Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Painted Scars by Neva Altaj

33 reviews

dunndiggity's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

I am blown away with how much I loved this book. The plot, the characters, the dialogue, hell even the little chihuahua all completely impressed me. There are some darker themes but it’s a morally neutral grey and Roman is SO HOT.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Body horror, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Slavery, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Vomit

abicaro17's review

dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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

4.5

I love Roman and Ninas banter omg!!! Nina, is an artist who is blackmailed into marrying the head of the Russian mafia after her father embezzled 3 million dollars. Roman, is the leader of the Russian mob who is learning how to walk after an explosion that destroyed his knee. I love this book. I was kicking my feet and giggling the whole time. My only issue is the whole "Nina is like a sprite she's so small" thing. It's weird anytime an author does this and Nina is not an exception unfortunately. Otherwise the banter, plot, and conclusion were all awesome and it was a fun read overall. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Body horror, Gun violence, Stalking, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Torture, Medical content, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body shaming, War, Sexual content, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Grief

lanahla's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Violence

Minor: Vomit and Panic attacks/disorders

tguccione's review

dark emotional 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

Moderate: Sexual assault, Gun violence, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Murder, and Death

Minor: Vomit

herbookarchives's review

dark fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Blood, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

sami_leigh's review

dark emotional funny fast-paced

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

3.5

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

“What would he do with me? I’m…nobody.”
“You’re my wife. Hurting you would mean hurting me.”

“I don’t care what we agreed to. You’re mine now and I’m not letting you go.”

🗡️ First person dual POV
🗡️ First in a series that can be read as stand alone (I read book 2 first)
🗡️ Arranged marriage — blackmail to save father’s life
🗡️ Mafia romance
🗡️ Artist / mafia boss
🗡️ Age gap
🗡️ Nicknames 
🗡️ Banter 👌🏻
🗡️ Toxic family 
🗡️ Tension & spice 🥵
🗡️ Insta-love
🗡️ Protective & possessive MC 🙌🏻
🗡️ ‘My wife!’
🗡️ Well established secondary characters
🗡️ MC growth: trust, overcoming past trauma. 
🗡️ Epilogue 
🗡️ Quick read
• Issues with Nina’s family are never resolved fully — she puts her life in danger, marrying Roman, to fix his mistake.
• Third act breakup resolves quickly. Doesn’t for the severity with which the situation was presented.

⚠️ Violence (explicit), gun violence (explicit), death (explicit), torture (explicit), death of a parent (past), medical content/trauma (minor), injury/injury detail (explicit), pregnancy, drugs (minor, trafficking).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Sexual content, Gun violence, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

mmz19's review

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Blood, and Car accident

Minor: Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

fogla's review

dark funny hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

Shocked to love this book so much. Nina was such a troll I laughed so much, even the tear slipped in the end from emotions. First book from this author, will definitely read next book in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

homesweetread'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use and Torture

lillithstorm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence