Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

171 reviews

lunar_moths's review against another edition

dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.5

It was god damn immaculate, the vibes were top tier, characters were awesome, while it was technically very dark, it didn’t feel as dark as other books I’ve read like haunting adaline, because there was a layer of comedy and the writing just felt a little more lighthearted excluding when the plot was thickest, that shit did get pretty dark and tense. The banter was amazing and he’s a serial killer but turns into a golden retriever around her it was so cute but also the spice was spicing. All around awesome.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing and Violence

Minor: Vomit, Stalking, and Death of parent

kal517's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Torture, Vomit, and Stalking

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

sweetstar229's review against another edition

funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

A thoroughly enjoyable read.

Sloane and Rowan definitely should have gotten caught numerous times but I have accepted the plot-armour as world lore.

In terms of writing, Butcher & Blackbird follows the trend of very fanfiction-esque writing styles that I've noticed many new contemporary authors have. Reading this was like reading good original work on AO3, which is not a good thing. I knew what the Third Act conflict was instantly, and although I found it a little cliche, it still worked out okay.

The last 200 pages is very sex-heavy so go into this with that in mind. There's also a lot of trigger-warnings (the way they were written reminds me of some AO3 authors' witty tagging, e.g. Not-So-Accidental Cannibalism).

I look forward to reading the next instalments in the trilogy, all of which MCs had pagetime in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Child abuse and Death of parent

kds247's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

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

4.25

A lovely read for romance loving horror fans. There was a decent amount of gore and had some very spicy moments. The beginning was a little cringy but after you got past the first couple of chapters, the banter was amazing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Vomit, and Kidnapping

Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

ivykennerauthor's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

dark emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

Honestly pretty fun.  There were some things I wasn't a huge fan of but it was silly and campy in a good way, amidst all the blood and gore.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kell_yeah_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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? Yes

4.0

per my spreadsheet:
i was afraid to listen to this, for good reason, but also ... yes. 

listen to it. I don't love Joe Arden, but this book was a masterpiece to listen to.

spice 🌶  - a 4 🌶  spicy (romance.io scale)
length - just right
reading speed - read in 4 days
did it make me cry? - some how, yes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Torture, Vomit, and Stalking

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

caitlinemccann's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I didn't expect to be giggling and crying over a serial killer romance, but this was a delightful, easy read despite it's dark and gritty content. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Medical content, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Gaslighting

miciahsreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Kidnapping and Death of parent

alamayhem_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

This book was EVERYTHING. I honestly do not know how I did not read this sooner, as it has a lot of my favorite things. We have horror, we have serial killers, we have romance, we have humor, we have SPICE! I literally flew through this book and needed to force myself to pace myself because I knew I would not be able to go to the store to get the second one until the weekend. I LOVED this book and cannot wait to read the rest of the trilogy!

Sloane just might be one of my favorite FMCs ever. I genuinely loved getting to see such a badass female serial killer. There really is not enough female serial killers in media — they are usually men. Although this checks out, the TYPE of serial killer that Sloane was iconic and reminded me of a female Dexter. I fully supported it. We love a badass, terrifying, queen serial killer who gets rid of terrible people. AS DESERVED — MUAHAHA!!

I also loved Rowan, as he was an interesting take on another vigilante-styled serial killer. Although he was terrifying, it was so intriguing to see his double life as a chef and owner of restaurants. I ate that up and loved to see him thrive so much in his normal life. He also very much reminded me of Dexter (if you cannot tell I am currently rewatching the series, lol) because he was such a good man and always took care of his woman, Sloane.

Getting to see the game carry out between Sloane and Rowan was so much fun but also it was so scary! It was one of those “I want to look away but I cannot” situations. Every time that we got to the annual competition, I was like “Oh boy, here we go…” and braced myself for the craziness that I knew was bound to happen in the next pages. Brynne did not disappoint when it came to these scenes. The gore of the scenes, the high stakes surrounding the killers they were after, the execution of the actual murders — it was everything a horror fan could have asked for. I LOVE both reading and watching the horror genre, and she really did an incredible job at mixing this genre with romance. I have genuinely never read something like this before. I was not sure if it would be able to be executed well — to have a healthy mix of romance,hot spicy scenes, and just flat out horror, gore, and murder. But hey, I can confidently say that Brynne Weaver achieved the perfect mix of these genres and wrote an incredibly fun, sexy, scary, and flat out revolting book.

The ice cream scene and that whole dinner scene will forever be imprinted in my brain. Also lil orzo pastas hahah.

I could really continue writing all of the things that I love about this book, but I have already written a small novella here, so I will wrap it up. I really truly enjoyed myself while reading this novel so much. It successfully fueled my love for both romance and horror in one book. It was right up my alley and everything that I could have asked for. I will happily be reading Leather & Lark now, then the last book in the trilogy, and everything else that Brynne ever writes. I rate this book 5/5 stars! 🌟

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Torture, Vomit, and Stalking

Minor: Child abuse and Death of parent