Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Games We Play by Dana Isaly

5 reviews

brittanylee0302's review

adventurous lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Reread 7/23/23
4.5 out of 5*s
The first time I read this book, I rated it like a typical novel & I feel like it doesn't deserve that rating because it's not a typical novel. It is spicy smut & for that it definitely deserves a 4.5. My only complaint is that the beginning of the book is super spicy & starts to fizzle as the book goes on which is a little disappointing. The writing is a little repetitive at spots too but other than that, this book was pretty good & im ready for the next! 

2.5 out of 5 stars
There was no story line at all in this book, no character development, none of that. But the spice held it all together 5/5 spice 0/5 storyline & 0/5 character devopment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Abandonment

sofiarmz13's review

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Violence, Abandonment, Body shaming, Cursing, and Eating disorder

alreadit's review

fast-paced

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

2.5

I expected more from this. I heard it described as dark and kinky and all I can say is... eh. It starts off in one direction (ex: degradation/praise kink) and then becomes more of a straightforward vanilla romance over time, which is the opposite of what I expected. I also struggled with the male perspective, which is off-putting and makes the degradation side sound more like your average misogyny. But by the end of the book, it didn't bother me as much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Abandonment

acelodie's review

fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Cursing, Suicide attempt, and Violence

zabeishumanish's review

adventurous challenging fast-paced

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

4.5

This little novella is every single thing it promised to be. HOWEVER, I did find myself incredibly grateful for the trigger warning included at the front of the book. There is a lot of discussion of very dark topics. The worst for me was how incredibly vivid the description of the female lead's suicide attempt was. Outside the magic of books, she absolutely would not have survived the attempt. If that is at all a trigger for you please don't read this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Sexual content

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

The suicide attempt in this is SUPER graphic, like several pages longs of detail. Everything from time, location, emotions at the time, description of the implement, details of the self-inflicted wound, all the way to her unconscious body being discovered surrounded by the aftermath.