Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Rhapsodic

I struggled with rating this book. I did enjoy it, but there was just so much about it that made me cringe inside while I was reading and there were some things that I felt didn’t need to be included or shouldn’t have been the way that they were.

This book follows Callypso after the murder of her father, after making a deal with the Bargainer, aka Desmond Flynn. It is a dual timeline novel from when Callypso is 16-17 and to present time 8 years after the ordeal.

I really liked the premiss of this book, I liked the aspects that could have been so much better if they had been done well. But there was so much in the book that I felt was so unnecessary and probably deserved a trigger warning or two.

I’m not the biggest fan of dual timelines, especially when they’re for the same characters. I wish it had been a then vs now rather than a dual timeline. I also wish there had been a bit of a trigger warning on the fact that Desmond grooms Callypso and expects her to be the same or to have the same feelings for him as she did as a traumatized 16-year-old, along with the rape and forced pregnancy.

The book is dark, it is a NA book, which levels out some of the content of it, but it still doesn’t really bypass the issues I have with the book.

I do wish the descriptions were more in depth, and that it took longer to explain some things rather than tossing it onto the page and expecting everything to be A-OK with it right after. I know it’s a fictional story, but it really lacks the realism that makes these kinds of stories pop and stand out.

Callie’s relationship with her friend is sweet, but it’s also very cringey the way that they talk to each other. I little bit too over the top, if it was toned down a bit, perhaps it would have been more bearable to get through their interactions.

Desmond kind of rubs me the wrong way, despite being in love with Callie, it came across more as obsessed, and holding her bargains against her definitely rubbed me the wrong way – especially as she obtained them when she was a minor and he wants some of them to be exchanged for sexual favours, or to change parts of her life that he shouldn’t have a say in (her consuming alcohol for example.)

A lot of this book had a lot of toxicity when it came to relationships and friendships, and despite being a darker novel, it didn’t come across very well overall.

Hopefully the rest of the series gets better and more palatable now that the dual timeline is over.

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ka_ke's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

Don’t expect much in the way of plot, but

the children definitely creeped me tf out!

The spice is there but it’s not nearly as good as it is hyped to be.

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crystallis's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious 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

2.5

This book is ok, but the saga doesn’t wake up my interest.

Rhapsodic was predictable, it truly was. Also it was kind of vague with its explanations.

But at the end of the day, it has good pacing and I devoured it in less than a day.

The past story between both of the protagonists was making me mad at times. Every time the girl asked for a bargain I wished I was there to tell her “girl, please stop”.

The present story was alright, basic, but alright. I felt like I had read it before.

The autor does a great job at using back and fourth between timelines and it makes the relationship between them interesting. I liked the way the sexual tension was build up.

The problematic was weak and it was resolved with an even weaker explanations.

I know I sound like a hater, but none of what I mentioned change my experience with the book. As I said before, I devoured it and enjoyed it.

I liked that our main girl was a siren, I thought she had cool powers and was a badass at her job.

Sadly I’m not motivated enough to follow the series.

The spice is good tho, those are extra points.

Read you all later.

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jennhammel's review against another edition

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1.0

Grooming and sassy black friend stereotype

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roseamillerg's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I thought this book was going to be kinda fun and I heard it was very spicy but the romance was very clean (felt like YA) and the romance was boring.

Also, the second-hand embarrassment experienced while reading the flashbacks where to seven years ago, was excruciating.

**also the book had multiple typos🥴

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regnistegra's review against another edition

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65% of the way through this book and giving up on it. The story concept is interesting, but the writing style is not for me. In particular, every time I read a passage with Temper (the Black best friend) I am taken out of the story because of what a cartoonish portrayal of a Black woman this white woman writer has created. It’s awful.

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