Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Zodiac Academy: The Awakening as Told by the Boys by Susanne Valenti, Caroline Peckham

8 reviews

ashleynp24's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Liked the guys perspective for more of the insight into their backstories and thoughts. I kinda skimmed through some of the dialogue though because it’s word for word the same as the 1st book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Bullying, Gaslighting, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Sexual content, Stalking, Grief, Alcoholism, Car accident, Murder, Torture, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

weckmarl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Body shaming, Torture, Addiction, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Classism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism

nineinchnails's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

i don't think i've ever read this kind of retelling before (where i've already read 90% of the story) but i was just desperate to hold off on whatever agony and anguish is coming for my favs in book 7. there isn't much to say about the book since it's pretty much a 1:1 retelling of the first book in the series but there were a few scenes that gave a lot more insight into the guys' motivations and how conflicted they were. seth just came off as cruel and petty here so even though i know he improves eventually it was still a little disappointing to see how much he was revelling in the opportunity to humble darcy as payment for something she had nothing to do with (directly). she didn't even know he was mad at her never mind why he was mad. the foreshadowing was strong here so i'm glad i read this when i did or it probably would've spoiled some of it for me. it took me a lot longer to read because i obviously knew almost everything that was going to happen so it wasn't the most interesting read - i can definitely see myself enjoying it a lot more as a tandem read with the awakening on a reread though! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Torture, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Blood, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Car accident

Attempted murder, Student/teacher relationship, Dubcon (biting), Noncon (biting)

selestre's review against another edition

dark emotional funny slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Grief, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Vomit

readwith_e's review against another edition

dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Child abuse, Torture, and Emotional abuse

lotte5322's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Blood, Bullying, Murder, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Car accident

brandilawson56's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Torture

dkgreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

There’s two sides to every story, which is why I freaking love dual POV books. I’m glad I decided to read this before jumping into book two, because having a peek into the boys’ heads during the events of The Awakening was super enlightening. However, now matter how compelling the reasons behind their actions were, I still hope the twins come into their power and completely hand the boys their a$$es.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Physical abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content