Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Hideaway by Penelope Douglas

37 reviews

dkgreads's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• 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

3.0

For a book that’s supposed to be about Kai, it sure seemed like it was more about Damon than anything. It was also really sloooooooow. And there was, like, ZERO chemistry between Kai and Banks. This one didn’t really do it for me. On to the next I guess…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Mental illness, Murder, Death of parent, Rape, Self harm, Pedophilia, and Animal cruelty

anyakdh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

1.75

mmh would have been 2 if I liked banks I did like the start of the book highlighting how much Kai has changed and then it was never addressed again the only thing that kept me gking was Damon I’m so interested in his character and WILLL he was so quiet I can’t wait to step into his mind but yeah no this book was boring 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Grief, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, and Death of parent

curicastic's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

THIS WAS A JOURNEY, PEOPLEEEEEEEEEE. 

PSA: This is a dark book and I went into it knowing that. They're not my fave books but I read them once in a while.

I  liked this one. Kai Mori is more balanced than Michael (First Book), and so he had more interesting feature instead of JUST being an asshole. 

And Can we talk about Nikova Banks? Girl... I need to take you to therapy YESTERDAY. I felt awful for her the whole book. Damon is a piece of shit. 

I sense a Penelope Douglas pattern here... this book could've been 100 pages less. The mystery wasn't really misterious, I'm beginning to think that Douglas is just a little too in love with her ideas and repeats them a lot. It's still good, but I think it'd be a stronger book if it was filtered (not the evil/fucked up stuff, but the editing standpoint where you don't overstretch your scenes and plot devices.).

For Example, Banks being Damon's daughter was an interesting fact... for the first few dozen scenes. But when you freaking pull it until the (almost) whole book? It gets repetitive and low key boring. Michael not telling him? Weird.

I'm honestly worried about book 3... I don't think I can like Damon after all he's done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Abandonment

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Addiction

francess_m's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Drug abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Kidnapping

aichaa's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault

Minor: Pedophilia, Incest, Animal cruelty, and Rape

fevalente's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Child abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Self harm and Rape

midnightrose_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Hideaway is the second book in the Devil’s Night series. Its Kai Mori and Banks story. The journey of me reading this book is a interesting one. I like Kai a lot but only thought Banks was an okay character. I know some people don’t like the heroine from the first book (Erika), but I actually like that character and think that Banks is actually a much more unlikeable character. Obviously, the way she grew up was really unfortunate, but there was chunks of the story where I couldn’t stand that characters personality. The way that Kai and Banks meet is intriguing, but they don’t have me in the absolute chokehold as Michael and Erika did in Corrupt over their entire book. I also didn’t buy that Banks fell in love with Kai given the fact that she was so resistant towards him for a good portion of the book. In lust with him, sure. They have physical chemistry and I think Kai comes to care for her as the story goes on, but them being in love is a stretch. Near the end of the book it felt like they were getting to know each other more which could lead to the love, but didn’t  feel convincing at the time when they said their ‘I love you’s’. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Rape, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

dianasofia8's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Violence

milf101's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Incest, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Violence, and Toxic relationship

ladylovestead's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This is the second book in the devil's night series. You do need to read the first book in the series to understand what is happening in this one. It helps to read the first one as well because Rika and Michael are in this one and you get to enjoy seeing their relationship develop a bit more. This romance focuses on Kai and Banks. Banks is one of the most interesting characters I've read about in a long time. I absolutely loved her and she is one of my top favorite characters of all time. Her transformation in this story was so wonderful, and this would have been a great book if that's all it was, but it was more than that. Not only did we see this wonderful character transformation in Banks, but we get to know Kai and see how he struggles with this inner battle between the dark and light parts of himself. The book also has thriller elements with the storyline about Damon that continues from the first book. This was a great read if you like dark romance and I'm excited to read book 3! I don't like to share triggers because some find them to be spoilers, but if you need to know triggers, do look them up before reading.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Stalking, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment, Blood, and Murder