t get possessive when it came to their own family. Nope. The spice was very disjointed and flipped on and off like a switch. It read more like Stockholm syndrome. The only character that showed her any type of romance was her pedophile step-uncle. 

As if it could get any worse, it was over written. There is more than enough plot with the step-family…. Absolutely no other plot tools were needed to add to the drama. 

Thank you NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing Group for the Advanced eReader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

s3vn's review against another edition

3.25

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Well.. if ignoring the sexism, gaslighting, predatory behaviour,  toxic possessiveness, non-consent and the fact that the main character is 17-18… it was okay. i liked the main character, but the guys were a bunch of toxic assholes tbh. Still, the writing and plot was quite alright. I even cried at one point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Drug abuse, Terminal illness

eunbee's review against another edition

1.0

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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GIRL THAT IS YOUR COUSINNNNN. AND YOUR UNCLEEEEEEE.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Gaslighting

jsilva09's review against another edition

4.0

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Abandonment

caitlinreads123's review against another edition

2.0

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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wtf was that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment

readingwmadds's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 83%

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Rape, Sexual violence

Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship

geooo's review against another edition

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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This was the worst book I read in my entire life. 1 star is too much for this bad excuse of a book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment

itsnotri's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Hard read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent

alaynacp's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I’m not sure how I feel about this book. I only read it because of BookTok. It was interesting to say the least. 

A lot of things bothered me such as the very toxic relationships she has with all of them. I wasn’t too fond of her relationship with Jake. I’m still not sure why she was in love with Kaleb. Especially after he treated her the way he did. I didn’t enjoy the small amount of sexual violence. The spicy parts were very well written but I didn’t enjoy the actual story it was telling. To be honest, I’m not actually sure what the story was supposed to be about other than this young girl and her reverse haram.

All that being said, I think if you love dark romance, this is the perfect book for you. Others, proceed at your own risk.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Pregnancy

britnidudley's review against another edition

1.0

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest

Moderate: Sexism, Suicide