Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Pucking Wrong Number by C.R. Jane

22 reviews

shaykay's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

3.0

 When I read this book, it just came out, and it was popping up everywhere. It's an ice hockey romance, and those got very huge earlier this year, and this one just sounded like it was going to be a lot of fun. It had some really great banter. The whole premise is that Lincoln sent Monroe a text by accident, and the two ended up texting and were so funny. I also really loved Monroe. She had a very rough life, and she's now all on her own in Dallas and working two jobs while taking night classes. She's very proud of everything she has since she's got it all on her own. At the same time, Lincoln comes from a very affluent family and has a successful hockey career. He's used to always getting whatever he wants, and sometimes that means crossing the line. He basically stalks her and even tricks her into moving in with him and quitting her job. So he's slowly taken away all of her independence. I didn't see her being okay with it, especially after she found out. She would've stood her ground and left him, and he would've had to work very hard to get her back. I could've seen this one being the start of the duology where she leaves him maybe in the middle of the night. In the next book, he has to work on himself and eventually makes up with her after working hard to regain her trust. That would be a lot of fun to see instead of her being okay with it all, and he has no consequences whatsoever. Initially, it felt like the book was rough and messy, and then suddenly, no one had to deal with any of the products. I was sure the Deitweilers would've returned after she started appearing to be linked to Lincoln. Still, again, we never see them after she runs away. There were just a lot of opportunities that could have been improved for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Death, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, and Child abuse

Minor: Drug abuse

amanda_reads13's review

dark 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

Monroe is starting over in a new city when she gets a text from a wrong number. That text happens to be from Lincoln, the NHL golden boy. He instantly becomes obsessed with her and will stop at nothing to make her his. 

Lincoln deals with his pain by channelling his energy into hockey and obsessing over Monroe. Hockey by day, stalking and manipulating Monroe by night. 

Through most of her life, Monroe deals with her pain by working hard to overcome her terrible situation. Once she becomes the object of Lincoln's obsession, she tries to fight his hold on her and tries to remain independent, but eventually realizes there is no point. After everything this psychopath has done, he manages to manipulate her into becoming solely dependent on him. 

Both Lincoln and Monroe have endured horrific childhoods, I think they need therapy more than anything else. 

Tropes: touch her/you die, toxic, obsessed, opposites attract, dark, instalust

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Child abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Confinement

stuffandwhatnot's review

dark

3.5

Has a serious tone/plot dissonance. It's kind of like those recut movie trailers, where they make The Shining sound like a rom-com or Mrs Doubtfire like a horror movie. This is an obsessed/stalker dark romance with a rom-com tone. And it's a boiled frog stalker. Like, he starts out doing suspicious but still within the rom-com realm of possibility stuff, like googling her and getting a background check run, then progresses to driving by her place, then breaking in while she sleeps, Edward Cullen-style. 

By the end after

he's gotten her evicted, fired, and totally dependent upon him and she learns this and tries to leave, he drugs and chains her in his apartment (after letting the reader know that he's got a tracking device in her birth control implant)

I was like, well, I should've expected that to happen. At that point, if I'd learned

he actually DID kill his brother, I don't think I would've been that surprised.

But it still works because his over the top obsessiveness fits perfectly with her abandonment issues. I mean, these people desperately need therapy, but they got a HEA that works for both of them, I guess.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Stalking

Moderate: Child abuse and Grief

vee79's review

dark emotional medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Minor: Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, and Death of parent

alilbitofeveryth1ng's review

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Death of parent

kjenae's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful tense 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

4.0

HOLY HELL??! 
Lincoln is unhinged…literally certifiably insane! A psycho. When it comes to Monroe, of course. 
There isn’t a thing that he wouldn’t do to protect and keep her and I wholeheartedly believe that.

Monroe and Lincoln have such an unhealthy relationship that both work in their favor. They’re both possessive and obsessed with each other, but Lincoln is the most unhinged of the two. 
I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I enjoyed every second of this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Minor: Child abuse

theartistreader's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-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

5.0

TROPES:
- Ice hockey
- Obsessed hero with psychotic tendencies
- If I can't have you, nobody can
- Wrong number/mistaken identity
- Virgin heroine
- OTT & protective hero

I saw this allover BookTok and I always get nervous about reading its recs because I worry that they won't live up to the hype. Rest assured, this definitely did!

I can sometimes struggle to get through ice hockey romances because they can be really long or slow paced, but this was literally everything I needed and more. I did it in one sitting, and now I'm annoyed that book 2 isn't available yet. Roll on book 2!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Addiction, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Drug use, Grief, and Sexual violence

my_name_is_jess's review

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

1.0

Yikes. This book is really doing the most and trying so hard to be a dark romance but it sailed right past "dark" and landed firmly in cringe territory. There are trigger warnings at the beginning but I don’t feel they really encompass what actually takes place in this book. While I considered putting this down and never picking it up again several times, I absolutely should have DNF’d when he

broke into her apartment while she slept and wiped his cum on her lips

because it only got worse from there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, and Addiction

mizmanderz's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Stalking, Rape, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Addiction, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, and Confinement

Minor: Child abuse

laura_rheads_too_much's review

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Stalking, Child abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Violence