Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Poisoner by I.V. Ophelia

34 reviews

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

condls27's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-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? Yes

1.0

This book made me wish I didn’t know how to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

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

isabelleroyall's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

thelibraryskeeper's review against another edition

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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Before I write anything here. This book is dark. Be aware of this and read the warnings before going into this. That said, this book is gorgeously written. It's dripping with details and wraps you into the world ao thoroughly it's hard to stop reading. Vampire novels aren't new to me, but I've never read one like this. 

Re-read:

I picked up on so many subtle refernces to Phoebe and her family. The author did such an amazing job weaving this story together. Also did Alina get on the Titanic? Maybe....

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Stalking

meowra's review

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Medical content and Alcohol

emmydoil's review

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

denacolada's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

pissylissy666's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

CHECK THOSE TRIGGERS!!!! 

I’m not really sure how I feel about this one tbh — I enjoyed it. It got my emotions going. I love the twisted “vampire” snake combo. I love the gothic tones and mystery. There were a lot of pitch black elements — like time to read something light hearted so I don’t find myself too focused on the darkness — but overall I loved the story. I rate 4 stars because it just didn’t have the ending I wanted 😭😂 I know that’s rough but I feel like we (the readers) went through a lot with little clarity at the end but also when is book 2 coming out???

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, and Stalking