Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Poisoner by I.V. Ophelia

6 reviews

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

---

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

---

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.

souleater_'s review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

ewilkins's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Such a great style of writing. Spicy. Dark. I loved the world she created and the new monster lore this book had. I was all in until the last 50 pages. 

**spoiler** 
*spoiler* 
I absolutely hated the raping that happened at the end. Silas allowing... and then taking part in her abuse, after knowing what she'd gone through was so out of Character it made me have go reread the section again. Disappointing that our badass avenger was raped multiple times, and for what? Nothing. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

dcnireads's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

1.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, and Grief

livfowler's review

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

You know when people recommend you a “dark romance,” but then it turns out there’s just a little light choking or something? This is not that. Like actually, seriously, reader beware.

The main characters’ internal dialogue is sometimes a little stilted, especially at the beginning, but improves a lot as their interactions become more frequent and the stakes become higher.

Smutty bits were *chef’s kiss* delectable. Had me making feral clicking sounds that I didn’t think possible.

I think my favorite part of this book was that I predicted one plot twist from a mile away, but I was so focused on it that the next twist hit me like a train.

Speaking of, there’s a little train action (like actually on a locomotive train, get your head out of the gutter), and I sincerely hope for more in the next installment. Picture the already

incredibly erotic chase scenes from book 1

but across train platforms and through different cars as Silas pursues Alina

across the United States

. 

All in all, dying of thirst for book 2.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism