Scan barcode
embelle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
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
3.0
This was my book club’s pick this month…Though it wasn’t my favorite book of this genre, I was intrigued enough to pick up the second book in the duology. The book was fast paced and I was wanting to know what happened next, even if many of the characters themselves were not the best. Be prepared for almost every possible trigger warning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexism, Dementia, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Cursing, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Stalking, Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Violence
secondhandbookshelves's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This was a buddy read and I waffled the entire time between liking and hating the two main characters.
This probably isn't a spoiler, but hey, let's mark it like one anyway since it talks about how the characters change during the story. (I refuse to say character development)
at first I adored Elena, strong, unflappable, smart lady that she is, and was annoyed with the buffoon who got such marvelous advice as "I say, have fun with the girl. Hell, make her cry, get her to quit, whatever you want." who then proceeded to announce (frequently) how much he would like to break her, corrupt her, destroy her, and f*ck with her. Also, this quote from his point of view: "I knew with the right training and a patient master, she would be glorious."
And immediately after that he talks for half a page about how he will force her to be his.
Big no from me 🚩🚩
Then around the halfway mark Elena had turned into a simp who could only think about being with HIM and actively goes about destroying the life shes been working for and building since age 11.....
And he suddenly was a poet who desires nothing more than her to be safe and loved and healed from her past.
In conclusion, they're both idiots and may they be happy in book two which I will not read 👍🏻
This probably isn't a spoiler, but hey, let's mark it like one anyway since it talks about how the characters change during the story. (I refuse to say character development)
And immediately after that he talks for half a page about how he will force her to be his.
Big no from me 🚩🚩
Then around the halfway mark Elena had turned into a simp who could only think about being with HIM and actively goes about destroying the life shes been working for and building since age 11.....
And he suddenly was a poet who desires nothing more than her to be safe and loved and healed from her past.
In conclusion, they're both idiots and may they be happy in book two which I will not read 👍🏻
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Grief, Torture, Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Medical trauma
Minor: Slavery, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Car accident, Cursing, and Fire/Fire injury
More...