Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Devil of Dublin by BB Easton

6 reviews

penny_abel's review

dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I know the trigger warnings may seem off putting, but the way they were used in this story to give the characters depth and challenges to overcome was fantastic! I absolutely loved the characters and were rooting for them all the way. They are very human and flawed, and the building of their relationship throughout the book was beautiful. I also liked that the spicy scenes had realistic reactions to their traumas. A wonderfully refreshing dark romance with a great love story, likable characters, and the dark bits didn't feel like they were there for shock value. <Spoiler> The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because the end of the book has a very emotional and romantic scene take place next to where the couple dumped a dead body much earlier in the story, which was a distracting thought to me during the scene.</Spolier>

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Murder, Gun violence, and Pedophilia

cheesy_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Murder, Violence, and Rape

unicornofthesea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Trafficking, Rape, Child abuse, and Violence

Minor: Bullying, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Cancer

lillygabriella'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Heed the warning! If you like thrillers and crime stuff and also romance, you probably won't have a problem with the dark elements of this book.  Now without getting too spoilery (I hope) the relationship part isn't what's dark, but some things that happen to and around our main characters are.  So be advised. I'll tag some trigger warnings when I am done writing this review.

So Darby is awesome and I love her. And Kellan is great and should have all the good things, especially Darby.  This is the best romance I have read so far this year.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Murder, Pedophilia, Blood, Grief, and Child abuse

Minor: Kidnapping, Vomit, Cursing, Torture, Trafficking, Self harm, Car accident, Animal death, and Cancer

vicktorea's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

audiobook narration made (& broke) it for me

PLEASE CHECK THE CWs/TWS for this before reading - I believe the author provides them on her website!

okay we're doing one of these breakdown reviews today:

what I liked
-the male narration was chef's kiss, simply bc of the accent - droolfest 🤤

-came with CW (this is kinda bare minimum now - like this should be something authors provide automatically - but I liked that the author provided a website for people to go to if they wanted to check in-depth CWs so as to not potentially spoil the plot for others who don't need CWs. i also liked that she provided helplines for those who may need them).

-the overall plot/setting - I feel like the author did a good job setting the tone and atmosphere, esp with the Irish setting. I can't quite explain what I'm trying to say but I liked the vibes I was getting. The plot also shed light upon some very serious and sad issues. It was a bit difficult and times listening to what happened to the characters in the past but it felt like care and attention was put into this, which I appreciated.

-i loved the MMC. damaged to the bone but I also loved that the author wrote him as emotional as he was. he openly cried at times and that feels like such a rare occurrence so I appreciated it - it really humanized him and I liked feeling the vulnerability from him.

-the epilogue (surprisingly) - thank GOD there was no dreaded (for me) pregnancy trope!!! it actually showed the two characters doing their best to heal from their traumas and not just magically living happily ever after.

- the bitchass (ex) bf was done and dusted fairly early on!! i was nervous i'd have to sit through several chapters of his nonsense before he was finally taken out

what I didn't like
- the fmc at times - she was always calling herself useless and worthless and while I get where those feelings were coming from she'd say this about herself for situations out of her control. i also didn't like her narration - it sounded too juvenile but the narrator did a great job at the Irish accents (I couldn't tell which accent [American vs Irish] was her real accent).

- the pacing - it was a bit off for me. there's a time jump and the MMC and FMC are reunited fairly quickly and it's just them together for a while trying to navigate what to do with their lives.

overall, a good read! i didn't love it but def enjoyed aspects of it! excited to try Praying For Rain by this author next!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, and Grief

Minor: Kidnapping

weelasswithabook's review

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

4.0

 

CW: religious fanatacism, religious trauma, child neglect, violent child abuse, deaths of loved ones, cancer, grief, attempted rape, domestic violence, murder, CSA

⭐ Mafia romance
⭐ Magical realism
⭐ Childhood friends to lovers

🌈 C-PTSD representation

Oh the struggles I've had rating this one. This might be the strangest combination of genres I've came across so far. The juxtaposition between the first and second half was so jarring that I felt I was reading two different books, or the same story but in two separate subgenres.

The first half of the book is set in the MMC and FMC's childhood and it very much fits into the gothicky, dark, magical realism, haunting subgenre of romance. The setting was absolute perfection, set in rural Ireland with Celtic mythology and Irish folklore being a great influence on the story. The first half of the book was more than worthy of 5 ⭐s

The second half of the book is a mafia romance (albeit there are still some threads of the magical realism in the second half although nowhere near as prominent). I felt like the mafia aspect fell a bit flat and the progression of Kellen's character could've been more successful in a different format than joining the mafia. It still worked, but with the opener of the story as it was, it felt sort of jarring to end up in the mafia world.

One thing I will say, is the character work itself in the book was great. Kellen had an abusive childhood, Darby had an abusive adulthood, so both had shared trauma that they helped each other heal from. This played out well throughout the course of the book, however again I think this could've been done more effectively without the mafia aspect and more focus on the two characters as opposed to splitting the time between the action and intricacies of a mafia plot and the character's healing.

The way Kellen's abusive childhood played out was upsetting to read, but I feel like the way he was as a character really summed up the sheer despair that comes with growing up in an abusive setting. At their initial meeting, he is mute and has never experienced any kindness whatsoever in his life and that ripped my heart to shreds. To see him begin to trust and form a friendship with Darby as children in this mystical setting was honestly one of the best parts of the book, it was just beautiful to see unfold.

I know that this probably sounds like a negative review, but I genuinely did enjoy this book, I merely found frustration in how the book had been put together. Combining mafia and magical realism/folklore seems like a huge risk, and tbh it paid off as a whole because the reviews I've read so far have been great. I just don't know that the combination worked 100% for me personally.

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Mental illness, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Bullying, Cancer, Pedophilia, and Rape

Minor: Kidnapping, Medical content, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Addiction, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Alcohol, and Child death