Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole

25 reviews

thrabenvaliant's review against another edition

challenging tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I have issues with this book related to how I like my characters to act and feel. I understand that it was objectively a good book, and I will read more of the author.

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raincheckandread's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

This book is almost a reflection of what the writing community learned over time regarding possessive heroes and lack of consent in romance books. The hero is unlikeable at the beginning and makes some unforgiveable mistakes, but he does learn over time. I would have liked a lot more groveling. This is a beloved series, so despite some of the cringey moments, I did like the world-building seen in this book. I look forward to continuing.

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anime917's review

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dark medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

paulasnotsosecretdiary's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Bananapants. I've been a listener of the Fated Mates podcast for two years (ish), and finally, I read this entry into the Immortals After Dark series. The plot is over the top, and the world-building is intriguing and engaging. At the start of the story, there are issues around consent that may make some readers uncomfortable. Still, the author incorporates the MMC's understanding of consent and boundaries in the MMC's emotional growth. For readers who are looking for a paranormal where the FMC finds her strength and voice as the central relationship evolves, this is a terrific option.

Content Warnings

gabibooksit's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was a total trip. So I knew it had problematic elements going in because it's been talked about in romance circles, but hot damn, y'all. I almost DNF'ed it at 50% because of the drinking incident. However, the world building and secondary characters were intriguing enough to keep me pushing through. I didn't super love Emmaline or Lachlain, but the world state Cole has built is fascinating. The ending also felt a little rushed, but I don't know where the second book picks up. I like the way she writes spicy scenes, it's just that several of them in this story are a little cringe because of the dynamic that's happening. Fingers crossed for the other books in the series.

Content Warnings

restlessreaderjay's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

3.5

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antimonium's review

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Starts off rough and has outdated ideas surrounding lack of consent, but after that is a quick read in an interesting universe.

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friends2lovers's review

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

4.0

Reread Review from December 2021

I picked this up to do a quick skim through while waiting for my holds on The Warlord Wants Forever and Dark Needs at Night's Edge to become available. I wanted to refresh my memory about some of the characters/events, since the books in this series overlap timelines. I became so engrossed that I stopped skimming and started rereading in earnest. I think having some idea of where this series was heading made it a much more enjoyable reading experience. So, I'm raising my rating to 4-stars. A couple of thoughts:

These books all have heroine-centric story arcs, which is not what I expected from a series with alpha heroes. In this, Lachlain has been imprisoned and tortured for the last 150 years by Horde vampires. But, the story doesn't focus on his escape and revenge. Instead, his character serves as a catalyst for Emma's character growth. Lachlain is a fairly static character, while Emma a dynamic character and undergoes a drastic transformation. I love the structure of these books - the hero finds his mate (or bride) which sets off a chain of events that ultimately leads to the heroine coming into her full powers.

This is kind of a road trip romance! Lachlain demands that Emma drive him to his castle in Scotland and a big chunk of the book is them on the road and sleeping in hotels.

I am not a fan of the Valkyrie as they were depicted in this book. I very much disliked how they babied and sheltered Emma. And they seemed to overreact to a lot of things. As a group, they're very eccentric and weird. I liked Kaderin in her book and I'm open to changing my mind about them as I progress through the series.

There are elements that may bother some readers, like dubcon and a tortured, violent, alpha hero. (Other content warnings are listed below.) Considering what Lachlain had just escaped from and that he found his mate at the same time, his extreme emotions, unstable mental state, and lashing out were understandable to me. I loved that, through dreams, Emma was able to experience what he went through and come to understand how much her happiness meant to him.

Original Review from March 2021

A Hunger Like No Other is the first full-length novel in the Immortals After Dark series. I have been wanting to explore the paranormal romance subgenre and figured I’d start with IAD since it’s so popular. Lachlain is a lykae (kind of like a werewolf) who has been imprisoned and tortured by vampires in the catacombs of Paris for the past 150 years. Emma is half vampire, half valkyrie and in Paris conducting research in the hopes of finding out the identity of her vampire father. When Lachlain catches a whiff of his mate, Emma, he escapes (by amputating his own leg!) and tracks her down.

Surprisingly I’m giving this a 2-star rating not because there were elements that particularly annoyed me or made me uncomfortable, but just because I found it kind of bland. ‘It was okay’ fits this really well. I started it 2 or 3 weeks ago and read bits and pieces every now and then. Which was probably not the best way to read it. I’ve said before that romances are best when they’re read over a short period of time (like a weekend). So, spreading it out probably negatively affected my perception of this.

There’s a lot of worldbuilding and introductions to characters that I should have paid more attention to. Especially since I do plan to try at least a couple more books in this series before deciding if I want to continue. I was too quick to dismiss all historical romances after trying and disliking Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series a couple of years ago. I don’t want to do the same with paranormal romances and judge the entire subgenre based on this series alone. I’m sure if IAD doesn’t work for me there are other series or authors that will. Crossing my fingers I like the other books in the series better.

_______________

Endnotes

Series: Immortals After Dark #1

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Setting: present day; Paris, France; Scotland; New Orleans, LA

Hero: Lachlain MacRieve, king of the lykae (werewolf)

Heroine: Emmaline Troy, vampire/valkyrie

Tropes/Themes: enemies to lovers, alpha hero, captor/captive, vampires and werewolves, fated mates, road trip, virgin heroine.

Length: 460 pages, 125k words

Read Date: first read - March 21, 2021; second read - December 13, 2021

Heat Rating: Medium-High

Flames: 3🔥🔥🔥

Density: 2.3📑📑📑

Intensity: 4💓💓💓💓

Burn Speed: 5💨💨💨💨💨

Overall: 3.5 (↑4)🌡️🌡️🌡️🌡️

Sex/Kink Notes:

dubious/non-consent, blood play (heroine is a vampire)

Sex Scene Details:

🔥Ch. 2, (I didn’t note the % into the book, but I’m assuming it was ≤ 10%), in the shower, dubcon, fingering, HJ O for him. ❌Ch. 3, noncon cunnilingus while she’s sleeping, she wakes and pushes him away. 🔥Ch. 13/14, frottage while she drinks blood from his neck, he comes in his pants. ❌Ch. 21, interrupted fingering and HJ. ❌Ch. 25, brief, incomplete BJ. 🔥Ch. 26, night of the full moon, cunnilingus (first O for her ever), doggy style, missionary, Os for both.

※ My star and heat ratings are explained → here

Content Warnings

folkofthebook's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This was an excellent choice to pull me out of a book slump. Dark paranormal romance with enemies to lovers & fated mates tropes. Off the bat, we get the Lore, a catalog of the paranormal creatures of this universe, ranging from vampires to Lykae to Valkyrie and others. I was immediately enthralled by the characters’ journeys, the lore, and the politics between the groups in contradiction to the couplings we begin to see. My only complaint is the book does seem to wrap up pretty neatly after I had expected an overarching plot through the series, but I’m guessing each book will feature different couples. I’ll certainly be picking up the next installment.

Spice: 4/5 (2 words: blood blowjob)
Check TWs (dubcon)

Content Warnings

eiraecoslett's review

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adventurous dark funny 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? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

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