Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Flock

second read (july 2022): 4 stars
Lord have mercy on my soul. I'm still unsure about where tf the story is headed but I enjoyed it all over again. Am I a little bit trash for Dom&Sean? Probably- just a smidge and a half.

first read (april 2022): 4 stars
I have no clue what I just read but the spice???? hi hello, its hawttt af thank you kate for your service. I knew exactly nothing going into this one, and that was probably the best way to do it!

The mystery surrounding the Ravenhood still very much intrigues me and I cannot wait to see where Exodus takes us. All I know is that it breaks your soul and makes people sob but I am here for ittt.

Content Warnings

theshrew's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

kingrosereads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.25

I wanna start by saying that I told myself that I would not DNR a book this year unless the grammar was ridiculously bad or the book was terribly offensive, which is the only reason I finished this book. BookTok really fumbled with this one and I usually find something about the books on there that I liked.

I think we should start off with Sean is the most pretentious fuckboy on the planet. I get not being involved is social media. But serious? Everything about is just SCREAMS toxic bro culture. He smashes her Apple Watch to make a point about technology but it’s also fucking rude? Like we get it, so go live off grid somewhere. He literally compared to living in America to NAZI GERMANY. The Holocaust dude? SERIOUSLY?! Usually when a love interest is described as having blonde hair, he immediately gets re-written in my mind (idk why blonde men are a red flag to me) but he got back his blonde hair REAL QUICK. Then he like made Cecelia feel stupid and unreasonable when she waited SIX HOURS for him after spending the day cooking for him? Miss me with that gaslighting, abusive shit. You can literally get a burner phone. Like what? There was NO WAY you could’ve gotten a message to her? And because she’s upset that means she doesn’t trust you or believe in you or your mission? I was over Sean after their first date.

Now on to Dominic. Like at least he doesn’t pretend to be all lovey dovey and caring like Sean. He’s an asshole through and through. What you see is what you get with Dominic and not only that, the fact he’s so subtle but people notice how loyal and devoted he is to Cecelia, is what makes him sooooo attractive. He believes the same things as Sean, but he’s not shoving it down your throat every damn minute. Also, him and Sean’s fascination with 1984 by George Orwell is so cringe. Immediate red flag. They humiliate Cecelia in public which is such an immediate turn off for me. Like pushing her to force her to become strong for YOUR needs and desires? No thanks.

Cecelia, the protagonist, is so fucking irritating. The entire book I’m just screaming at her to run. She can’t hold her ground at all and immediately forgives these assholes. And to be honest, that’s a pretty accurate representation of a 19 year old (basically a literal child) being taken advantage of by men who are nearly 30 years old. Many women, especially young/inexperienced women, who are preyed on by abusive, manipulative gaslighting assholes, often go back to these dickwads. Though, I’m not sure why the present day (26 year old) Cecelia is returning to this town because of these two guys when she should be old enough to know better.

Look, I don’t know if Roman is truly a bad guy or he’s got some shady people working with or around him, but it does genuinely seem like he wants to make amends with his daughter in the only way he knows how to, but in typical teenage detachment, Cecelia blows him off. I’d do anything to have a dad that tried even 3% and Cecelia rejects him because what? She’s nurturing her daddy problems between two men? Unacceptable.

Also, the writing is like irritatingly cryptic. I’m not sure if that’s the point considering the two men are always cryptic (which is not only a turn off and annoying, but a HUGE red flag) but it’s just such a turn off as a reader.

I immediately figured they were using her to get to her dad, but Dominic’s dead parents being a result of Roman’s negligence or malice is so cliché.

The cliffhanger in this book is not enough to get me to finish the series. Also, Stewart made too many references to whipping/lashes (not referring to the kink) for my liking. The book had zero plot until the last maybe 5% of the book with no tie-in to the prologue at any point during this book so it is easily forgotten and upon recall, makes zero sense. It gets 1 star for the spice and quarter a star for the very minor intrigue.

Content Warnings

arys_library's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

Yeah I don’t even know what to say. It was amazing, I read it in almost one sitting (but I had to sleep). The first half of the book I was so frustrated. There were so many red flags that were ignored and it seemed like the way the author was writing it made it feel glamorized. But when you get to the ending you realize why everything happened. And it doesn’t excuse these red flags but it makes it make sense. I went into the book blind and only read the blurb on the back which also told you barely anything about the book. But you should go into it blind. It’s a great book and I’m so confused at the end of it and I’m waiting for the second to come in the mail so I can continue. But just know it’s a great book, a romantic erotic suspense and look at trigger warnings. And then dive right in.

Content Warnings

bryelle's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I read this book in a day. I loved the characters so much. Cecelia has to go live with her day to be able to get her inheritance and help her mom. She meets Sean the first day and they become inseparable. Cecelia has tension with Sean’s roommate, but Sean is okay with being poly. Cecelia grows to have a relationship with Sean and Dominic. But there is more to the story than just the love story.

Content Warnings

bookedupchick's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful fast-paced

5.0

“My greatest hope is to be in all-consuming love. My biggest fear is to be in all-consuming love.” 🖤

I can’t even give y’all a synopsis because you need to go into this book as blind as possible.

I am OBSESSED. It hooked me and now I need to know what happens next! Lots of twists and turns that you don’t see coming 👀 I will say I got a little confused a couple times that I had to reread a couple parts, but honestly there is a lot to unpack and I needed some clarity.

The SPICE was freaking 🔥🥵😮‍💨 Dominic is my fave — you all know I love the dark, morally gray 😏 Love Sean too. Tyler is such a sweetheart 🥺❤️ Cecelia is young & naive, but really starts to grow towards the end of the book…

Read this if you like ⤵️

🏘 Small Town
🌦 Grumpy x Sunshine
🖤 Morally Gray
🤫 Secrets
🔎 Mystery
👫 Large friends Group
🧍‍♀️ Tall Heroine
🚘 Classic Cars
🧗🏻‍♀️ Cliffhanger Ending
📚 Trilogy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶/5

Flock by Kate Stewart
The Ravenhood Book 1

Content Warnings

doyna's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

Good book for the first instalment of the series but for me it only got better from their

Content Warnings

mypatronusisajedi's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

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