Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Hunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

142 reviews

ambrosiablue's review against another edition

Got an early start on my 2024 New Year's Resolution to stop reading books I'm not enjoying. I read the first, bought the second because fuck cliffhangers, and now that

she's been saved by Zade and is getting ready to kick her traffickers' asses

I don't really need to know the end

I'm sure the bad guys all die horrible deaths and she gets her sex drive back.

I like smut as much as the next girl, but I feel slightly dirty for reading what's basically Q Anon fanfiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Murder, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Child abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Car accident, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

bialosqrska's review

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Trafficking, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Gore, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Car accident, Child abuse, Grief, Cursing, Body shaming, Drug use, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Blood, Bullying, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Murder, Violence, Vomit, Physical abuse, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Pedophilia

brhoades1029's review

dark emotional sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Trafficking, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Cursing, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

plush's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Much like the first book, I’m not totally sure of what to rate this book. 

Firstly, I have avoided writing a review because I’m conflicted. I’ve literally read two other light romances before coming back to this review. 

I’m not going to go in super detail about plot because this book is dark. Please read trigger warnings, because this is actually dark. 

I have not dabbled in dark romances. This is my first toe in the water and I’m pretty confident I will not read anymore. This is brutal to read. Especially the first 40/50%. There is graphic explicit rape, sexual assault, gore, knife play, death, murder, misogyny, etc… Had I not been buddy reading this, I’m not sure I would have even made it through book one. 

All of this sounds rather negative, but I did like aspects of this book. Namely Addie’s revenge. It was the only reason I kept reading, because I wanted to see her assaulters suffer. Which, spoiler, they do in fact suffer. 

This book is addictive. I’m not sure I would say that I enjoyed myself, but I wanted to know the end. I felt compelled to finish the book. But honestly, this didn’t even feel like a romance. It felt like an origin story. By the end of the book Addie is not at all who she was in book one. She’s understandably traumatized, but she also becomes bloodthirsty. I’m not sure it actually felt true to her character, but trauma changes everyone. 

There were a lot of random, unnecessary side plots and points in this story. One being the journal Addie finds. Another being this weird cult that keeps being mentioned. The other strange thing being the rituals related to this supposed shadow government. Also, Addie’s house being hella haunted? It was a lot of extra just kinda spooned in with everything else to the point of being muddy. 

I don’t really know. I’m giving it 3 stars because I finished it, and it made me thing, although I would never pick it up and read it again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Body horror, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Stalking, Confinement, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Sexual harassment

l_myers's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

1.0

This was even more unsettling than the first one. I think that the main storyline was executed well, and the plot was fairly decent, but it was just very uncomfortable to read at times. I think there were a lot more trigger warnings in this book than in the first. (Once again, definitely read the warnings prior to reading this book)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Body horror, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

katierosecrane's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is so much darker than the first one. It made it hard to get through the first part of the book. I also think the book should have been shortened a little bit. The violence and dark subject matter turned me off a little. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Self harm, Drug abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Physical abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Cursing, Sexual assault, Death, Mental illness, Addiction, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Bullying, Eating disorder, and Trafficking

sshammyss's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

I enjoyed the book overall. This was the first of its kind I read and the spicy scenes were super intense but I already knew that from the first book. The actually story though I think was well written and it has me hooked. One of those I needed to see what was gunna happen next. The reason for 4 stars is because

I was frustrated with how the author ended Claire…her going on about world domination…

I am no author but I feel there was this huge build up then

they blow her men up after they just back away ? Then just kill her like that? I feel like it should have been more of a fight. Maybe Zade losing some men?

still a great book and will recommend to others who like dark smutty books 🫣

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Body horror, Death, Kidnapping, Violence, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Stalking, Trafficking, Blood, and Rape

elliemaeeee's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Read the Trigger Warnings before you read but was such a good book!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Blood, Bullying, Body shaming, Body horror, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Car accident, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Slavery, Stalking, Murder, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, and Violence

sbrooks7264's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Car accident, Gore, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Stalking, Violence, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Torture, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Trafficking

rchulin1's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Stalking, Torture, and Sexual assault