Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann

125 reviews

fink1129's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Murder, Grief, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Rape, Confinement, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Abortion, Alcoholism, Animal death, Dementia, Pregnancy, and Vomit

hannibanani29's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Kidnapping, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Alcohol, Self harm, Cursing, and Alcoholism

Minor: Grief, Homophobia, Car accident, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Torture, Dementia, and Death of parent

sardonicdeath's review against another edition

Note: this book does not have listed trigger warnings.

I could not bring myself to finish this.
I tried. 

The writing was not great and I couldn’t bring myself to form a connection to the characters. Also goes from 0-100 within the first 20 or so pages. 

The situation seemed off as well as the main characters actions/reactions to the situation both during and after. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

Minor: Violence, Torture, Animal death, Kidnapping, Murder, Miscarriage, Gore, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

lauren1013's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Kidnapping

coglelauren's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Rape, and Violence

jack_ash's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Confinement

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Rape

Minor: Miscarriage

alyssaamrhein's review

dark emotional reflective tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Death, Dementia, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Torture

Minor: Animal death

allisonmartinezreads's review

This was another attempt at dark romance for me and I have to say that I just truly couldn’t get past the things that happened in the beginning. I feel like the actual trauma they experienced was bypassed for the feeling they developed while they went through that together. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Murder, and Rape

azhaar's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-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

5.0

Sad and beautiful

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Rape

dontbechey20's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book absolutely DESTROYED me in every way possible...and has become one of my favorite books because of it. I initially tried so hard to not like this book. Seriously! I was fighting it. It's beyond messed up to fall for your sister's fiance after he is forced to do unspeakable things to you after being kidnapped together...right?! WRONG! Jennifer did such an impeccable job unraveling the story of Dean and Cora, both as enemies and lovers. 

One of my favorite things about this book is how raw and real it is. It's not an insta-love story that works out perfectly. It has glaringly obvious and frustrating bumps along the way, which makes the love between Dean and Cora feel so real and authentic. As a reader, I was THROWN every which way with my emotions. I spent the entirety of this book crying, laughing, swooning, and yelling from pure and utter frustration. 

Authors can very quickly and easily fall into a "pit" of trauma and pain. Writing a story stemming from pain, dispair, and trauma can be easy. Jennifer seamlessly joined two timelines together to tell the love (and hate) story between Dean and Cora. She somehow brings awareness to dark, heavy, and deep topics, while simultaneously keeping the book hopeful and hauntingly beautiful. I was honestly worried the entire book was going to be focused on the abduction, so as I got through the first chapters that were utterly disgusting (in the best way possible), I was worried Jennifer was only going to hone in on the ugly. To my surprise, she pivoted the story rather quickly to focus on the part of the story a lot of people avoid - the recovery. That is why this book is so powerful. 

This book is not meant for everyone, but if you can find the mental space and capacity to read it, please do. You will not regret it. It will leave you aching, crying, and in love with both characters individually and together. Also, this book is NOT focused on the spice. Expect spice (don't worry, it gets better), but that is not the focus of this story. 

Quote from the book: "I know I said you’re holding me underwater but you’re the only thing keeping me afloat." I CAN'T!! How can you read that and not fall in love?! 

BRB, going to see if I can find a matching necklace, because I need to torture myself every single day with a reminder of a chef kiss of a book boyfriend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Sexual content, Rape, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Self harm, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Minor: Abandonment and Alcohol