Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

How to Bite Your Neighbor and Win a Wager by D.N. Bryn

22 reviews

nat_kiverse's review against another edition

dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Sexual content, Drug use, Gaslighting, Death, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Alcohol, Confinement, Bullying, and Gun violence

booksbutmakeitgay's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Blood, Gore, Violence, Self harm, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Mental illness

rai_ishardtoplease's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

3.75

“‘Is the hallway floor the best place for this conversation?’

‘Anywhere we are is the best place, I think.’”

Well. That was mildly depressing.

Is this a Thing? I know emotional damage is a hallmark of queer fanfic, but did I somehow miss the memo that this was the dress code for all queer literature? 

(No, really. That’s a genuine question. I could make a career out of staying out of the loop atp)

Oh, and am I the only one questioning the title? I mean, it doesn’t not work. The wager part is a little misleading—unless it’s actually not and I’ve just read way too many shitty hs/college romances—but ig it’s noteworthy enough by the end to warrant referencing. 

But neighbors?

It would take all of 15 minutes to edit that detail out of the story entirely, but that’s what we’re latching onto here??

Idk how I feel about the Vitalis-Barron conflict being left unresolved… but then again, if I had to choose between my queers being happy-enough or somewhat-satisfied-6ft-under, this would be my preferred ending 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Blood, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Minor: Medical content, Stalking, Violence, Kidnapping, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm

Chronic illness refers to vampirism. Racism also (mostly) refers to vampirism.

thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

4.0

I read this in an evening and it was exactly the fluff I needed. These two are idiots and I love them for it. I'm so excited there will be another book in this world!

CW: non-consensual biting, blood, violence, medical experimentation, medical content, bigotry, homophobia, death, stalking, kidnapping, alcohol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Medical trauma, and Blood

Moderate: Stalking, Kidnapping, Outing, Death, Confinement, and Homophobia

Minor: Alcohol

stardustandrockets's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Stalking, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Torture, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Self harm

tragicgloom's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective tense 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual content, Torture, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Classism, and Self harm

fanboyriot's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-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

Literally two queer disasters falling in love.  It was really cute.  Vincent being such an awkward vampire and Wesley being a chaotic human who was just as awkward made for a dynamic I didn't know I needed to read about until I read it.

I really enjoyed vampire books where the vamps live along with the humans, it's always interesting to see how the worldbuilding will play into that.  The setting was nice too, it really helped with the overall vibe from the book.

While it was fast-paced the romance was a slow burn.  Wesley and Vincent were really cute together and I really liked the idiots in love, friends to lovers, awkward gay panic they had.

Slow Burn
Idiots in Love
Hurt/Comfort
Vampire x Human
Angst with a Happy Ending

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Cursing, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Sexual content

Minor: Confinement, Homophobia, Self harm, Alcohol, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

jennyoli96's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Confinement, and Blood

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

brimmsy's review against another edition

emotional funny tense 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

3.0

Engaging and fun. I loved Vincent - so awkward and adorable. I liked how vampirism was worked into modern-day society. The pacing of the romance felt deliberately strung out at times - there were a lot of flimsy excuses given for why the characters couldn’t simply talk things out. Also, the quirky humor, text message conversations, and internet culture references sort of annoyed me. 

I think I'm just not the target audience for this book, but I still liked it overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Grief, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, Death of parent, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Suicidal thoughts

tinyelfarcanist's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-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

3.5

The language, pace, and plot have the feel of a YA novel, but the characters are in their 20s and the story turns darker near the end. 

I didn't feel particularly connected to the characters. The romance felt a little bit too insta-love for me after they had just spent an evening together. There's talk about the need for therapy, but I believe it comes a little too late when things have already escalated.

I like Bryn's recurring theme of tearing down big corporations. That and fishnet gloves have made an appearance in both books I've read by the author. (If I had a nickel for every time I've found fishnet gloves in their books, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.)

In this book's world, there's blatant discrimination against vampires and they are treated as sub-human. There are clear parallels between those and real-life marginalized groups like immigrants, queer and disabled people.

There's an extra scene teasing what's to come for book 2, which sounds promising.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Hate crime, Grief, Ableism, Drug use, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Outing, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Kidnapping, Torture, Self harm, Confinement, Abandonment, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, and Cursing

Minor: Homophobia, Stalking, Gun violence, Addiction, and Drug abuse