Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Under Locke

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Under Locke by Mariana Zapata

5 reviews

ash's review against another edition

1.0

minus one star for writing “babe” 160 goddamn times into this book. minus another star for man with severe anger management issues and NO PLANS FOR THERAPY

i fear for that kid on the way truly

. minus another star for the “slutty women” trope and calling a random lady a hussy bc she wore a mini skirt. and minus one last star for not respecting the basic rules of consent. thank you and good night

also why was he totally fine with smoking around her (despite supposedly knowing secondhand smoke kills) before he knew about her cancer and then after finding out all of a sudden he’s a no smoking boy scout????? like bro? when he didn't know she had cancer, he wasn’t willing to quit and asked her if she was gonna make a big deal about it, but after finding out about the cancer all of a sudden that secondhand smoke is bad and not good to be around????????? AND WE'RE SUPPOSED TO SWOON WHEN HE SAYS THIS??????????????? be so fucking for real right now.

Content Warnings

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense fast-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

2.5

Iris has recently lost her job and moves from Florida to Austin to live with her half brother, Sonny. Sonny gets her a job at a tattoo shop belonging to Dex.

I really liked Iris. She was quiet and shy, but once she became more comfortable around her coworkers, she was very funny and loyal. She has been through so much pain in her 24 years. She suffered so much loss, abandonment, health issues, and having to raise her sibling. I felt like she was very naive and overly trusting. She was very self-conscious of her scar, which any 20 year old woman would be, but that was the focus of way too much of the book.

I struggled to understand Dex. He is very one dimensional. We know that he is an angry, possessive, tall, tattoo covered hot guy, and that's about it. We don't really get much depth from his character.

He was such an asshole to Iris from the start, but called her babe and baby. Weird. He was unnecessarily angry all the time. He would blow up over the most minor things. We don't really get a reason as to his anger issues (other than the mention that his dad was a dick), nor did he really deal with his issues. This is a major red flag. Then all of a sudden he flips and goes alpha possessive over Iris. The complete 180 is very confusing. He was just way too misogynistic and sexist IMHO.

The bad boy/good girl trope was definitely being played up. The problem is that Iris is way too good for Dex. Yes, she thought he was hot, but he treated her like shit. Then he just laid claim to her one day and she just accepted it. She never really took the time to heal or learn about herself. She just went from a shitty situation to a relationship with an overbearing man.

I liked the Tattoo shop setting and Iris' coworkers. I enjoyed the bond she formed with them and how open she was able to be with them. I also really appreciated how much Sonny looked after her and took care of her.

Tropes: workplace, Biker Gangs, Slowburn, Forced Proximity, Brother's friend, Age Gap (24 x 33), Grumpy x Sunshine, Virgin FMC

Content Warnings