Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Things I Wanted to Say, But Never Did

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Things I Wanted to Say, But Never Did by Monica Murphy

50 reviews

tamara_loves_reading's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I don‘t know what to write about this book… Toxic? Sexual tension for 99% of the time? Sex? Bullying? Obsession? Did i write toxic already?
But I couldn’t stop reading, it hurt a lot, i was like ‚WHY??‘ all the time. The end was like: we were separated for 1 1/2 years and i (whit) changed a lot. So now we can be together, have our HEA…
I don‘t know… it felt so toxic and wrong all the time and it was always money and power… for the man. The woman was forced, weak and a whore… i didn‘t like this picture which have been drawn the whole book through…

Content Warnings

blanditee's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Content Warnings

ellascoven's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.25

Content Warnings

bumblbee7's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

ecravens's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

selestre's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark 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

2.75

Content Warnings

nineinchnails's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional relaxing medium-paced

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

2.75

——
13/12/2023

i actually enjoyed this more than i did the first time around but i rate things differently now. the writing style is really charming to me so even though there isn’t a lot of romantic development (imo) i liked reading it. it was a little OTT and very angsty but that’s exactly what i enjoy reading right now. i do feel disappointed that

her and sylvie never went back to the way they were before though, she was my favourite character and their falling out felt so out of nowhere

. i’m curious to see how the timeline matches up in sylvie’s story but i want to take a break from the series first.

——
first read: 23/5/2022

Content Warnings

ceruleanshelves's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Every now and then I have to indulge in my guilty pleasure of bully romance and this one really hit the spot for me. Degrading bully? Check. Gossip Girl-esque wealthy elite drama? Check. Dirty smut? Check.
I would definitely check triggers for this as it's on the darker side, but I wouldn't say nearly as dark as say, Penelope Douglas's Devil's Night series. It does have degradation kink, though it wasn't as intense as I was expecting, or maybe my perception of that has been skewed by my reading. I did feel like it was a complex relationship that I had a hard time wrapping my head around (which I enjoy), and I really like Murphy's style of writing. I got what I came for with this book and I'm leaving a happy customer.
TW/CW (possible spoilers FYI):

degradation, SA (in memories), attempted SA/r*pe (not by MMC/LI), anal, death, murder, arson,

(definite spoiler here:)

pregnancy

Content Warnings

mia_jojo's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.5

NOTE: The first part of this review is cautionary, and the reason I gave it only 4 out of 5 stars is further below.

WARNING: Know what you're getting into, people. This book is not a joke.

So the whole book-- (this is from the hater's point of view and also partially true)-- is actually a degradation kink. Trigger warning for that. If you can't deal with the degradation kink then do yourself a favour and spare yourself this book. You will not survive.

I'm going to just say 1 crucially important thing. This book is definitely not for everyone. The reason for that is evident. It's not your typical comfort read. This book is for those looking for a bit of a challenge to read-- Clear as day in the length of it, with a little bit of everything (emotion, angst, smut are the main elements.) And it's meant to be pure fiction. *Ahem* Let me re-emphasise. PURE FICTION. Can be VERY triggering at times, watch out for the inner feminist in you, cause she will die at some point in this book, or, at the very least, be wounded severely.

So the guy in this book-- Treats the girl like absolute shit for the first part of the book, but that's... I mean, that's a given. It's a BULLY ROMANCE after all. He's supposed to treat her the way he treats her for the most part of it. The girl, who has a bit of a submission kink and is also an apparent masochist- kind of.. Maybe enjoys(??) the way he treats her-- The point is, he's supposed to be that way, and she's also supposed to be that way. And I can see how the girl comes off as a complete push-over for the entire book- like all throughout until, like, the last 60-70 pages. And that's a long time to remain a weakling-- The book's long AF. (Forgive my use of casual language in such an important matter, but it seemed only fitting.) The guy is a complete douche. "Cold and beautiful as the statues," Summer describes him as. I have to say I agree with her. He's the kind of guy you suspect to have a block of ice or stone where their heart was supposed to be.

Now here's the thing. I actually enjoyed the book. It's because of the dynamic between the ML and FL-- The romance in the book-- It's there but just barely there. I-- It's like a slow burn but only for the emotional part-- like the characters have each other's bodies but don't have their hearts till the end. If you like that, then this book will have been worth it. If you think you won't survive the horridness of ML's behaviour, then it's TOTALLY OKAY. I get it. Like I said earlier, it's not for everyone. But it is definitely for me.

Again, I completely understand how the book can be really, really, really anti-female at times in Summer's case, but there's-- So you gotta really be patient with Whit. That's-- ML's name. Whit. (Whom I keep mistaking with the name "Will" which is why I haven't mentioned ML's name until now, when the fog in my brain cleared up).

Yeah, so anyway, gotta be PATIENT. He starts to show emotion-- to his inner self-- not to Summer-- and starts to sort of figure stuff out for himself after, like, the first 100-150 pages of the book. (I think.)-- Oh yeah!! That reminds me!! If you're someone who's a sucker for a redemption arc or character development on the ML's side, then this book has that too. Lots of it. I mean its whole principle is literally redeeming the "BULLY" and making him go from Summer's life's Villain to Summer's life's Hero. Did I spoil the book? I don't think so...

Anyway-- READ if you:
-Like Redemption/Character Development
-Can HANDLE degradation/Like degradation
-Can handle/like intense smut
-Can stick with long books and finish them (you're going to need just a little determination and patience and empathy to get through the first 300 pages.)
-Sucker for the "Good girl_X_Bad boy" trope.
-Can HANDLE Bullies. Like big, big bullies.
-Looking for some darkness to spice up your life.

AND DON'T Read if you:
-Hate anti-feminism vibes
-Need strong FL
-Need kind ML
-Need some light in your life at the moment
-Can't stand "doormat FL."
-Can't handle smut.

So yeah. Those are my complete thoughts and feelings related to this 604-page monster-book. Honestly- I think the author did a great job of redeeming Whit, and I'mma add one more thing. I connected way more to the ML than the FL-- simply because I felt that the ML had so much more depth to him and was overall constructed as a better character. So.. that's there too. Just wished the FL was written as a more badass character and not a complete doormat/submissive. That kind of bummed me out a bit, hence the 4.5 out of 5 start rating. Just that connecting to the FL was a little hard.

Holy shit-- This is getting really long. Well-- A long book deserves a long review, no? To wrap it up, for me, this was a solid 4-star read. Enjoyable, and I'll also say that there are certain moments in the book where the ML-- I just find him so cute at times (Yeah, yeah, kill me for it-- I can understand if you don't share the same opinion.)

So I'm going to end now, have a great day, and also-- If you read this much of my review then-- Wow... I mean... You really need some help getting into this book, huh?

Anyway-- Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Content Warnings

branny's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.75

Content Warnings

More...