Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Heavy Crown by Sophie Lark

7 reviews

nineinchnails's review

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

i am very VERY conflicted. i was not looking forward to this book at all (i really just wanted to read so i could start kingmakers) but it took me by surprise and i was really enjoying it for the most part, despite how much i hate instalove. i still didn’t care much about their relationship but i liked the characters individually, seb more than yelena (who felt quite one dimensional). however, i think this book completely ruined

sebastian’s character after the wedding

. i would go as far as to say most of the characters from the previous books suffered a character assassination here, notably dante. 

the same dante who was

fiercely overprotective of his siblings refused to attend his brother’s wedding (but changed his mind and dropped in at the last minute) then abandoned him in his quest to avenge their father’s death

? this feels so far removed from the dante in aida’s book. aida is probably the only significant character who hasn’t changed for the worse in this book and i loved all her scenes. nero (and camille) also seemed very different, even from his own book let alone the first in the series. 

the writing did get a little repetitive when seb and yelena were thinking about each other/their relationship but i hate instalove so i don’t think i was ever gonna be obsessed with their romance. i think the worst part was how

sebastian treated her after their wedding - i love dark romance and can deal with cruelty from MCs but it just felt wildly out of character from sebastian

. it was jarring to read and honestly put me off him a little. i also felt like yelena’s characterisation was all over the place, but we only had this book to get to know her so it’s not as easy of a judgement to make as it is for seb. 

i think the part i hated most was

her and adrian becoming estranged. i get that it’s a set up for the spin off series but i really hate when close siblings have their relationship ruined. even him turning on her so fast felt strange since they seemed so close in the beginning

. i do love angst but i was really hoping it would be resolved at least in the epilogue.

all that being said, the side plot really captured my attention and i am excited for the spin off series. i do wish

enzo hadn’t been killed off though, it was nice to see a dad in a mafia series be loved so completely by his children

. i don’t usually read mafia books but i haven’t seen that much in the ones that i have read. i think the prose was improved from the older books in the series, though it was repetitive at times, and i liked the interactions with the other characters (aida the most) even if they aren’t the same as they used to be. i can understand that they all have different priorities now but just as a family unit the gallos seem so different to the way they did in the first book, a lot less united and it makes the whole book feel bleak when it’s supposed to have a (technically) happy ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Violence, Sexual content, and Confinement

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Grief, Sexual violence, and Misogyny

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness

midnightrose_reads's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Fantastic action packed ending to the Brutal Birthright series!

However…..

Dante’s character somewhat disappointed me in this book. Don’t get me wrong, he does show up for Sebastian and Yelena’s wedding, but in the heat of the battle  towards the end he’s not there. Obviously he explains to Sebastian why at one point in the narrative, but I have a hard time believing a man like Dante would not want to help get retribution for his father’s murder. Quite frankly, I never believed he would be truly happy moving somewhere like Paris, as he did in his book Bloody Heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Sexual content, and Gun violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Torture and Pregnancy

apolen's review against another edition

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Torture

ecravens's review

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Blood

sdupont's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

Heavy Crown similar to Savage Lover for me in that I felt we didn’t have enough time with the couple to really feel their connection grow and build- even less so for this book as the couple dated for such a short period of time. I struggled to get into this book but the second half was interesting with all of the action between the battling mafia families. I would recommend this entire series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual assault and Pregnancy

weelasswithabook's review

adventurous challenging emotional tense 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? No

4.5

CW, gun violence, death of a loved one, dismemberment, torture, misogyny, abusive parental relationship, historical DV, SA

⭐ Hidden motive
⭐ Mafia romance 

Ooh this had me full of anxiety. So much happened in this book 👀 character deaths that broke my little heart, betrayal, sadness, a hero with such responsibility he didn't want nor need thrust on him, a heroine made to choose between her family (tbh they were dicks so I'd have bounced) and someone she loved. 

Uggghhhhh this was just the perfect end to the series and Kingmakers (which I read first for some reason 🤣) is such a natural progression which just flows from Heavy Crown to The Heir. 

10/10 would read again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Moderate: Torture, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Terminal illness

kim03's review

dark emotional

• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Body shaming and Murder