Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller

6 reviews

2kyr6's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

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

5.0

[NO SPOILERS]
such a good fantasy read. i would highly recommend for ages 15 and above. please check the content warnings before reading though. it might be too overwhelming for some people. i would not recommend this book as like the very first book you read as a teen. start with something more lighthearted and easy to read. read this after like 5 different books or so. its a really good book for getting into fantasy though! 

(the content warnings i've put is for both the first and second book of this duology)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Cursing, and Sexual content

Minor: Sexual assault, Colonisation, and Classism

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Vomit, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

redheadsuperpowers's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

I think this was better than the first book. Still a rich plot, but less misogynists for the lead to deal with. Lots more found family moments and just a bit of romance to spice it up. 

In Daughter of the Siren Queen, we rejoin Alosa and her crew. They have returned to the keep of the Pirate King, and are prepping to sail to the island of the Sirens, when Alosa learns just what secrets her father the King has been keeping. Now it's a race against time, the elements and the kings fleet for Alosa and her crew. Luckily, Alosa still has a few tricks up her sleeve. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Confinement, Alcohol, Torture, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Blood, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

phantomgecko's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

2.0

Pigheaded emotional stupidity is exhausting to read. I let it slide in the first book because a) YA novel and b) enemies to lovers trope, but there's no excuse for the second book. After the ending of the first, I assumed the romance plot was clinched.

But no. Instead we get extensive inner monologue about how "confusing" and "infuriating" Riden's every action is. Love between them was established in the last book. Alosa acknowledges this mentally even though she doesn't want to think about it. But every time Riden does anything motivated by love, she's suddenly the dumbest person on the planet. Does anyone enjoy reading that over and over and over and over? Why do authors think they do?

Also, there's a lot of abuse from her side, verbal and physical. How many times did she have the though "I want to hit him" ? So yeah, Alosa was raised by a sociopath in a very abusive environment, and it's a miracle she has any morals at all, but like...idk, that already comes through with the gratuitous mentions of how much she loves killing people. Maybe leave it out of what is supposed to be a romantic relationship.

Along those lines, there's a lot of remorseless murder and violent intentions in general. (Again, abusive pirate upbringing and whatever). BUT...it really comes across as a poor attempt at "strong female character." 

idk. The first book was fine, not my favorite, but that's just partially because cutesy YA novels aren't my jam anymore. The second book took the things I disliked most about the first and doubled down.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death, and Sexual content

clothildev's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

I took off .5 for the violence in this book, I really should have read the content warning first lololol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Torture, Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, and Blood

Minor: Rape

nicole_m's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I loved the first book and I love this one even more. The cliff hangers at the end of the chapters are great and make you not want to put the book down. <Spoiler> Since Alosa finds out her fathers secret she goes against him and compared to finding the map in the first book she actually goes to the Isla de Canta and she’s met with so many challenges and adventures

. Overall, great book and I hope you give the series a try!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, Gaslighting, Medical content, Misogyny, Outing, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, and Toxic relationship

If the content warnings above trigger you I don’t recommend. If not I recommend it and hope you enjoy!