Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

312 reviews

max_lovesreading's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Stalking, Torture, Death, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Pedophilia

kat_reads26's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Haunting Adeline is one part dark erotica, one part action-thriller and a sprinkling of Nancy Drew style mystery. Despite how it may be categorized at your local bookstore, is not a romance. This is a NC/CNC Erotic Thriller that isn't for any readers who are easily affected by triggers such as stalking, NC sex, CNC sex, abuse, and mentions of pedophilia. If any of that puts you off, don't bother reading. 

With that said, Haunting Adeline started strong and then became a chore to read. The idea of a sexy-stalker-CNC romance with a spooky setting was very intriguing. I'd heard good things from Booktok about this one, including how heavily "spicy" it was. While there is graphic sex scenes depicted here, I have definitely read better. What's worse is that the book is so plot heavy that you have to read through several chapters of our FMC playing detective in her house and our MMC playing "good guy" mercenary with maybe 10 spicy scenes in a 500+ page book. 

Speaking of our MMC, he's a complete hypocrite. The chapters from his POV are all about how he wants to save women and children from trafficking and take down pedophile rings/the skin trade and how disgusted he is by the sexual abuse that takes place. And yet he is a textbook definition stalker that has set his sights on the FMC for no discernable reason besides beauty and sexually assaults her again and again. The author does her best to convince us that its not as bad as it is because our FMC is aroused by fear and mystery. That while she "knows its wrong" her body "can't help it." The MMC is clearly told no to his advances over and over again throughout the span of the story (with a few CNC moments nearer to the end) but he persists, claiming it's a game and that he's turned on by her fear and by the chase. The author insists the stalker needs to be redeemable and likable so she has essentially made him the batman of sex trafficking rings.

The sex scenes we do get (albeit rape for most of the book) are padded with multiple chapters of our MMC being the hero of an action movie no one signed on for, as well as an ongoing (and insufferable) added plot of the FMC solving her Great Grandmother's murder. I mean, I guess Adeline needed SOMETHING to do when she's not getting assaulted by the MMC.

If you were hoping to get a dark/taboo sexy love story to get off to while you read... this isn't gonna be it.

I'm not kidding when I tell you that 95% of the sex scenes in this book are non consensual. The FMC is more or less Stockholm syndromed into falling for her stalker via his magic penis. I'm not saying this story wasn't worth reading...but I am saying I probably won't read the next one.

This story ends on a cliffhanger. I'm fine with not knowing what happens next.

Trigger Warnings with Spoilers:

There is a scene where the female main character is made to masturbate with a gun, 50% of the story is about sex trafficking rings, child abuse, child torture, and pedophilia, the relationship between the main characters is non consensual for most of the book, then it is CNC for the rest

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Trafficking, Child abuse, Stalking, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Cursing

Minor: Cannibalism and Drug use

There is a scene where the female main character is made to masturbate with a gun, 50% of the story is about sex trafficking rings, child abuse, child torture, and pedophilia, the relationship between the main characters is non consensual for most of the book, then it is CNC for the rest

itsangiexo's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Rape, Cursing, Stalking, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Sexual violence, and Violence

raspberryjelly's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

It’s ok, the spice is good but that’s really it, plus the scenes are hard to imagine, like the way they are described.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Trafficking, Car accident, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Torture, Death, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Cursing, and Sexual harassment

jess_h7's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Pedophilia, Murder, Rape, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, and Stalking

Moderate: Alcoholism and Blood

Minor: Car accident

booksnart2023's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Read the trigger warnings...
The plot and character building gets 4 stars. There's so many different twists and turns in this book. Some things were predictable. I was caught off guard on others. Zade only gets 3.5 stars because his character feels like two different people and he says a lot of corny things. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Cursing, Child abuse, Stalking, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, Death, Gun violence, and Torture

neesa_'s review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Love, love, loved this one! Absolutely adore Addy, we’re alike in many ways and I think we’d be besties irl. I thought this book gave you a great amount of everything you got to know the characters well, had some great humor put into it (at least it had me giggling at times), had plot, and some great smut. All in all I found it to be a great dark romance but as always please read the triggers and know what you’re getting into before hand. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual content, and Trafficking

Moderate: Torture and Violence

Minor: Gun violence, Cursing, and Stalking

Does contain non/dub con between the main characters, as well as a cult surrounding men doing very graphic things to children including; sacrifice and trafficking.

feeow's review against another edition

dark medium-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Torture, Gore, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Death, Cursing, Gaslighting, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Slavery, Addiction, Blood, and Body horror

Minor: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Body horror, and Alcohol

gabrielleandcompany's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Well, well, well. This book has many toxic, triggering, and terrible characters, however - looking at how it was written, I couldn’t have asked for better. Is the MMC very problematic? Absolutely. But God, how HD writes it was so difficult to not get sucked into the story and want the two MCs to end up together. Now, to ruin myself with Hunting Adeline!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Pedophilia, and Gun violence

_haysway_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Sexual violence, Stalking, Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, and Trafficking