Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa

41 reviews

kellicat94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

jen1804's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

My overall feeling having finished book one of The Bargainer series is ‘hmm that was kind of a weird read’. I really, really enjoyed the set up and the first few chapters where the reader starts to learn about Callie’s past versus what she’s up to now.
The age of Callie when she first meets the bargainer and starts spending so much time with him is a little problematic, why couldn’t Laura Thalassa have made Callie a few years older and that whole problematic-veering-on-the-line-of-child-grooming-thing could have been avoided. I get that Callie refers to him as acting like a nun around her when she’s younger etc etc and nothing technically ever happens between them until he returns later on when she’s 24, and it’s explained that the moment they met he knew she was his mate which is why he kept coming back to spend so much time with her, but that he wouldn’t let himself touch her because she was so young - so guy’s obvs got standards, but it still feels a bit morally grey to me.
The plot itself is kinda bizarre, I don’t feel as though there was quite enough world building or character development along with the narrative for the plot to wholly work. Everything seemed to happen so very quickly! There wasn’t enough detail in the scenes for me to fully grab hold of time passing or relationships growing or fear building etc. it all felt really rushed, when the equilibrium becomes disrupted for example, it’s not for very long.
I’m not in love with Callie/Des’ relationship the same way I am with other book couples because I just don’t feel I have enough depth from the characters yet. I will continue with the series though and will see how things progress.
Satisfactory ending? Meh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol

Forced pregnancy

hannibanani29's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia and Slavery

booksofautumn's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Slavery, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

abbs15norm's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

rachelcabbit's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

This book has some sizzling chemistry between our protagonist, Callie, and The Bargainer. There is good banter, some fluffy scenes and slow some dark snd possessive moments as to be expected when the love interest is part of the fae.
It flashes between present and past, building the relationship between our protagonists but also has an intriguing mystery plot. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

ka_ke's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

Don’t expect much in the way of plot, but

the children definitely creeped me tf out!

 

The spice is there but it’s not nearly as good as it is hyped to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

abby_blackbeak's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I liked the romance in this book, it was very well done; if a bit unoriginal. But the plot, the big problem in the book was not something I was entirely comfortable reading. Defiant check the content warnings. I also found the world building lacking but i didn’t really mind.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

crystallis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

This book is ok, but the saga doesn’t wake up my interest. 

Rhapsodic was predictable, it truly was. Also it was kind of vague with its explanations.

But at the end of the day, it has good pacing and I devoured it in less than a day.

The past story between both of the protagonists was making me mad  at times. Every time the girl asked for a bargain I wished I was there to tell her “girl, please stop”.

The present story was alright, basic, but alright. I felt like I had read it before.

The autor does a great job at using back and fourth between timelines and it makes the relationship between them interesting. I liked the way the sexual tension was build up.

The problematic was weak and it was resolved with an even weaker explanations.

I know I sound like a hater, but none of what I mentioned change my experience with the book. As I said before, I devoured it and enjoyed it.

I liked that our main girl was a siren, I thought she had cool powers and was a badass at her job.

Sadly I’m not motivated enough to follow the series.

The spice is good tho, those are extra points.

Read you all later.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

lorereads's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is good if you are looking for a light read with an amount of dark romance. This book touches on a lot of sensitive subjects so it is not for everyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Gore and Torture