Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Sum of All Kisses by Julia Quinn

9 reviews

saeruh's review

2.75

   This did entertain while I was reading it (i love these types of books to turn my brain off) but there was so many problems with it that I felt I couldn’t really over look.    
   Both of the main characters were pretty insufferable, their motivations felt so stupid 75% of the time, and their reasons for hating each other did not work past their very first conversation together so the whole enemies to lovers trope did not pull through on this. It could have been interesting if Sarah was actually made into a huge bitch and Hugh loved her either because of that or in spite of it but instead we got this weird arc where she has to be everyone’s savior and mold herself to what everyone else needs so she can not be “selfish” anymore. Because all this it was hard for me to really root for them ending up together.
    The plot also struggled in this. It had a very similar villain plot to the last book in the series, where there’s this totally evil, two-dimensional bad guy who’s hunting the mmc and who inadvertently hurts the fmc doing so, with even a very similar kidnapping third act! The whole younger sisters banter also felt like a copy of the last book. The scenes between Sarah and Hugh often felt forced and unnatural to me, taking me of the reading element. Weird inclusion of Lady Danbury, her scene added absolutely nothing. There was also just a lot of weird bits of sexual assault, domestic violence, and unnecessary quotes about gender that seemed to be glossed over at the end but whateva.
  I also wish we could have seen Anne and Daniel’s wedding just like Honoria and Marcus’s!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape

elizherlihy's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Ableism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual violence, and Homophobia

lct's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Homophobia

angelfireeast24's review

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Child abuse, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pregnancy and Alcohol

itsgnat's review against another edition

hopeful medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Stalking

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

cepbreed's review

lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

This book was kind of insane. I love the Bridgerton universe and all but oh my god??? The plot kept jumping around so quickly I couldn't keep up. Obviously I don't read these books in order, I choose them based on the synopsis, so I should have known what I signed up for, yet every turn I was blindsided by another twist. So intense in every way. Is it just me or was the

pact to kill himself really not that serious? Like why did everyone freak out so much? I get honor is a huge thing, but it was simple. He's his son and the father to his future heirs, he won't attack Daniel because he wouldn't ever want to lose Hugh. It would just be too much trouble.

I liked Sarah a lot, but for some reason I liked Hugh less and less as the book went on. It's not like I hated him in the slightest, he just fell out of my favor. I cannot pinpoint the reason why...

Song: 

• Sparks Fly - Taylor Swift

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Stalking

Moderate: Suicide, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Death

jackiepreston's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Domestic abuse

now_booking's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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? It's complicated

2.5

I was really loving this book till it went awry about three-quarters of the way in. I’m not a huge fan of enemies to lovers which is the major trope this is, but I had made it through thanks to the wit and humour and banter the author put in to cushion some of the really harsh things the hero and heroine said to each other. Then WHAM! out of nowhere a super contrived, not very believable or sense-making conflict was conjured up out of nowhere. So nonsensical and irrational was the conflict, that I had to read it over and over to make sure *I* hadn’t lost the plot. I couldn’t understand why Daniel was upset or what Sarah wanted Hugh to do about the situation in which he had saved Daniel, or really why the whole matter because ABOUT Sarah... I was baffled. Especially with the escalation from zero to a million in no time at all.

The premise is that Sarah and Hugh are thrown together at her cousin’s wedding and forced to be in close proximity to each other. The only problem is that they despise each other openly, but must pretend to make nice for the sake of Sarah’s sweet cousin, Honoria. But then as they get to know each other, they each realise that the other is not that bad.

Other than the bizarre turn this book took in the last quarter or so, I enjoyed this. Sarah was as her cousin, Iris, identified, somewhat selfish and self-centered, but she could also be fun and sweet and witty. Hugh was clearly a neurodiverse hero and I love seeing this rep in historical romance, especially when it is done well, rather than being caricatured. This series hasn’t been my favourite so far, but they are interesting books overall with laugh out loud funny moments abound.

CW: homophobia, rape, domestic abuse, ableism, PTSD.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia

ellanarose's review

emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexism, Physical abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence