Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

God of Malice by Rina Kent

181 reviews

vicky_g12's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

itslexieboo's review against another edition

2.25

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

Content Warnings

popsan27's review against another edition

0.5

dark fast-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

Terrible writing, sorry Rina.

Content Warnings

lucveziah's review against another edition

5.0

dark fast-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: Yes

Content Warnings

nikameee's review against another edition

3.5

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

poeticalchemy's review against another edition

3.5

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

amateur_bookworm's review against another edition

3.75

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

God of Malice by Rina Kent is a dark romance and is the first book of her Legacy of Gods series.

This was my first ever Rina Kent book. I know her reader’s guide states that all of her series, duets, and standalones can be read independently. However, I felt a bit like I got dropped into a setting that I should understand but really had no idea who was who or what was happening. I have to assume that reading her earlier series first would have helped this book make a lot more sense. That being said, yes, you can absolutely start with this book but I do wish that I’d read her others first.

So. This is a dark romance. I’ve realized in the last few months that I much prefer gray romance vs. dark romance. And the author’s note in the beginning almost talked me out of reading this one. But, I did go ahead and read it, because (let’s be real here), I already bought the whole series after hearing good things about it and (most importantly!) because of the pretty sprayed edge colors.

I did like this one but I absolutely have mixed feelings about it. There were some parts I liked, some parts I didn’t like, some parts that were hot, and, overall, I flew through the pages, which usually means I’m liking it. Bottom line? Crazy, spoiled rich college kids are absolutely exhausting. And now I can’t wait to read the others in the series.

Content Warnings

bookintrovert's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Content Warnings

andrea_gurine's review against another edition

This was a bit too much for me. This got real crazy right away. I like spice but the blatant lack of consent was a big NO for me. I can handle crazy spice but there needs to be consent.

Content Warnings

kathrynjean97's review against another edition

1.5

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

TL;DR:

The characters, plot, and spice were all disappointing and it reads like a bad Wattpad fanfic. Half a star added because it was readable, despite its clunkiness.

VIBES

🎓 Dark romance
🎓 College setting + Mafia
🎓 Mystery plot
🎓 Psychopath MMC
🎓 Doormat FMC
🎓 ~~Spice~~ Sexual violence

🗨️ Dual POV (+ a few random chapters)
🗨️ First-person, present tense

THOUGHTS (spoiler-lite™)

If you read and enjoyed this book, please stop reading here! I have some shit to get off my chest and I will not be holding back.
If you're considering reading this book and care more about vibes than writing/editing, please read this review at your own discretion.
If you're considering reading this book and you do care about good writing/editing, please read this review and see if you can read the quotes without cringing before you commit.

Alright, below are my ramblings and highlighted quotes categorised to be semi-coherent. These are my opinions. If Wattpad-core doesn't bother you, YMMV.

The Characters:
❌ Killian... I do not understand the hype. He's a petulant, entitled little shit; he's supposed to be cruel and menacing but his threats are actually laughable; his whole 'I like to cut up animals' schtick is uninspired; he has no character development to keep me interested; and his POV's were so fucking repetitive (Glyn's virginity this, make her bleed that, uhhgggghhh).

"Have you enjoyed your car's new headlights enough?" I change the subject, then whisper, "Because they might disappear. With the whole car. While you sleep."

"What a weakling. How about you drop dead?"

❌ Glyndon is so forgettable that I literally had to look up her name to write this review. Her only identifiable personality trait is an inferiority complex. She has absolutely no backbone and just lets Killian happen to her... and then she's in love! Omg. Also, she's suicidal (although in deep denial) because her best friend killed himself? But the ending reveals that

she'd only known said best friend for a few months and he treated her like shit because he was just using her to further his own plot

. Yeah... how little self-worth do you need to get into that situation?
❌ Remi is the only side character I actually remember and it's only because I cannot fucking stand how he refers to himself in third person and calls himself 'Lordship.' It wasn't funny the first time and it certainly wasn't funny the twentieth.
❌ There are too many side characters being established just to set up future books. I literally couldn't remember who half of these people were, and I definitely couldn't keep track of all their backstories and relationships.

The Plot:
❌ ... what plot? Glyndon suspects that her best friend's suicide was actually a murder, and it's relevant in maaaybe 4 or 5 chapters. The rest of the book is just Killian being a lusty fuckhead and Glyn being all woe-is-me.
❌ The twist at the end was (a) completely avoidable if Killian just stopped lying to Glyn earlier in the book and (b) was soooo fucking dramatic and a bit cringe, tbh.
❌ The worldbuilding is also a bit cliche; the uni is literally called Royal Elite University lol.

The Spice:
❌ Can someone please tell Kent that excessive use of foul language and threats =/= dark romance?
❌ Also that dub/non-con is only hot when we give a fuck about the characters first?
❌ The scenes were not sexy in a dark romance, I-have-to-have-you kind of way, nor were they sexy in an intimate, I'm-falling-in-love-with-you kind of way... they were genuinely just boring and poorly written.

4.5 🌶️
→ explicit
→ dubious
→ semi-frequent

Spicy Chapters:

2, 9, 16, 21, 22, 26, 29, 32, and the epilogue.

The Writing:
❌ ... is giving Wattpad days.
❌ It's honestly just so clunky and awkward and in need of some serious editing.
❌ Basically everything is (over) explained through excessive exposition rather than being revealed naturally throughout the story. Each time a character gets introduced, we get their personality and relationships explained. Each time an idea or plot device is introduced, we get the whole backstory dumped on us.

Grandma has a calm, evocative beauty with her raven hair, petite features, and slim body. She's about ten years older than my parents and is a successful business owner. We often get custom-made watches from her luxurious brand and I hold them close to my heart.

And it happens all the fucking time in the middle of dialogue, so there will be <i>pages</i> of exposition between what one character says and what the other replies with, which makes following conversations really difficult.

❌ Conversations are so boring and repetitive...

"Words. Words."
"I mean every one of them."
"Hmm."
"What is 'hmm' supposed to mean?"
"Just hmm."
"Wow, thanks for the clarification."
"You're welcome."

...and any time something actually interesting is said, it's not shown as dialogue but rather it's brushed over in a throwaway line.

"Glyndon! I miss you, hon. The mansion is empty as hell without you."
"Miss you, too, Grandma!"
"How can it be empty when I'm right here, wild one?" Grandpa asks.
"Don't be jealous of your own granddaughter. Besides, you also said you miss her energy."
"I do. Come home soon, princess."
"Will do!"
We continue talking for a bit, then I give him a report about [***].

(***actually plot-relevant fucking information that could've been put here naturally instead of being info-dumped earlier)

❌ There's a time jump around the 60-70% mark that completely skims over all potential relationship development.
❌ There are random chapters from MC's parent's POV??? So strange and unnecessary.
❌ This book was waaay longer than it needed to be.

More quotes to judge this book by:
(I literally couldn't make this shit up)

The air frizzled my honey-colored hair that's streaked with natural blonde balayage and stuffs it in my eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you and choking me?"

"He's a fourth-year med student, despite being only nineteen. Obviously, he skipped a few grades, like me. Though I only skipped one and I'm seventeen. I'll be eighteen soon, by the way, so don't treat me like a kid."

Once upon a time, I was plagued by the urge to see underneath animals’ skin. Humans, too, but I only had access to animals. I contemplated scissoring up our fat cat, Snow, but Mom was crying when he got sick, so I left him alone.

Her skin appears pale blue in the darkness, like fresh corpses. If she somehow starts bleeding and the red is added to the mix, her skin will look ethereal under the moon.

Glyndon might be the solid, huge rock, but I'm water and water might slam into the rock at first, but it will eventually break through it.

I heard [my professor] tell his assistant teacher, "I can't believe Glyndon is the Astrid C. King's daughter and Landon and Brandon King's sister. Her technique is juvenile at best and so chaotic that it's embarrassing to compare her to them."

Sometimes, I miss the mischievous younger version of me or how I used Grandma's makeup as a palette.

"This is so good. I didn't have any homemade meals since my last visit home."

"I'm weird and different like that."

Okay, last thing. And maybe this is petty, but...

Is this actually just a Royals of Forsyth University fanfic?
❓ I know that college bully romances are common, but I just can't help seeing lots of little similarities! Even if it's not AT ALL inspired by RoFU, this reads like a fanfic to me.
❗ Killian = crazy obsessive, feels entitled to FMC's virginity, quarterback
❗ Remi = a little loonie
❗ The obsession with the colour red?
❗ Secret societies with crazy rituals and leaders outside the uni (that are not called Kings but might as well be)
❗ The he-wouldn't-have-killed-himself mystery (aka the Dukes plot)
❗ Probs more but I'm sick of flicking back through this book lol

Sooooooooo, yeah. I'm pretty bummed, tbh. This series has come highly recommended in dark romance circles and book 5 specifically has been recommended to me personally, but I just don't know if I can put myself through any more of this writing style. In conclusion... not for me.

Content Warnings

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