Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Awakening by Susanne Valenti, Caroline Peckham

19 reviews

ashleynp24's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.0

It was a nice and quick read that I did enjoy. I do think it started a little fast and there wasn’t a ton of buildup to the school. 

The main characters are lovable, but they need to stop being as gullible. That made parts of it hard to get through. Overall, a fun read and the ending murder did surprise me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Stalking, Death of parent, Car accident, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Classism, Blood, and Abandonment

cait's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Stalking, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Abandonment

jamby4546's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Violence, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Stalking, Abandonment, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Drowning mention

lovelymisanthrope's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I picked this up because everyone seems to be raving about this series, and I was curious.
"The Awakening" follows twin sisters: Tory and Darcy. Tory and Darcy have been in the foster care system since they were orphaned as babies. Now, 18, and kicked out of the system, they are just trying to make enough money to cover rent. But all of those worries seem inconsequential when they find out they are actually the daughters of the Savage King, and they are the rightful descendants of the fae crown. Now they must go through Zodiac Academy to learn about their true home and fight for their birthright.
This book was very fine. There is a lot of violence, nonconsensual acts, and ALOT of bullying, which I had a pretty good idea about before I started reading this. I found the hazing that the other students put Tory and Darcy through to be really off-putting, and the fact that none of the teachers did anything to remotely stop it was disheartening.
This book is definitely HEAVILY influenced by other popular stories, which is fine, but it made the book feel unoriginal.
I do not know if I will continue in this series, but I can now appreciate why everyone seems so enamored with this series. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Torture, Violence, Physical abuse, Death, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual content

monica0309's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Bullying

Moderate: Death of parent and Violence

Minor: Abandonment and Stalking

ifoundcallie's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Car accident, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Torture, Stalking, Incest, and Vomit

unicornofthesea's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual content, Stalking, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, Bullying, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence

_alyssar_'s review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Stalking, Sexual content, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Blood, Death, and Alcohol

Minor: Murder, Pedophilia, and Infidelity

lemonysnicket's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I'm trying to give this a fair review but I hated it.

• It's certainly dark but too dark for my taste.
• Most of the actions are bordering on r*pe if not full on r*pe
• Felt defeating as hell to read. Since this is a first person pov, by the time I was halfway through the book my self confidence was nonexistent. The first book seems to be all about the girls getting their ass handed to them. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

Not for the fainthearted.

midnacine's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Overall, I enjoyed this! The story was interesting and engaging, the world building was pretty intense and unique, and the little bit of spice was enticing.
But goddamn, getting past the poor writing was a struggle. About 100 pages in, the only way for me to continue was to start annotating just so I could edit as I read. I restructured sentences, corrected grammar and spelling, and added punctuation where necessary. It honestly felt like no one but the authors read through the book before sending it out to print. And don't even get me started on the fact that Tory and Darcy- two 18-year-old girls who were supposed to have grown up in the US- used terms like "sports kit" and "postie", which are very British terms.
But again, I enjoyed it. So am I gonna read the rest of the series, no matter how infuriating it is? Absolutely.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Torture, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body horror, Car accident, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

Minor: Infidelity, Blood, Death of parent, Incest, Vomit, and Medical content