Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Credence by Penelope Douglas

78 reviews

shubh_reads_constantly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

3 stars 🌟🌟🌟. I am team Noah though. Kaleb can go rot in hell (or in prison) 🤬🤬🤬

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Suicide

christinaj1021's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.75

Credence seems thrilling enough in it's premise: a young woman (18) loses her parents that never really showed her love, and is forced to move in with her (not blood related) uncle and 2 male cousins in a rugged, isolated cabin in the mountains. And it's very clear from the TW and reviews that this book is not for the faint of heart and deals with taboo topics, so you know what's coming for you.

HOWEVER, I just could not get into how those topics were handled. They were simultaneously always brought up or thought about by the MC, and they WERE things that gave her pause and made her question herself... but it truly felt as though Tiernan just dealt with it by going "Oh well!" and just like... let stuff happen even though she clearly expressed her discomfort or literal physical/emotional pain. And not always in a "that's hot to me though" way.

I just think this book was made for people who REALLY actively search for age-gap/psuedo-incest/abuse. Because it is written in a way that never let's you forget that it's happening. Just constantly, those topics are on every character's mind so that you cannot forget.

I also agree that, for the final love interest,

Kaleb just ain't it. Noah had way more chemistry written in, treated her better, dropped the L word, and even had more physical chemistry than the other two LIs.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Violence, Incest, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse

finnickdeservedbetter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Violence, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Child abuse, Animal death, Death of parent, Cancer, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

Yeah, I'll be honest...the LI is

an abusive rapist

who's unlikable in ever single way. "He

raped

you? Well boo hoo, his mommy didn't love him enough." I like dark and sometimes taboo romance but not the glamorization and romanticization of SA and domestic abuse. This honestly should have just been a dnf but I wanted to give it a full review with a star rating. The .5 is honestly just for the cabin and horses at this point. I was recommended Birthday Girl and this by a friend (I know you're reading this Kenzie) and liked BG a lot so I thought I would like this too. No. Just no. It wasn't even the

full on incest

that bothered me. The problem was the gigantic bag of skid marked gym socks called "Kaleb". He can chew rocks.

haninsaeed's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.0

ehm... Idk what the hell am I supposed to say after reading this crap. No offense... Kinda. Anyways, this book is terrible. I know I gave a one star, and that's because I love Noah, and only Noah. Okay... Maybe Jake just a bit...except the fact he's a pedo. But Kaleb? REALLY? I mean... The girl is so naive to even realise how terrible he is and then just ends up with HIM? anyways... Don't read it was not good... Again sorry Penelope. Actually, I was very disappointed when I read this book. And that's because, I never thought Pene would do something like this. 

update: penelope is definitely the type of person to write this

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal death, Death of parent, and Rape

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• 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

2.0

This was a complicated romance, that kind of, almost, sometimes, crosses some lines. "Credence" follows Tiernan after her parents pass away. With no family left, and a few months before she turns 18, she is sent to live with her father's step brother and his two sons. They live in a remote home deep in the mountains in Colorado, so winters are brutal, and they are snowed in for months. 

Going into this book, I knew she was going to pursue a sexual relationship with her "uncle", but I did not know she would ultimately have relations with all three of them. The story just got too weird for me because she would refer to the boys as her uncle and cousins during the sexual scenes. There is no blood relation, so I was not that bothered by the relationship, but I did not appreciate the titles of uncle and cousin being continually brought up. I was also LIVID that she ultimately pursued Kaleb because he had deep unresolved issues that he acted very poorly on. He mentally, and physically abused Tiernan, and it was never questioned or pushed because he had a big traumatic incident that happened when he was younger and "that is just how he is". I was also bothered with how neatly everything ended. I needed the trauma that Kaleb and Tiernan experienced to be discussed more and for them to work through it for me to be truly satisfied with the end. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

mariamlyxoxo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Incest, Physical abuse, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

cjm118's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

adrianavv3's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

0.25

THIS BOOK WAS ASS

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

madifa's review against another edition

dark medium-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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

escapism_at_its_finest's review against another edition

reflective fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Blood, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy