Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Credence by Penelope Douglas

194 reviews

dark slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was sooooo messed up I can’t believe I kept reading. I started it because it was all over booktok/book stage am and I’m wishing for the time back I spent reading this lol. The main character was really messed up and the guys were so abusive and controlling when the author wanted it to be cute and protective. I literally thought β€œwtf” so many times throughout reading this. Would not recommend. If you do end up reading this, check trigger warnings. This book deals with sexual assault and was very triggering to me. 

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dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This is maybe the worst thing I've ever read. The quality of writing reminds me of wattpad in a really terrible way, the characters are all awful, horrible, disgusting people. I genuinely fear anyone who enjoyed this story or who think any of the events in this book are okay

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dark emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I understand that they're not related and she didn't grow up with them. But she's still a minor for half the book. Also why did Kaleb suddenly learn to speak. There should have been a slow increase. I would have enjoyed it if it was a college level main character and they were neighbors of her uncle. 

And why the two brothers at once?

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adventurous dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

3 stars 🌟🌟🌟. I am team Noah though. Kaleb can go rot in hell (or in prison) 🀬🀬🀬

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dark slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

What a goddamn RIDE. Penelope Douglas writes bully romances and the "bad boy" archetype so well that it literally has me debating my morality after each book I read of hers LOL. My brain literally can't comprehend what I just read, and I feel the need to take several showers and rinse my eyes with holy water but I'll do my best to sum up my thoughts:

"Spicy" doesn't even begin to express this book. This is hands down the dirtiest book I've ever read. If my review was based on smut alone it would've been an easy five star read - Penelope Douglas knows how to write a love scene! However, where she lost me was the plot. It wasn't bad by any means, but I also wasn't very invested and guessed who our main character Tiernan was going to end up with pretty early on, so my level of intrigue wasn't as high as it could've been. It also didn't help that I didn't feel much chemistry outside of the palpable lust between Tiernan and who she ended up choosing.

My biggest issue I had with this story was how it handled the topic of consent. We got Tiernan's internal dialogue and we clearly knew that she desired a sexual relationship with each of the men at one point or another, but my issue with the consent specifically had to do with (view spoiler). She specifically was saying no while actively pushing him away and he kept going anyway, until she eventually "liked" it. It was gross and very triggering, but like I said there was so much gray area because her internal dialogue was clearly showing that she wanted to be intimate with him.

That being said, this book is not for the faint of heart, but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want to pick up more of her novels.

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emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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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: Complicated

Credence seems thrilling enough in it's premise: a young woman (18) loses her parents that never really showed her love, and is forced to move in with her (not blood related) uncle and 2 male cousins in a rugged, isolated cabin in the mountains. And it's very clear from the TW and reviews that this book is not for the faint of heart and deals with taboo topics, so you know what's coming for you.

HOWEVER, I just could not get into how those topics were handled. They were simultaneously always brought up or thought about by the MC, and they WERE things that gave her pause and made her question herself... but it truly felt as though Tiernan just dealt with it by going "Oh well!" and just like... let stuff happen even though she clearly expressed her discomfort or literal physical/emotional pain. And not always in a "that's hot to me though" way.

I just think this book was made for people who REALLY actively search for age-gap/psuedo-incest/abuse. Because it is written in a way that never let's you forget that it's happening. Just constantly, those topics are on every character's mind so that you cannot forget.


I also agree that, for the final love interest,
Kaleb just ain't it. Noah had way more chemistry written in, treated her better, dropped the L word, and even had more physical chemistry than the other two LIs.

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