Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Hooked by Emily McIntire

29 reviews

filipa_maia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

So, this was my first dark romance / smut read, and although this is not my preferred genre, I did appreciate this book.

The characters are complex, with a background that really explains where they are now, they have good arcs, and overall this book has a decent plot. I predicted part of the final plot, but not all, so I still got surprised.

Mostly, I liked the fact that Wendy wasn't completely removed from managing her own life - okay, maybe after what happened she didn't have much of a choice, but still.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Confinement, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Blood, Death of parent, Body horror, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Torture, Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Car accident

Minor: Infidelity and Vomit

kylasmv15's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Moderate: Medical content, Bullying, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Confinement

Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, and Vomit

angellike333's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Torture, Sexual content, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Car accident, Cursing, Death, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Bullying, and Blood

Minor: Pregnancy, Stalking, Gun violence, Alcohol, Abandonment, and Fire/Fire injury

aelitareads's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

5.0

This book made me question my morals. Hard core! 🤣 I had to stop a few times just to ask myself where I stood on kidnapping, torture, and murder all for the sake of love and trauma. You might see Hook and think this will be pirate based but make no mistake - its mafia through and through. Opposing families and a love story caught in the midst of a battle Wendy had no idea even existed. Hooked follows Wendy through the loss of her innocence in her journey into adulthood and Hook's journey to healing from his traumas and discovering new reasons to live.

Hooked has a medium pace with a fast build in the second half. There's spicy scenes scattered all throughout but a good chunk of the first half is setting up the major plot points and background for the story. It took me about 4 days to finish but had I not been interrupted by life I'm sure I could have got through it in 2. I loved reading through and seeing all the subtle (and not so subtle) nods to the original Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. 

Notable Tropes are mafia, found family, Touch her and die, and morally grey... everyone? 
Content Warnings that stood out to me - Kidnapping, Choking, Torture, Murder, Childhood SA, Abuse. 
The SA isn't graphically detailed but it is very much there. All the rest? Definitely graphic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Murder, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Torture, and Child abuse

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

graciegru's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.0

If you like smut in between gruesome torture and murder then this is the book for you. It’s not my cuppa tea, but to each their own. I felt like most of the book was sex. I wish there was more development from when Hook/James started to fall for Wendy. It felt like he switched  from wanting her for  revenge then loving her… just a little odd. 

 The end was nice and heartwarming, though so there’s a plus

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Abandonment, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Confinement, Cursing, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, Torture, Toxic friendship, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Stalking

almendraa's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Body horror, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Torture, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Classism, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Drug use

readyforit's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

4⭐️4🌶️
The author really gets your hopes up and then you have a moment of WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!! There are lots of twists, some of which I predicted as the book went on. I also listened along with the audiobook and I’d say that’s the superior way to read this book, since there are 2 narrators. I do wish they did duet narration where the FMC and MMC are speaking to each other back and forth like a dialogue, rather than have the FMC chapters narrated by the woman and MMC narrated by the man. I also wish we got more Jon! Wendy and Jon and James and Jon. I also read the extended epilogue that is free on the author’s website and it’s a nice wrap up 10 years later, along with character profiles for Wendy and James. 

I liked both the FMC and MMC but I wished for more character development from Wendy. She doesn’t have a huge personality in the movie either but I feel like maybe she could’ve had some more development than “finding her voice” (barely). James is a complex morally gray character that often makes terrible decisions because he’s blinded by his trauma. I could see so many times in the book where I was like CANT YOU SEE THE ANSWER IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! And he would just continue blaming his enemies from his past.

If you’re hesitant to pick this book up, I’d lookup the trigger warnings. There is mention of

child abuse/pedophilia

but nothing graphic. Also just because this is a Peter Pan “retelling” doesn’t mean hook and Wendy have an age gap, they’re both consenting adults in their 20s. It’s more like the author uses elements of the story like names and places, as she calls it a fractured fairytale.  I liked the book and there was plenty of spice, but I wished it was longer for more fluff and maybe more backstory. I probably won’t be rereading it unless I forget the plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Rape, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Confinement, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit

mentions of child sexual assault are all done through flashbacks and are not graphic

lethridge's review

hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, and Kidnapping

Minor: Pregnancy, Abandonment, Bullying, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Death of parent

wackzo's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Physical abuse, Torture, Gun violence, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Death, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Grief, Gore, and Murder

stephliljazz's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is a Dark Romance Fairytale Retelling of Peter Pan. Drug lords pushing pixie dust, and fighting over territory plus a revenge driven MMC. You just can't go wrong here. The MMC is Hook and the MFC is Wendy. I flew through this book. I'm usually a pretty slow reader but this I finished in a day. Peter Pan is my favorite story of all time so i wanted to give this retelling a chance and it did not disappoint. Is it like the original Peter Pan? No, not at all, it is quite spicy. Did the author find ways to interweave characters and things from the original story into her retelling flawlessly? Yes she absolutely did that. I would rate the spice 5 peppers! There is a lot of spice and it is very detailed. There is quite a bit of violence also just a heads up. Consider that your trigger warning. I can't wait to read the others in the series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Blood, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Car accident