Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Heavy Crown by Sophie Lark

2 reviews

quietmarki's review

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

2.0

I'm glad I finished this serie. I didn't care for them anymore. 
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nineinchnails's review

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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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