Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Hunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

81 reviews

esme793's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Cursing, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Stalking

vousziel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

my first five-star book. unlike the first book, i fucking devoured this in one sitting. and to my luck (please note the sarcasm), i had just gotten my period and for some stupid reason my phone won't fucking charge. so, imagine the emotional turmoil THAT and this book gave me. anyways, i fucking love addie. my best girl <3

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Cursing, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Confinement, Drug use, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Slavery

melb_reading's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexual violence, Body horror, Trafficking, and Blood

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Drug abuse, Car accident, and Drug use

__romancereader__'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious relaxing sad tense 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

4.5

I thought this book was ok i had major anxiety for really the whole book this was the most anxiety I’ve gotten from any book ever i came so close to dnf this i have this thing where i only like for the main characters to have sex together and be together so when she got kidnapped and they actually raped her i got extremely disappointed i was debating wether i wanted to rate this book a three stars or four stars but i settled for four i guess because the ending I definitely enjoyed haunting adeline over this one by a longgggg shot i did find myself enjoying some parts of this book i also did enjoy meeting sibby again ifykyk i also did like the writing of the book the author told allot of details in situations but not to much to the point where your annoyed but yeah overall i rated this book four stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Drug use, Gore, Kidnapping, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Vomit

Not all content warnings are for the main characters some are and some are for the other characters you meet/hear in the book 🥰🥰🥰🙃🙃🙃

kat1105's review

dark emotional inspiring 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Rape, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Medical trauma, Medical content, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Confinement, Classism, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Sexism, and Forced institutionalization

talesandtitillations's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

*Possible spoiler warning*


Going into this book I had wondered how the content could possibly be more difficult to stomach than some of the scenes in Haunting Adeline. Without context of what would be happening in the book, I hadn’t considered is how emotionally challenging it would be reading about such painful and real topics such as were the key plot points in this book. 

As a woman, reading about all the abuse, rape, psychological torture and trauma, etc. was harrowing to say the least. I ended up having to regroup a few times in order to be able to continue reading such dark subject matter.

Admittedly, I usually read fantasy or romance as a form of escapism and this book does not provide any escapism as it shines a cold, harsh light on the plight of the women who find themselves in these circumstances. That being said, this book is incredibly well written, which is clear from the fact that it has such a profound impact on the reader. 

It doesn’t shy away from the darkness or pretend that surviving such harrowing conditions are by any means easily doable. The author doesn’t sugarcoat anything or imply that recovery from the acute psychological trauma of the experiences Adeline has to fight to live through is simple or achievable in the sense of returning to who you once were and being able to overcome the darkness that sinks into your deepest crevices. 

The book is, in my opinion, as realistic a portrayal of the consequences of survival and trauma from these types of experiences as we can hope to achieve through fiction. And to achieve that without losing momentum in character development, plot, pacing and reader’s interest is a feat in itself.

There were whole paragraphs, pages, chapters where I had to refrain from annotating or it would’ve just been me colouring the pages red for all the red flags and dark content. But there is not a moment where I felt that how messed up everything happening was was glossed over or romanticized. 

Adeline’s relationship was just that, a relationship that, although incredibly questionable and oftentimes disturbing, was a choice they made and kept making to the end. There was no illusion that the characters themselves didn’t see how messed up and toxic such relationships are and that they aren’t a healthy thing to choose to engage in. However messed up things between them are and how vehemently we as readers would be against this type of relationship in real life, the book allows for understanding of a broader spectrum of relationship dynamics and why people choose relationships such as the one between Zade and Addie. 

In terms of how realistic the plot is, it is fiction which, whilst it’s set in a world that is familiar to us and consisting of real places and things, it isn’t really feasible to imagine human beings equivalent to Zade really exist. His almost god-like abilities, while explained in the context of the story, can be considered unattainable or far-fetched from what is known to us in the world we exist in. Not impossible, but not very realistic or common if it does exist. However, he isn’t real so placing realistic limitations on him isn’t necessary in my opinion. And I think the author does a good job of portraying that he isn’t as god-like as others, and even he himself, like to fool themselves into believing when Addie is kidnapped. 

I would caution people who read this from glossing over and romanticizing the circumstances, relationships, character development and traumas in the book, and to carefully read trigger warnings before reading. Every moment of this book should be observed and analyzed critically and the emotions brought up should be given the same treatment.

This book shook me to my foundations and had me questioning every thought and feeling and the causes behind why I experienced them, which was incredibly enlightening and therapeutic in a sense. And that’s what dark subject matter should do—show us those dark parts within ourselves that we can’t expose to the world for fear of rejection. If done as expertly as H.D. Carlton has done here, it allows one to start becoming aware and accepting ourselves with those dark parts and all.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Torture, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Car accident, Confinement, Dysphoria, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, and Drug use

orangeaiya's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

3.75

Tough read. I thought the first book was dark but man getting through the first half of this one for me was hard. So much of it dragged for me which is probably great for someone who likes suspense. To me it began to feel like a survivor’s guide at some point. I loved that their relationship was more stable or consistent in this book though. I couldn’t leave off on a cliff hanger!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Grief, Alcoholism, Blood, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Torture, Kidnapping, Dysphoria, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Alcohol, Body horror, Car accident, Confinement, Sexism, Violence, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Stalking and Addiction

Minor: Child abuse, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Vomit, and Drug abuse

maskihaan's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

3.0

The first half of this book was very very intense and hard to get through honestly. I love the second half of the book and the ending was perfect.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Torture, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Confinement

skyhigh_99's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad 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? Yes

3.0

For starters, the first part of this book is so hard to read. I even started to dread reading it because of how graphic some of the SA scenes are in this book. Also the author said that this wasn’t going to have a fast reunion and in my head that meant Addie being kidnapped for like 70% of the book. Thank god that wasn’t the case (after 50% the book takes a turn). Despite how sad this book is, I have never felt so many different emotions while reading one book. Conflicted about Addies and Zades relationship of course, but seeing how Addie grows into a stronger person and helps Z take down The Society, while also admitting to herself that she enjoys the darker side that Z brings out in her. The revenge in this book also was a giant reason why I liked it so much. Every Trafficker deserves what was coming to them. Honestly this is a very good (although very heavy) book and I’m actually sad that I’ve finished reading it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Blood, Gore, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pedophilia

rad_blackthorn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual violence, Slavery, Gun violence, Stalking, Self harm, and Sexual assault