Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

There Are No Saints by Sophie Lark

10 reviews

angelina_wlf's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Gore, Sexual content, Stalking, Mental illness, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Cursing, and Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent and Alcoholism

smcrain's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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

4.25

This is a serial killer AU, and like most or almost all serial killer setups requires some suspension of disbelief. Reader must be ready to allow for some stretches like the police are incredibly incompetent, DNA and forensic science doesn't exist, people and bodies are easily unalived and disappeared with very little or no curiosity/questions or investigation. Okay that makes it sound terrible but I really love these kind of dark romances so I will allow it. I was invested enough to keep turning the page. Admittedly as an art school kid the characters all being artists gave me a huge laugh. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Stalking, and Death

Moderate: Kidnapping and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

serial killer AU, toxic MMC, obsessive MMC, possessive MMC

sshpurple1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, Bullying, and Cursing

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Gaslighting, Self harm, Addiction, Drug use, Sexism, Alcoholism, and Sexual content

lillyrb's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

I don’t think I can give this book a standard star rating of any kind, which doesn’t mean it’s a particularly bad or good book i’m just not quite sure how to feel about this.

I read this book because I didn’t know what to read next and a trusted reviewer (any book i’ve read after their recommendation has been great) really loves this book. Disclaimer, I did not know what I was getting myself into. I’ve never read a dark romance before and I really was not prepared. The beginning made me really quite uncomfortable. However, Sophie Lark’s writing style is incredible and the way she details the thoughts and feelings of the main characters is simply fascinating. Ultimately, I decided to read the whole thing because I enjoyed the writing, was taken with the psychological implications (?) of the main characters and I really really wanted to know what other people see in this book. 

I didn’t not enjoy the book but I also didn’t like it in the way I usually enjoy reading books. It’s certainly a gripping read and the characters and writing are intriguing but overall the book not something I could describe as liking. I will read the second book because, again, I kind of need to know what other people are seeing in this and how the story develops, but I don’t think I can rate this book in any comprehensive way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Stalking, Violence, Murder, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Vomit, Self harm, Suicide, Rape, Misogyny, and Abandonment

molliundera_'s review against another edition

dark fast-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

0.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

isabelleroyall's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Blood, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Self harm, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Classism, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Misogyny, and Vomit

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

Mara is a struggling artist who is working 3 jobs just to get by. One evening at a show, she catches the attention of 2 of San Francisco's most notable artists, Cole and Alister. Unfortunately for Mara, both men are sociopaths and serial killers. 

Mara has had a troubled life. She has survived her alcoholic/abusive mother and abusive stepfather. She is on her own in San Francisco trying to get by day to day. She has been through hell. She is very feisty and independent. 

As her career takes off, her reliance and dependence on Cole becomes stronger. He is responsible for all of her success and he is the one protecting her from Alister. As their relationship progresses, she begins to change to reflect what Cole wants her to be.

So the question is, is she being manipulated by Cole or is he opening her up to who she truly is? I think he is preying upon her trauma to manipulate her into becoming who he wants her to be.

Had she never meet him, I doubt she would have ever gone so far as to kill her mother. Before Cole, she was trying to move on with her life and did not want to get revenge on her mom and stepfather.

Cole is a sociopath and murderer who cares about nothing other than getting what he wants. He is devoid of empathy, ruthless, and powerful. He and Alister have being in competition with each other since art school. Alister was obsessed with getting Cole's attention and wants him to collaborate on a "project". Mara is the unsuspecting victim that Alister chooses.

He leaves her to die near Cole's dumping ground, knowing that he will find her and hoping that he will kill her. Cole does not want to play this game with Alister. So, being the psycho that he is, when he finds her, he leaves her to die. After learning that Mara managed to survive, he becomes obsessed with her and begins to stalk her. He engrains himself into her life and makes her reliant on him. She becomes the center of his universe and he will stop at nothing to protect her, especially from Alister.

Cole has convinced himself that he loves Mara, but can a sociopath truly feel love? I think for Cole, his attachment to Mara is completly self-serving. Mara is under his control and he is able manipulate her into becoming what and who he wants. 

Tropes: taboo/dark romance 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Death, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Abandonment, Grief, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Stalking, and Emotional abuse

morgansbookshelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

 Bumped up my rating from a 4.5 to a 5! I love how dark and twisted this book is. Lark has a very impressive talent for making you root for the bad guy, as much as I should have disliked Cole I couldn't help but hang on to every word in his chapters. Seeing how his mind worked was fascinating and I am so glad that I have access to book 2. I need to see how this is going to end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Kidnapping, Cursing, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Death, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Stalking, Violence, Body horror, and Bullying

Moderate: Self harm, Abandonment, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Confinement

Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol

chelleherrera's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, and Kidnapping

annabelle's review against another edition

3.0

The way I really was not 100% sure if

Mara was going to live or die in the end

… Sophie Lark really did that. This really is my unhinged romance reading year. We love psychos in love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, and Death