Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Coven by Harper L. Woods

57 reviews

xalrynne's review

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

2.75

I don’t normally read dark romance books, but I recently met this author and after talking with her for a few minutes, I felt bad that I hadn’t read any of her books because she was very nice and I enjoyed getting to know her. She pitched The Coven to me as “gothic dark academia with witches and vampires set in Salem” and told me how she started writing it on her trip to Salem one year. That honestly sounded like something I’d enjoy so here I am giving it a try. 

I really enjoyed the beginning: the setup, the setting, the magic, and getting to know the characters. Willow was a total badass and I was so glad to see a strong female main character that doesn’t immediately swoon for the hot vampire the first time she sees him. She’s protective of her younger brother and puts that before her own safety. Reading about siblings who love each other has a soft spot in my heart because I am an only child who always wanted siblings. 

The book up until 60% was really enjoyable for me. The worldbuilding was lacking a little bit, but the story and the setting and Willow’s character made up for that. Then the dark “romance” started to come in to play (nothing about what Gray did was romantic to me). Gray and Willow went from enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers to enemies. He lied to her and gaslighted her, and there was some dubious consent involved. I knew about this when I started the book because there’s a handy list of trigger warnings in the beginning. I honestly didn’t have an issue until about the 60% mark though, and then things started to get a little uncomfortable for me to read when the spicy scenes started to come into play. 

Once I reached the 85% mark, the story became a bit unhinged, and the ending was quite messy. The plot went in directions I didn’t expect (not in a good way), and I was left feeling disappointed with how much I didn’t like the ending of the book because I liked the beginning so much. 

Overall, I’m still convinced dark romance isn’t for me, even if there’s a gothic fantasy setting and cool magic and a strong female lead that I like. If you like the dark romance fantasy subgenre though, and you like lots of angst, then you will probably enjoy The Coven. I don’t plan on reading the sequel or any other books by this author, but I am glad I tried this one at least. 
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spacelazor's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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sammyloureads's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

“𝙄𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙤𝙨.”

MAN OH MAN. THIS BOOK. I was hooked from the very beginning, I binge read and finished it within a day. One of my favorite reads of 2024 so far, but I am a sucker for dark paranormal romance.

Can we talk about our MMC Gray?? 😮‍💨 He's everything I want in a morally grey man. The tension and chemistry between him and Willow was sizzling. And Willow is a baddie herself!! She's a fierce FMC and I love that she stands for what she believes in. The character development, world building, and magic system were all great. It’s fast paced and I also appreciate that. I had zero complaints with this book and the cliffhanger had me SCREAMING. 

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀:
🔮 age gap (headmaster and student) 
🔮 enemies to lovers 
🔮 dark academia  
🔮 secret identities
🔮 witches, vampires, demons 

𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: This is a dark paranormal romance with gothic vibes and a dark academia setting. The male lead in this series is pushy and domineering. He goes beyond the typical morally gray variety and is an actual villain who gets his HEA. Triggers include dubious consent, forced feeding, graphic violence, rough and explicit sexual content, restraint, forced proximity, betrayal, references to past abuse, knife violence, graphic depictions of blood, and physical harm inflicted upon the main character.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!
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ceruleanorchid's review

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challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • 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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googles's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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direguard's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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melaniegrace91's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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juniveve's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Character building and world building amazing. How those characters vibe together wrecked it for me. 
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ettan's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It's very NSFW and the female lead feels annoying at times. Very typical Hate-lovers relationship with a lead they try to paint as "strong and independent".  Even when the female lead "wins" she loses or is tricked, feels a bit annoying and shallow.  I wish the side-characters got more attention, but the NSFW elements and situations take the main focus. It has interesting world-building that gets a bit rushed and reduced background draping.

Still a fun read (But take it with a grain of salt since I read this when I was in France without internet)
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plumsmile89's review

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dark mysterious 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

2.5

I'm going to keep reading to finish the series, but son far nothing to write home about. Choppy writing, weirdly formulated sentences that didn't really hold my attention. More than once I found myself going back to re-read because suddenly something was happening and I thought I had missed the start of it. 
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