Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley

11 reviews

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

1.75

Such a bummer I didn’t like this book, especially because the title and synopsis really pulled me in.

I thought it started out alright. The writing style felt a bit young, but the side characters and their dynamics and well-established personalities really drew me in. I also thought Mariel and Oz had a really strong potential for matching arcs, each in a relationship with a a parental figure that puts a lot of pressure on them to be perfect in their destined path due to innate powerful magic.

Unfortunately I just didn’t feel like the book effectively followed through with those parts of the book. The main characters didn’t feel as vibrant as the side characters and I had a really hard time buying into the romance, especially as the book kept mentioning how little time had passed. The relationship itself generally felt kind of toxic, where a character would establish a boundary and the other would throw a fit about it. This was especially apparent in Oz trying to avoid hooking up with Mariel and her being angry about it and constantly pushing on the boundary. Overall the relationship didn’t feel like one that would last and generally felt unhealthy. Also the relationship felt almost entirely based on sexual attraction, especially when the characters were pretty consistently hooking up at what felt like weird times. (Like girl you’re protesting the against destruction of an area vital to the survival of an endangered species this is not the time for a quickie with your demon bf against a tree.)

I was also surprised about how little the characters knew about the world they lived in, especially with how much info dumping happened. It just made the characters look stupid when they would learn something and immediately forget it. Calladia was the only character I really liked and felt reasonable and the book tried to skew her as unreasonable.

Overall, it had a lot of potential but just fell flat. I’m willing to try again and am hoping book two is better, but only because Calladia is the MC.

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dear_alice's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

Cozy, feelgood vibes. Predictable and slightly too much focus on "the size of demon dick" for my liking, but hey... to each their own. I did have a good time reading the book, not sure if I'd read it again or read more in this universe... But I did end up cheering for the couple to work out so that's something.

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mattiedancer's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

Writing: 2.75⭐️/5

The book started with some fine writing, and quickly fell apart. In terms of getting the plot across, the writing did an adequate job, but it didn’t really do ranything else.

Characters: 3.5⭐️/5

The characters were fun, but felt a bit flat and/or cartoonish.

Plot: 3.25⭐️/5

Again, while the overarching plot is incredibly fun, it definitely felt like it had a few more than a few holes. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the demon and the witch attempting to work together and eventually falling in love.

World 3⭐️/5

The world is fun but predictable.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of romance genre
Fans of fantasy romance with spice
Fans of a fast enemies-to-lovers trope

Content Warnings?

Sexual content, child abuse, dysfunctional family, stalking, toxic relationship, bullying, animal death, emotional abuse,

Post-Reading Rating: 4⭐️/5

I had fun.

Final Rating: 3⭐️/5

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not_asha01's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.5

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midnacine's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

What a delightful read! Engaging plot, lovable characters with realistic arcs, cozy setting and world-building, funny banter, and overall just really fun and enjoyable! So glad I took my friend up on the rec, it was 100% worth the full price on Kindle.

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elfaz's review

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lighthearted

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

1.5

Badly written fanfic that’s 100 pages too long

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marsh_mall0w's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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cursed_sapphire's review

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2.0

I dipped my toe into the romance genre again, and once again was disappointed. I hoped adding fantasy elements would make me like it more, but this book just super isn't for me. Even skipping the steamy bits (which make me uncomfortable in any book) this was still kind of a drag. I liked the main characters, but that's about it. The MC's arc was possibly the only thing I fully enjoyed in this book- well, that and the demon-realm worldbuilding. I thought it was interesting, and would have preferred an entire book set there so I could learn more about it.

TL;DR: I don't like romance books, especially with steamy scenes. This was a romance book with steamy scenes. Therefore, it wasn't for me.

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abcdefgerda's review

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emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

It seems that the books that manage to surprise me are the ones that I love the most in the end. I was expecting a light, trying-way-too-hard-to-be-funny romcom but this book was actually funny and actually sweet and actually deep and interesting and I was really really hooked.
Mariel was a good person but there was so much more to her and she was willing to do what needed to be done to achieve her ends.

I was a little annoyed by how easily the whole forgiveness part happened with Mariel's family but it wasn't anything too big

Ozroth I loved a lot, he was an amazing character. I did start thinking about how it all would've gone down if he hadn't had a soul but I'm also thinking that the next book might clear some of it.

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xapoptosisx's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I absolutely loved this book it is heartfelt, funny with great dialogue, plant magic and an amazing demon. All the characters are great and mariels character development was really nice to read. But yeah great book!

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