Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Credence by Penelope Douglas

222 reviews

kelinickole's review against another edition

dark fast-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? It's complicated

1.5

First of all- what the fuck was that

Second of all- I would just like to know why Tiernan started out as 17 when she could have been 18/19 from the start and just gone to the mountain to get away from the tabloids/paparazzi. The step family taboo would still be there without grooming a minor. It would have made the book 10x less awful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual assault and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death of parent and Child abuse

karouty's review against another edition

dark fast-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

Justice for Noah wth was even this book istg I can't... if your looking for dark romance STAY AWAY. This is just a poor excuse to write about rape and grooming of a 17 later 18 yo.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Physical abuse, Animal death, Confinement, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Child abuse, Suicide, Abandonment, and Blood

Minor: Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Cancer, and Addiction

allieraj's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Coming back to dark romance this was a great come back. I can see why people wouldnt enjoy it however i really enjoyed the dynamic of the main characters. It is very detail heavy and it does take a while for the good spicy bits but hang in there cuz it gets good fast and the drama doesnt end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Incest, and Abandonment

Moderate: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Pregnancy, Blood, Cancer, and Addiction

crystalmidnightmumslibrary's review against another edition

2.0

I enjoyed the first part of the book. I tried REALLY hard to overlook the problematic elephant in the room of non-relative-relative situation. But the moment she called him Uncle Jake-nope! This really didn’t need a family connection. It could have been a girl staying and working on a farm or something. Finished the book only because I need to reach my reading goals. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Misogyny, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

haleydeppert's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.0

This is a hard book to review. This book has been all the rage on BookTok right now, so I wanted to give it a try. It definitely pushed my boundaries of comfortability. Although I did thoroughly enjoy the writing of the spicy scenes, it remained hard to get past the familial relations in this book. I did not feel much romance or true love at all—more possessiveness, jealousy, and abuse—but as a book should, it kept me entertained. Three stars because it kept my attention and my eyes were glued to the page. However, character development fell extremely flat and storylines felt quite rushed. Not to mention the familial relations… weird.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Cursing, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Incest, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

tierraskye's review against another edition

fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Incest, Death of parent, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Rape, Animal death, Confinement, and Toxic relationship

paige__mahoney's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

Why Penelope Douglas thought it was a good idea to make the main love interest the same guy that actually r*ped her will forever be a mystery

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

abbeyboreski's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

1.25

Wtf

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Rape, Violence, and Confinement

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, and Death of parent

_kirby_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Honestly, I really enjoyed this book. 

I went through similar trauma to Tiernan and I connected with her. I too had my moments where I just wanted to be loved and looked for anyone to make me feel good & feel loved because I never felt like I was loved by my father or anyone else in my life other than my mom - like tiernan with her parents. 


It may just be me but I didn’t think this was anything too crazy regarding dark romance but to each their own. If you are triggered by abuse, death of parents, aggressive male behavior, lots of sex and even scenes that are on the verge of rape, don’t read this book. 

The character development is great in my opinion and to see all of the characters help eachother heal their trauma is awesome! Regardless of how that healing is done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Stalking, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Incest

blissfullychristina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

3.0

Spice and everything nice! A dark smutty read. I suggest reading further trigger warnings if you get upset and offended easily by fictional stories. If you don’t mind the dark smutty stories then this is for you although I do wish she went  another way with the final choice 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship