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akcurtis's review against another edition
dark
tense
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? Yes
2.5
I rarely give below 3⭐s, but this book was a challenge for me. First, did they actually pay someone to edit this? Where are the commas? Why are there so many typos? There were so many mistakes that they actually distracted me from reading.
Content-wise- first, let me admit I didn't know this was a "bully romance." I didn't know that was even a thing going into this. So some of why I hated this admittedly is my own fault. That being said, this wasn't bullying, this was sexual harassment (and that's being generous). The unwanted physical contact was hard to stomach, and the female leads' thirty-second aversion that flips to desire was gross.
The storyline is actually intriguing. I read this quickly. I want to know more about the world, and I want to see how long it takes for them to realize who the (obvious to me) predator is. I'll just have to skip huge chunks of the text to do so.
Content-wise- first, let me admit I didn't know this was a "bully romance." I didn't know that was even a thing going into this. So some of why I hated this admittedly is my own fault. That being said, this wasn't bullying, this was sexual harassment (and that's being generous). The unwanted physical contact was hard to stomach, and the female leads' thirty-second aversion that flips to desire was gross.
The storyline is actually intriguing. I read this quickly. I want to know more about the world, and I want to see how long it takes for them to realize who the (obvious to me) predator is. I'll just have to skip huge chunks of the text to do so.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Bullying
adalora's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
0.5
It had potential as a premise then quickly falls off. The storyline is a little addicting, but some of the things that happen are unnecessary and extremely off-putting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual content, Violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Drug use, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
autumnruth's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
This was book kept me entertained and annoyed at the same time. I loved the magical aspects to it, and I liked discovering this new world along with the twins. What I didn’t like was that the main girls in this book kept lusting after the men who tormented them. People described this book as a bully/romance, but really they’re extremely abusive and it shouldn’t be romanticized.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Murder, Death, Violence, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I picked this up because everyone seems to be raving about this series, and I was curious.
"The Awakening" follows twin sisters: Tory and Darcy. Tory and Darcy have been in the foster care system since they were orphaned as babies. Now, 18, and kicked out of the system, they are just trying to make enough money to cover rent. But all of those worries seem inconsequential when they find out they are actually the daughters of the Savage King, and they are the rightful descendants of the fae crown. Now they must go through Zodiac Academy to learn about their true home and fight for their birthright.
This book was very fine. There is a lot of violence, nonconsensual acts, and ALOT of bullying, which I had a pretty good idea about before I started reading this. I found the hazing that the other students put Tory and Darcy through to be really off-putting, and the fact that none of the teachers did anything to remotely stop it was disheartening.
This book is definitely HEAVILY influenced by other popular stories, which is fine, but it made the book feel unoriginal.
I do not know if I will continue in this series, but I can now appreciate why everyone seems so enamored with this series.
"The Awakening" follows twin sisters: Tory and Darcy. Tory and Darcy have been in the foster care system since they were orphaned as babies. Now, 18, and kicked out of the system, they are just trying to make enough money to cover rent. But all of those worries seem inconsequential when they find out they are actually the daughters of the Savage King, and they are the rightful descendants of the fae crown. Now they must go through Zodiac Academy to learn about their true home and fight for their birthright.
This book was very fine. There is a lot of violence, nonconsensual acts, and ALOT of bullying, which I had a pretty good idea about before I started reading this. I found the hazing that the other students put Tory and Darcy through to be really off-putting, and the fact that none of the teachers did anything to remotely stop it was disheartening.
This book is definitely HEAVILY influenced by other popular stories, which is fine, but it made the book feel unoriginal.
I do not know if I will continue in this series, but I can now appreciate why everyone seems so enamored with this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Torture, Violence, Physical abuse, Death, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual content
bunnybird22's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Death, and Sexual content
cheriepie's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
0.25
Let it be said that I went in with an open mind. I heard mixed reviews on this book, and I was like, "hey, it might be trashy, but I like trashy sometimes! maybe it'll be fun!" and I was wrong. I am not this book's target audience. I'm a pretentious little queer who generally doesn't read this kind of book. In short: it's poorly written, not edited, and I have read wattpad fanfictions with more care and depth than this.
Listen, when the map at the front of the book has JPEG compression, I can't be surprised when it is a poorly written shitshow, littered with spelling and grammar errors, worldbuilding that leaves much to be desired, characters that are indistinguishable from one another, and all build up and no payoff.
Listen, when the map at the front of the book has JPEG compression, I can't be surprised when it is a poorly written shitshow, littered with spelling and grammar errors, worldbuilding that leaves much to be desired, characters that are indistinguishable from one another, and all build up and no payoff.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Sexual harassment
dragondragondragon's review against another edition
dark
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.75
BOOOOOOOOOO!
This is one of the worst books I've read in a long time. I made myself finish it with the thought that maybe the 16 y/o me that binged twilight would enjoy this book. But, alas. The rapey subtexts drown out the mildy interesting (if not predicatable) plot line. The emotional and physical abuse the main charcters endure by the hands of their classmates and TEACHERS is very triggering. The 'alpha asshole' plot line was taken way too far, the molestations not contributing to character development or plot. I found myself deeply uncomfortable almost the entire time.
Don't let your younger readers tackle this monstrosity, it normalizs and romanticizes (!!!) abusive and disgusting misogynistic behavior. When I tell you someone (always female) was suffering from a rapey or demeaning experience EVERY CHAPTER, I'm not kidding. The main lesson to be taught here is 'the strong (men) take whatever they want from whoever they want (women)' The sexual attraction the main characters develop for their (SEVERAL) abusers is simply disgusting. Seriously, if you're into that, you could save 12 dollars and do a deep dive on pornhub that would get you flagged by the FBI.
You could easily fit the grand canyon in the plot holes and the writing reminds me of fan fiction I wrote when I was 13. In fact, 13 year old me could have written more convincing 18 year olds. When I wasn't fighting the urge to vommit, I was cringing at the attempt by the authors to sound like college students. But those were hardly my biggest complaints.
This is one of the worst books I've read in a long time. I made myself finish it with the thought that maybe the 16 y/o me that binged twilight would enjoy this book. But, alas. The rapey subtexts drown out the mildy interesting (if not predicatable) plot line. The emotional and physical abuse the main charcters endure by the hands of their classmates and TEACHERS is very triggering. The 'alpha asshole' plot line was taken way too far, the molestations not contributing to character development or plot. I found myself deeply uncomfortable almost the entire time.
Don't let your younger readers tackle this monstrosity, it normalizs and romanticizes (!!!) abusive and disgusting misogynistic behavior. When I tell you someone (always female) was suffering from a rapey or demeaning experience EVERY CHAPTER, I'm not kidding. The main lesson to be taught here is 'the strong (men) take whatever they want from whoever they want (women)' The sexual attraction the main characters develop for their (SEVERAL) abusers is simply disgusting. Seriously, if you're into that, you could save 12 dollars and do a deep dive on pornhub that would get you flagged by the FBI.
You could easily fit the grand canyon in the plot holes and the writing reminds me of fan fiction I wrote when I was 13. In fact, 13 year old me could have written more convincing 18 year olds. When I wasn't fighting the urge to vommit, I was cringing at the attempt by the authors to sound like college students. But those were hardly my biggest complaints.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment
hailstorm4's review against another edition
I’m not usually into bully romances, but after seeing this so many times I decided to take a chance on it. Unfortunately, it was not for me and the “bully” part of bulky romance went way beyond bully and into sexual harassment and even assault with lots of non censer moments, and that’s a big no-coming-back-from-this thing for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Toxic relationship
srredd5's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, and Bullying
zia_c's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Bullying, and Physical abuse