Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

111 reviews

sophiebe's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Cursing, Death, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Torture, Body horror, Car accident, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual violence, Stalking, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Child death, Child abuse, and Gore

vireya's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

It was SO GOOD. TikTok lead me to believe it would just be some super fucked up Stockholm syndrome sexcapade, but in truth the story itself was actually very compelling and there’s only one scene where she well and truly doesn’t consent and even then you could make an argument for it if you wanted to. The rest is all very much consensual non consent. And that is a very common kink. It isn’t for everyone, but it’s very common and I didn’t feel like it was super overdone. I’ve definitely read more romance novels that have sex just tossed in for the sake of having it. This was built into the story very well and did a very good job of highlighting the developing relationship between Addie and Zade as she gets to know him. I appreciate that the screwed up nature of developing a relationship with her stalker is something Addie frequently chastises herself for. It’s written in a way that doesn’t feel like she’s developed Stockholm syndrome and at one point she says

she’s the worst possible person to have a stalker because she already knows she’s attracted to that sort of thing before he even came into the picture

. And I love her side of the story as she works through her feelings and tries to figure out what happened with her great grandmother. I love the mirror effect and how she’s seeking her own answers to the conflict she feels toward Zade in her great grandmother’s past. I thought it was really well done. The story was compelling and intriguing beyond just this strange developing relationship between them.

Update: I actually reread the series about a month and a half later and loved it just as much the second time around  so I upped my rating

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death, Sexual assault, Torture, Gore, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Child abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

It is very dark. If you are squeamish in the slightest this book is not for you.

shebooksy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Stalking, and Misogyny

Moderate: Violence, Child abuse, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

Minor: Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Torture, and Child death

karlyjo's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

1.0

very conflicted with my rating for this book. did i stay up until 3am to finish it? yes. did the mystery element have me turning the pages like crazy? yes. for that reason it should be a 3-4star rating  BUT I cannot stand the countless times God was painted in a false light and Satan was glorified. Also Zade hates rapists and pedophiles but he rapes her but it’s okay because she ended up liking it? and he called her little girl while doing it? no. the spice was the majority of the book and had my jaw on the floor but despite me flying through this book i can’t rate it more than one star for those reasons. also the ending had my stomach twisting with the elevated form of child sacrifice and pedophilia and the dark part of the dark romance became a little too much for me. did i have a unique and fast reading experience? yes. could i ever in my right mind recommend this book to anyone? no. even though it was thrilling and the spice scenes were… on another level… at the end of the book i felt like i never should have picked it up in the first place. yet i’m curious to read the second but i don’t think i will anytime soon. or maybe ever. everyone in this book needs major therapy 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Stalking, Torture, Vomit, Blood, Cursing, Murder, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Violence, Body horror, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Car accident, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Trafficking, Child abuse, and Death

wlambert0412's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Torture, and Cursing

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Trafficking, Child abuse, Rape, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, Alcoholism, Car accident, Child death, and Misogyny

readyforit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

3.5⭐️4🌶️
This is a dark, dark, dark romance that involves non-consensual sex scenes between FMC and MMC, her stalker. Do not read if you are not in the right headspace or have any of the triggers mentioned. I don’t think anyone should read this unless their frontal lobe has developed.. maybe not even then. It’s especially heavy on child sex trafficking. These parts were hard to read through. Honestly idk how to feel about the non-con relationship. You know it’s obviously wrong but you find yourself rooting for the antagonist in the end, trying to find any sort of silver lining. It’s like I got Stockholm syndromed too. I generally liked the plot, and I’ll read the sequel since it ended on a cliffhanger, but I probably won’t reread due to the intense dark themes. I’ve read dark romances before and they’ve always come with a little fluff to balance out the spice and darkness. This didn’t really feel like a romance to me, it was all based on her fear. There’s dark romance, and then there’s this book. I’d say MMC leans further black on the morally gray scale. If you took the “romance” out of this, it would be more of a thriller/mystery, so it got stars for that bc I liked that part of the plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Rape, Stalking, Blood, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Child death, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcohol, Mental illness, and Infidelity

Minor: Vomit

guns are used in spicy scenes, not just bc the character has a violent job

jareadforfilth's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

This book was basically a struggle the whole way through. Is the subject matter dark af and super messed up? Of course, we been knew that so like, no reason to act brand new here. While the whole Stockholm syndrome campaign aspect is not the healthiest of love stories, my problems with this book extend to the basics: storytelling and writing.

The constant back and forth between Adeline and her stalker got old pretty fast and

when she finally and soOoOooo shockingly succumbs and starts falling for him it’s just like… honestly pretty boring? Like I was just so over it by that point. The complete hypocrisy and not-so-lowkey chauvinism of Zade which thankfully is addressed in the book is also so exasperating.

This book is honestly high camp in a lot of ways but I don’t think it was trying to be. It’s super melodramatic in a way that honestly reminded me a lot of anime. Zade as a character is just like, so extreme physically and personality-wise that it just became kind of laughable. Like the book kind of feels like something your h*rny suppressed friend in high school would write lol

To end on a positive note after this mild evisceration, the spice is pretty hot and when it hits it hits for sure! Otherwise it’s just kinda like ok whatever 😂 also the cliffhanger is fun and seems to bode much better for the plot in book 2 than book 1. That said, and I’m so torn about it, I *intend* on reading the second because y’all are all so hype, but we’ll see because this was just not it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gore, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Violence, Trafficking, and Body horror

Moderate: Alcohol and Car accident

emrosesam's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Torture, Trafficking, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Minor: Car accident

madds61's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexism, Stalking, Rape, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Blood, Trafficking, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Car accident, Kidnapping, Murder, Misogyny, Infidelity, and Gun violence

corallydeer's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

One of my new favorite books. The subject matter is definitely very dark and people should absolutely be aware of that before trying to read these books. At least for me, the subject matter wasn't enough to turn me off, and in reality, I truly loved both the story and the author's style overall. Carlton has a wonderful writing style that flows exceptionally well and still feels completely natural. I constantly found myself enthralled and reading for hours on end with ease. Addie, as a character, was a bit annoying at first but I got used to her personality over time and I loved Zade and Daya (Addie's best friend).

Very curious now to see how I'll handle the second book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Sexual content, Blood, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Cursing, Child death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Murder, Rape, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Confinement, Grief, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Slavery

Minor: Pregnancy, Vomit, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcoholism

The amount of content warning tags makes it hard to explain them all, so for simplicity's sake

this is a dark, stalker romance with violent vigilantism around taking down child and adult human trafficking (for everything from sex trafficking, pedophile rings, organ trade, ritualistic sacrifice and cannibalism)

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