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souleater_'s review
- 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
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
- 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
**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.
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
- 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
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
semlan's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence and Murder
Minor: Death of parent
purplegurgles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Vomit, and Death of parent
mwalsh97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I really enjoyed this book up until the last 40-50 pages, then it was very harrowing and made me feel like I needed a soul shower.
The concept of a Victorian Era woman poisoning those who mistreat women is an amazing concept and I love the inclusion of her being a botanist. Even the take on vampires in this is really amazing, definitely more on the erotica side of things than I usually read but still well written. I felt that the book I read in the blurb is not the book I got, the blurb made this sound a lot more plot heavy than romance/erotica heavy.
But please please please heed the content warnings in the beginning of the book. They are there fora reason and they are needed. I am going to add in the content warning provided on the author's website: https://www.ivophelia.com/poisoner
• Primal
• Vampires
• A variation of knotting
• Risk-Aware Consent Kink
• Chasing
• Biting
• Hair Pulling
• Blood play
• Forked tongues
• Brat/Brat tamer
• Spitting
• Mutual Stalking
Kinks included, but not necessarily intended for romantic/erotic effect considering their negative depiction in the context of the story. Either way, they should be labeled:
• Dub/non-con
• Impact play with whip
• Inappropriate use of rice
• Degradation/Praise
• Sadism
Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Stalking
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
The last 40 to 50 or so pages are just sexual assault and torture. Proceed with caution.livfowler's review
- 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
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
All in all, dying of thirst for book 2.
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
ceruleanshelves's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I was a gentleman. I liked to get to know my prey before I ate them. It was only polite.
“I try to kill you, and you take it as flirtation?”
dark, gothic, erotic. a fun cat and mouse chase where the mouse learns to bite back.
alina is an intelligent and driven scientist who's taken up poisoning abusive men. silas is the creature who becomes obsessed and then enamored with her. the two collide in harmony with both harboring their own secrets. their chemistry and banter is delicious, and silas makes a wonderful psycho golden retriever bf to alina's black cat gf vibes. oh and he's got some *ahem* fun embellishments, if you will.
“I quite like your poisons. I have acquired a taste for them.”
He leaned close to my ear. “It is not the only thing I have developed a taste for.”
“You know, you’re quite cute when your lips turn blue.” His eyes glanced from my lips to my eyes. “I can understand why you prefer to execute people this way.”
the victorian london setting heightens the gothic atmosphere and the sense of alina's misplacement in the world as a woman driven by her intellect and curiosity. there are fun details including the botany, the scientific knowledge of that current time, the fashion and propriety, and more to immerse yourself into the story's world.
It was humbling for a creature who’d spent all his life with no interest in this sort of thing just to choose me, the woman who had tried to kill him on multiple occasions. Maybe that was why he liked me.
as this is a dark romance, there are dark themes and content. tw for blood, gore, SA, dubcon/noncon (on page and in memory), and lots of murder. there is going to be sexy times, but also angst with a bit of a cliffhanger ending.
overall, i really enjoyed this arc. this is a very strong debut novel for the author, with an intriguing vampire story and complex characters. one thing i would note as critique (spoiler)
i'm excited to see their story continue.
I would give her anything, body, mind, and soul—if I had one. It was all hers to take.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement and Gore
Minor: Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol