Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Poisoner by I.V. Ophelia

21 reviews

woodsybookworm's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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

2.0

The Poisoner follows Alina, a botanist who also happens to be a well accomplished poisoner - she's taking out shady men left and right and getting away with it too. That is until she runs into Silas, an avid playboy who is seemingly immune to all her tricks. Silas happens to be more than just a snake in the bedroom, he's downright vicious, and now he's got his sights set on tormenting Alina. In a game of cat and mouse between two killers, which creature will come out on top? 

I really truly wanted to love this book but I found myself so annoyed by the main characters and their actions. I was screaming at certain chapters like "just talk to each other like normal people!" Is it absolutely gorgeous? Yes! The cover, the artwork, the little details were absolutely stunning. Is it something I find myself wanting to read again? No.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Gaslighting

crinkledmochi's review against another edition

• 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

UM… imma be honest I was enjoying this until the last few chapters, there was a warning at the beginning of the book but  why did all the characters just act like that was normal 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism

novellearts'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

4.0

No star rating yet as I'm not sure how I feel about this one at the moment. I picked this book up for the beautiful cover and because I thought it was a horror book. I was very surprised once I started getting into it and finding out that it was more vampiric dark romance.

That being said, I liked Alina a lot as a character, I liked Silas a lot less. There were some really hot scenes and there were some that I didn't care for. I will say that I personally hate when books include any version of knotting. I find the concept repulsive and invasive especially as the books that include knotting usually love to use it as a "surprise." 

• “I’m sorry,” he whispered, kissing the skin on my shoulder and up to my neck, his fingers tangling in my hair and keeping me in place, pushing his hips firmly into mine.   “You said you wouldn’t,” I breathed.  “I lied,” he said lowly.   “Why?”  “Because you are mine.”
• Quote of Silas and Alina's conversation after he knotted her, saying that he wouldn't and that he "doesn't do that to humans."

I did mostly enjoy the banter in this book, but I wish that it centered more around Alina's job and her actually poisoning men.

Overall, I think I liked this until around chapters 46 and on. Up until this point, there were definitely a lot of instances of abuse, stalking, and toxicity but (and I know this sounds crazy) it was a tolerable level. Both characters mostly reciprocated the same energy to each other and it wasn't completed unwanted. Chapters 47 and on took a turn. Chapters 48 and 50 were not my cup of tea.

The rape scene with Viktor in Chapter 48 really pissed me off, especially with how he "revealed" what he did to Silas. Then in Chapter 50 with Viktor and Silas both feeding from Alina.

The Poisoner story felt incredibly reminiscent of Haunting Adeline to me. It just felt like a vampire version. Though I will say, I liked this story more than Haunting Adeline and I liked the characters much more. I also kept finding myself wishing that Alina would just end up with Phoebe, because let's be honest, that would've been much better than Silas or Viktor.

The ending of this was unsatisfying to me as well. It was so rushed and incredibly open-ended. We didn't learn as readers how

Alina and Phoebe made it out or what happened to anyone in the Nest.

I understand that this is book 1 and that it'll most definitely be covered in book 2, but I personally would've liked a lot less ambiguity here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cannibalism

thombe's review

dark slow-paced

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

2.75

It was dark, twisted, with a lot of trigger warnings. There were points where it dragged, but I liked the strong FMC who got her revenge.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death and Cannibalism

2j4d3's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Murder, and Sexual harassment

kaylamac's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, and Murder

kinsportch's review

dark mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and Alcohol

smcrain's review

dark mysterious slow-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: Body horror, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, and Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Kidnapping

This book is full of dark elements that might be off-putting to people. People into a bit of horror, gore, blood and creatures might enjoy it though. I'm one of those people. I enjoyed a lot of it, but there was something there that wasn't clicking as well as I hoped. I really liked the individual parts, STEM women in Victorian society, heck yeah. A murderous waltz between two dark characters, I'm there. I really loved Silas and

all stuff revealed around him, his anatomy and the type of creatures they turn out to be

and the writing is fine. I sat trying to think about what it was, I think there's something about the fmc's sort of cold aloofness that doesn't resonate with the type emotional reader I am, and I feel like that was some kind of barrier for me to relate with characters and their choices. That being said I think it goes with that gothic Victorian era. I also didn't know it wasn't fully ended, would be excited to see what might happen in book 2, also not sure how many planned books there are for this series.

xzea's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Stalking

Minor: Death of parent

thegabscast's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spicy meter: This is spice with heavy themes, so I’m not quite sure about this one.

Note: PLEASE read the trigger warnings and make sure you have a good understanding of them. The author did provide a comprehensive list of them and even lists a chapter to avoid. This book is not meant for everyone and the trigger warnings should not be overlooked.

Who this book is for: Fans of truly dark romance, a gothic setting, Victorian London, vampires, supernatural creatures, flawed characters. If dark romance, erotica, blood, or any of the things mentioned in the first two pages of the book are not things you’re comfortable with, then this book isn’t for you and that’s okay.

This book brought me out of a months-long reading slump and I’m still digesting it. I was really excited to read it and am now trying to figure out how I feel about it overall? Without giving too much away, the premise is a poisoner (overly- curious woman in STEM with a flawed sense of justice) catches the attention of a vampire when she fails to poison him and her whole life is turned upside down. All of the characters are deeply flawed and more morally super dark gray than anything. If I could have, I would have read this all in one sitting because I wanted to know where the story was going. I truly appreciated the way the exposition was done and the writing style overall. The author’s take on vampires was interesting, some parts I didn’t love (the spikes). This does lean more towards spice with a story, but the story was so intriguing. The characters didn’t really get to the “love” part. This book really was such a different read that it’s hard for me to articulate how I felt about it. However, the story did feel rushed towards the end and I do feel like that could have come together more cohesively while also being a cliffhanger. Silas did act out of character and I’m curious what his plan was because he really failed to protect or help Alina. She also had a major point in that he could have just not gone to see her and THAT one additional traumatic scene could have been avoided. Also, Phoebe…wtf…. I understand all of the characters are deeply flawed, but it kinda felt like who they were supposed to be throughout the story was lost at the end. I was truly drawn in and then the last few chapters kind of fell apart. I am curious enough to want to read the next one and find out where everything is going. But, I cannot emphasize this enough, PLEASE mind the trigger warnings and skip this book if you do not feel comfortable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Trafficking