Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Gleam

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

lauravreads's review

adventurous dark lighthearted tense 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

4.5

Auren is one of the most frustrating protagonist I’ve ever read. I understand that she experienced trauma, gaslighting,manipulation, and abuse. Leaving your abuser is so hard and I don’t want to make light of the situation she was in. However, in a work of fiction (especially fantasy) I love character growth and when the protagonist becomes badass. With Auren, her character growth is so slow and stagnate. I was quite frustrated.

Also, what the fuck was the first sex scene with Slade? He pinched and pulled her clitoris?? Has Raven Kennedy ever rubbed one out? I was disgusted. It’s like describing a blow job with teeth scraping the shaft and calling it “hot”. 🤢🤮

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book. While frustrated, I did enjoy seeing Auren slowly become more independent. I blew through this book it was so captivating. (Especially the last 20%) I was DEVASTATED during the Dew/Ribbon scene. And when she finally gave in to her power 😱🤩🥳. It was probably the best action scene I’ve read in a while. I literally cannot stop thinking about it.

If she is not a 100% bad bitch by the end of Glow i’m fucking done with this series.

Jk im too invested and will read what ever Kennedy puts out.

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natticalore's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.25

No tengo mucho que decir de este libro. En contraste con los otros, este tiene un equilibrio perfecto entre trama y personajes. La trama avanza, y mucho, en comparación con el libro anterior. Sin embargo, no la veo tan desarrollada como la del primer libro, ni tan original tampoco. Eso no quita que no me haya gustado, porque he de admitir que ninguno de los plot twists que han habido me los esperaba.

Los personajes tambien tienen su equilibrio propio, porque seguimos teniendo a Rip, ahora también conocido como Slade Ravinger, una Auren consciente de que lo que ha sufrido a manos de Midas no es ni por asomo sano, y la Wrath de Slade, que siguen siendo tan maravillosos como antes. Pero también está Midas de nuevo, y con una actitud 500 veces peor que la que tenía en el primer libro, y mira que yo pensaba que era imposible. Y aparece también Malina en varios capítulos, los cuales, honestamente, me saltaba, porque no venía que aportaran mucho a la trama. Y además se ha vuelto una egocéntrica sedienta de poder tal y como cierto rey con una obsesión poco sana con el oro.

Pensaba leerme el siguiente libro ahora después, pero no le tengo tanta devoción a la saga como para leerme casi 800 páginas de Auren y Slade.

P. D.: Slade tiene una boca muy MUY filthy y no sé de donde ha salido porque en ningún momento ha dado señales de hablar así.

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forgottencupoftea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

The first two books are great, this third book is incredible! I'm now officially fully obsessed with this series and I will feel personally attacked if things end up going some type of way I don't like.

Gleam gives you all the great things that had been hinted at and scattered in Gild and Glint: great characters, a strong plot, an intricate political intrigue, slow burn romance, more plot twists/revelations and a journey towards self discovery.

Auren has slowly become one of my favourite heroines. She is a strong woman with warring/complex emotions, I've loved being able to experience firsthand (through her narration) the change in her thoughts, mindset. There's something incredible to the way she starts accepting herself and I'm weirdly proud of the fact that she starts embracing her true self.

I, obviously, loved Slade. He is such a good (actually! for real!) morally grey character and love interest. What a man! (fae?!) I wish we knew more about him, I hope we end up getting some of his background because there is so much potential when it comes to his psychology/history.

The romance between the two of them was to die for! The banter, the angst, the slow burn, the chemistry, the encouragement...honestly, I could have died. If you were waiting on the romance, wait no more, dinner is served!

There were also so many heart-wrenching, harrowing, tear-jerking moments. The last 20% or so of the book were an emotional rollercoaster. I finished the book late at night and I was a sobbing mess (if you know, you know).

I will end this by saying that there were a bunch of POVs I could not find myself interested in? Mainly Malina's? I do feel quite bad about it to be honest as I'm very aware that she's in the position she's in because, as a woman, she was essentially "put" there but good grief she's pretty shit herself?

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lynnette_reads's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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shannon_magee's review

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

2.0

Up until about 80% this book was reading as the best of the series so far (despite an aggressive amount of analogies in the writing that made it a struggle to read. You could tell they wanted to be lyrical and meaningful, perfect for a blurb or social media quote, but there were just too many of them and they were too extended, clunking up the narrative. The pace also seemed highly confused, which wound up contributing to a clunky narrative). Unfortunately, at around 84%, this book became a dumping ground for trauma porn. Extensive trauma porn, in an already unabashedly trauma-tastic series. And the payoff is never satisfying enough to make going through the gleefully awful events in this book worth it. Every time I read a book in this series, I’m excited by the potential of the premise and the characters, and every time the writing is overdone and the dramatics so heightened it just leaves be hollow and disappointed. I truly don’t understand why the romantasy community is so happy with this series.

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levesc17's review

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dark emotional tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

This has the most action and character development of all the books! All the trigger warnings.

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xlaurareads's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

screaming, crying, throwing up - this book was an absolute banger! i was anxious, i was sad, i was furious, happy, and completely torn apart. the character developmemt, the world-building, the plot twists - everything was amazing and thought through in greatest detail. the twist at the end of the book regarding midas? i wasn't expecting that and i was shocked to the bones. and the ending?

he deserved how auren ended him. every bit of it and more. i hate that bastard with all my heart.

the epilogue wasn't that much needed in my opinion although i greatly appreciate slade's perspective. and what i didn't like too much was the dirty talk. i mean, it was amazing..if it wasn't for the time this book is set in, that just didn't fit too well for me and disturbed my reading experience a teeny weeny bit. however, the book was so exceptional that i cannot for the life of me deduct points for this minor issue. this really might be new favorite series (and that means a lot after acotar had my heart for years).

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hannibanani29's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-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? No

5.0

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bryelle's review

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adventurous emotional tense fast-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

5.0

This is book three of the glint series. Auren does a lot of growing in this book. She is seeing her value and seeing that she needs to save herself. Auren is reunited with Midas and she start to see him for who he truly is. This book is long but worth it. Ends on another cliffhanger.

Auren falls more in love with Slade. She gets to see both sides of him. Auren learns to use her gold power even when it is not day time. Slade has to rot her to save her.

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