Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - What Hunts Inside the Shadows

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

What Hunts Inside the Shadows by Harper L. Woods

17 reviews

cbtobin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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rwinegarden's review against another edition

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Literally so so bad. I tried so hard to want to read this book. I think there’s fantastic potential with the world the author created, and she’s using about 10% of it. The book is terribly paced, and they don’t even get to where they’re going until almost the very end of the book. I already read the whole camping vibe with the first book, I didn’t need a repeat for the second. The male main character is not appealing to me, he basically threatens to have anal sex with her at one point and the female main character is clearly not into it. It feels like the two main characters are either arguing with each other or having sex. I tend to let a looooot of things slide when I'm reading but i literally could not finish this book. It needs to be completely rewritten and if I were the author I wouldn't trust the judgement of the editors and publishers involved. Seriously, this book should have been amazing, and I'm so disappointed.

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kat1105's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-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

2.0

I wanted to read this book because it has been on my TBR for so long and when I was in The Works, this book and the first book were on sale for £3 and I thought it would be time. Let me just say this review isn’t going to be kind and I know why they were on sale.

This book is still based on Estrella who we met in the first book. She has fell in love with a man who deceived her. For weeks, Caldris has stood by her side and twisting his words into pretty half-truths. He enraptured Estrella with his temptation and leaving no corner of her untouched. He has consumed her mind and her body then finally claimed her heart for himself. But Caelum’s true identity is terrifying enough to bring her to her knees. Then she discovered the truth of who he is. Caldris is whispered in the Nothrek wind. The legend they only speak of with hushed words. In shuttered rooms, for the fear of drawing his wrath once again. His intentions are a mystery, his desires are impure and he seeks to shackle Estrella to his side for all of eternity. He claims that Estrella is his mate. With the Wild Hunt as their guard, he points them back to where it all began: the village of Mistfell and the boundary where the Veil once shimmered in the wind. The Mist Guard have been sworn to keep them from crossing into Alfhelmr and from treading Faerie soil, even if innocents must pay with their lives. They have orders to resurrect Mistfell’s barrier, but once again, there's a greater cost than what has been revealed.

I loved the sexual tension between Holt and Imelda, I would have preferred them to be the stars of this book rather than Miss Stupid and Mr Ick. They only came into it when the other two weren’t having sex or sleeping and they actually needed something. They are both honest and I want to know the story between them.

I am just wondering, again, if someone could tell me where the plot is. This book was literally Caelum and Estrella arguing, fighting, having sex in private, having sex in public, pissing each other off, and then sleeping. Caelum is disgusting, He has give me the ick and every time he opened his mouth, my eyes rolled. He is a headache. He doesn’t respect Estrella and he practically forced her to accept the mate bond. He is a creep, the book would have been better if he died. I don’t feel sorry for him and i couldn’t give a shit about. Estrella was getting pressure to make a decision but it’s like she didn’t know her own mind but she’s just getting pushed and pulled in three different direction.

Overall, this book was awful – Holt and Imelda saved this book otherwise it would have been a one-star rating. If I wasn’t reading multiple books, this would have put me in a reading slump. It was weird, over sexual and boring. It could have been 100 pages if you get rid of the sex in every chapter and the camping/travelling. If someone every wants to torture me found a Caelum lookalike and get him to read this book, I would surrender so quickly.

This series wasn’t worth the £6 I spent.

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wrensreadingroom's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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honyombooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I had a bit of a hard time getting through this book and ended up reading a bunch of other books in between. But I think the second half made it go from a 3 star book to a 4 star!

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leila_reads_too_much's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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virgoabb's review against another edition

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4.25

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mmagaro's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

I continue to love this series through the second book! I've successfully fallen in love with the characters, felt pain for their past, and hope for their future.

Tropes

Enemies to lovers
Forced proximity
One horse

TWs & content warnings:

Mentions of physical abuse (not by main characters)
Mentions of sexual abuse and grooming (not by main characters)

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cady_sass's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

There is almost entirely no plot. 90% of this book is smut. We finally start getting somewhere in the end chapters and then it ENDS?! I thought this was a duology (I’m dumb) and now I have to read two more books, neither of which are even published yet. What the hell. Guaranteed this and the next two books could be combined into 1 book if you eliminated 30 out of 35 sex scenes (approximately). I’m all for the spice but give me the story too!

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