Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Caught Up: Into Darkness, Book 2 by Navessa Allen

33 reviews

friendly_delay's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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The book had a significant amount less of comedy in it compared to the first one. That is really my only gripe with it. And while I understand why, because the characters do not use humor as a coping mechanism like the first does, that was one of the reasons I loved the first so much. The dark romance with amazing one liners thrown in when you least expect. But the story of this book was a lot more impactful. Healing and freedom were large themes and I loved it for the characters we got to know in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Alcohol

Minor: Domestic abuse, Gore, Cannibalism

crumbles's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Stalking

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Abandonment

Minor: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail

spaghettii's review against another edition

1.75

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

inaroselano's review against another edition

3.75

dark funny hopeful 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

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I went into it with low expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Junior and Lauren were adorable together, and their chemistry really carried the story.

One small thing that threw me off at first was the use of they/them pronouns for one of Lauren’s roommates—it took a moment to figure out who was being referenced, but I caught on quickly.

The only thing that bothered me was the inconsistency with Walter, Lauren’s dog. Walter was introduced as a girl, but in the second half of the book, the narration started referring to her as “he,” which was a little distracting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Gaslighting

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse

juliannecridlin's review against another edition

3.0

dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Cannibalism

lucimantio's review against another edition

4.0

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Junior is not Josh and therefore it’s just a different vibe, but loved seeing his character get fleshed out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Minor: Child abuse

kcheck's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark funny tense fast-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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail

beckss_055's review against another edition

4.0

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Stalking

fanboyriot's review against another edition

5.0

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Hilarious and filled with all the dark romance vibes a person could ask for.  I really enjoyed Lauren’s friends and all their banter not to mention Taylor’s choice of a weapon when she thought someone was breaking in, iconic 😂.  There were so many moments of comfort with this book and at times it felt like being apart of their found family and I was all the way here for it.

Nico (Junior) was just as amazing as Lauren.  They were really such a well balanced couple and seeing their history it was an entertaining read to see how things progressed when the odds weren’t in their favor.

Also Lauren’s grandmother was a total icon and I loved her comments so much.  And of course, I loved the mentions of Aly and Josh and their children (the cats).  Josh being a friend to Junior was hilarious and oddly wholesome.

This book definitely lived up to the high hype I had for it!  I even got the audiobook on Libby to follow along as I annotated the paperback.  The narrators did an amazing job!!

Read For

✓ Found Family

✓ Amazing Friends

✓ Stalker Romance

✓ Sex Work (Positive) 

✓ Childhood Crush to Lovers 

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 

Sad Level: 💧

Plot: 10/10

Pace: 10/10

Ending: 10/10

Characters: 10/10

Enjoyability: 10/10

Writing Style: 10/10

Would I Recommend? Yes

Favorite Character: Nico and Lauren

Favorite Quote: ❝ "You can't hit on your employee, you ho bag.  It's unethical." ❞

POV: Duel, First Person

Pages: 342

Format: Paperback

Language: English

Release Date: 10, June 2025

Rep/Extras: Sex work (positive), Non-binary (side character)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting

Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Cannibalism, Death of parent

littlewishling's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This was sooo good! The moment I finished I wanted to jump right back in. I adored all the characters and the sex scenes were so deliciously good. Also fabulous casting for the audiobook! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Cannibalism, Death of parent