Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Credence by Penelope Douglas

38 reviews

haleydeppert's review

challenging dark 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? Yes

3.0

This is a hard book to review. This book has been all the rage on BookTok right now, so I wanted to give it a try. It definitely pushed my boundaries of comfortability. Although I did thoroughly enjoy the writing of the spicy scenes, it remained hard to get past the familial relations in this book. I did not feel much romance or true love at all—more possessiveness, jealousy, and abuse—but as a book should, it kept me entertained. Three stars because it kept my attention and my eyes were glued to the page. However, character development fell extremely flat and storylines felt quite rushed. Not to mention the familial relations… weird.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Cursing, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Incest, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

sandse2's review

dark slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

Very taboo, sexually explicit and dark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Confinement

edietz22's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Suicide attempt, Grief, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Blood, Abandonment, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexism, Physical abuse, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury

mproper1's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

I have never felt compelled to leave a review for a book until now. I was nervous to read this book after seeing such mixed reviews about its content. I recently discovered Penelope Douglas and made quick work of both Punk 57 (which I liked) and Birthday Girl (which I loved). Credence was definitely not an easy read due to the heavy topics and taboo relationships, but I couldn’t put this book down!! It was emotional and dark and intense and quite honestly one of the most heartfelt and genuine romances I’ve ever read. This story provides an emotionally raw visual of loving fiercely and unapologetically.

I would not recommend someone read this without reading the content warnings first!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Blood

Minor: Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Abandonment, Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

clareasday's review

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol

Moderate: Violence, Animal death, and Stalking

bookameme's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Anti-Romance

Quote:📖

“In a few months, the snow will melt, and the world will invade us again, but right now . . . they’re mine. For this one winter, they’re mine.”

Thoughts: 💡
Sometimes I wish P Douglas wasn’t such an entertaining writer. This book sucks you in and keeps you rapidly turning the pages completely engrossed in the story. The problem is that she doesn’t seem to use sensitivity readers. She writes about a few topics that she’s clearly unknowledgeable about and creates very problematic scenarios. I’m certain that this book would rate much higher and be enjoyed by a wider audience if she makes a few revisions.
The characters are all struggling and have intense issues that they really should seek therapy for, instead they just hole up on a mountain and yell at each other. They do end up finding solas and a way to live, and create a very entertaining story. I wish we would have seen more character development, instead what we got were dark themes and crazy hot smut. The bonus chapter found at the end of the paperback gives you a look into Khalib’s struggles and thoughts. I loved that it finally gave insight into a marginalized character and their struggles. If you’re a dark romance reader I’m certain you will enjoy this one, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone that doesn’t like darker themes.
As for the audio, I liked that there were four different narrators. The audio quality was a solid 4, as well as the three male narrators. However, I think the female narrator was spectacular and would love to head more from her.

Fun Bits:
⚜️ Super Smutty
⚜️ Lots of Angst
⚜️ An Interesting Plot
⚜️ Some Suspense

Important Note:✨
This book was rereleased by Berkley and the paperback has bonus content that the eBook doesn’t have.

Full Content Warning:⚠️
misogynistic behavior, power imbalance, group sex, sexual violence, dubious consent, suicide, child neglect, domestic abuse, sexual harassment, and bondage

Stats:📊
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
💙💙💙💙
Audio: 🎧🎧🎧🎧
Narrators: 🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️
Dark Erotica: Taboo, Love Triangle, Coming of Age, Age Gap, Grief & Loss, Hurt/Comfort, Found Family
First Person, Present Tense, Multi POV
⚠️: misogynistic, power imbalance, group 🍆💦, 🍆💦 violence & harassment, dub con, self unaliving, neglect, & domestic 🤕

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Blood, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Bullying, Confinement, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Cursing, Mental illness, and Sexual content

nicolaj1994's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Suicide, Cursing, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Incest

Moderate: Child abuse, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and Addiction

rosamaria's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

1.5

I hated everything about this book, yet I still read all 470 pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Incest, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Child abuse, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexism, Misogyny, and Cancer

avery_29's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Grief, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Cancer, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Animal death, Bullying, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

kamilamalves's review

can't even remember if that's the percentage i was at, i just rage quit and deleted it. one of the brothers tried to

fucking rape

the girl WHO IS SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD and not only do the characters act and try to convince her that it's normal but the author makes the girl say

"oh but for a moment there i wanted it"

fuck that, fuck this book, and fuck this author for ever writing this. this is completely irresponsible and it's baffling to me that this book is in the "romance" category. and what i mentioned isn't even the start of it. yes, "uncle jake", it is fucked up of you to think of and picture your 17 year old niece (putting a "step-" before that doesn't make her less your responsability)

fucking someone

when you were supposed to take care of her after her fucked up parents both commited suicide. what's wrong with people who read this shit and even recommend it?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicide, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Misogyny, Death of parent, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Blood