Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Hunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

206 reviews

emiliath's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

Let me start off by saying that this book is extremely dark and you should take the trigger warning list seriously. If you don't want to read fucked up shit, this book is not for you.

That said, the first part of the book was good. It was well written and grusome and overall interesting to read (only because it's fiction).

But the second half?
Not so much.

Don't get me wrong, there were good arcs there too. I loved the Bonny and Clide vibes. The portraying of PTSD was well written (at least, I thought so) and the Culling 2.0 was poetic (and gruesome).

But the rest? No thank you.
Somehow, Zade's god complex became the main storyline. It was too repetitive.

The way they handle Adelines PTSD? Not healthy. At all. But maybe that was the point. Idk.

One last thing: I have no idea how they manage to have poetic inner monologues and speak complete sentences during their apparently mindblowing sex? Couldn't be me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Body horror, Kidnapping, Violence, Blood, Slavery, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Trafficking

sammyssullivan18's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Torture, Confinement, Sexual assault, Body horror, Murder, Blood, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Trafficking, and Violence

taylamagica's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Terrible lol

Don’t even have the strength to write a real review, it doesn’t deserve it.

Wait you know what…SPOILERS AHEAD

1. What the fuck. How the hell this book start with sex trafficking and end with fucking anal.

2. The first half of the book was concerning and tense, not like super good or well-written of anything, but it was fine.

3. I hate all the plot holes of how Zade has access to everything. Like homeboy even hacked into national tv  -__- lol why 

4. Maybe I’m just not into blood play, but all that shit was pretty lame.

5. I felt like at first they portrayed her trauma really well and then the way Zade helps her through violent sex would not even be effective in real life. I know she’s all into danger, but I feel like it would be triggering af. Idk that’s just me though.

6. Anyways the book was awful and I REALLY had to work to get through it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Violence, Body horror, Body shaming, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Rape, Death, and Emotional abuse

amaralrita's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Trafficking, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Confinement, Gore, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Moderate: Addiction and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Car accident, and Cursing

erinclark7's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Gore, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Blood, Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts

beezyreadsbooks'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Death, Rape, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Grief, Body horror, Sexual content, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

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

sierragraceee's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Murder, Confinement, Sexual violence, Rape, Gore, Blood, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Gun violence, Stalking, Body horror, Kidnapping, Trafficking, and Torture

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

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