Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles

16 reviews

20sidedbi's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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displacedcactus's review

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emotional 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? Yes
Look, if you tell me that the characters in a romance bond over going looking for beetles in the marsh, the book is going right onto my TBR.

Aside from the natural history angle, this is a pretty standard M/M historical romance. KJ Parker is a solid author, though I do sometimes feel weird about women who primarily write M/M romance set during times/places when it was illegal to engage in gay sex. For that reason, and the fact that I usually prefer Sapphic romance, I'll probably not continue with this new series. 
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jjjreads's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative mysterious tense 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? Yes
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tiffany_sostar's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

I really enjoyed this! I found the first chapter a little abrupt, and almost DNF’d it, but I’m so glad I didn’t. The character development was lovely - watching Gareth and Joss both make concerted (and successful) efforts to do better, to be more open, to take each other’s needs into account. So nice to read. I also appreciated the casual mention of trans folks early in the book (there are no openly trans folks among the characters, but a comment from a narrator makes it clear that trans folks exist in this world and the narrator treats it as a casual truth). I also really liked the politics, and how war is discussed. Very enjoyable. 

I did not love the sexual violence directed at women in the book. 
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loveinpanels's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? Yes

4.75

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skudiklier's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

I really enjoyed this! There was more mystery/tension than I was expecting, and the climax was a bit scarier than I was ready for, but if anything that just raised the stakes for the book overall. It was really good and I was fully rooting for their relationship.

Minor spoilers ahead: 
I felt really bad for Luke, and also the end had me forgetting that they couldn't really get married 🥲🥲🥲
 

I definitely want to read more by this author! Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this ARC. 
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