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Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It feels sort of hypocritical to rate this book low, because I did tear through it. The plot was compelling enough, but I was able to speed through it because I was willing to ignore a lot of writing choices I didn’t vibe with.
The graphic rape scene in the first ten pages was definitely one of those choices, and it’s not necessarily the inclusion of violence, it’s that the book itself, the author’s website, and Amazon all neglect to include any kind of content warning. If I were an author writing this kind of content, I’d prioritize including a TW not only online but as part of the book.
ALSO, nowhere online do I see a warning for animal abuse/death, which was honestly the most upsetting scene for me.
I don’t dislike age-gap stories, but the main character Ivory is 17 for most of the book. Naively I thought that there would be a lot of flirting and boundary crossing before her 18th birthday, but the actual sex would not occur until after. BOY, I was incorrect. Not only does the adult love interest put hands on her before she’s an adult, he introduces her to BDSM when she’s still a minor.
And like most fictionalized romances between a minor and an adult, the child character simply… didn’t need to be a child? Ivory could have been a college student at conservatory and you would still have that intriguing taboo of teacher and student and practically nothing else about the story would have to change. I don’t think reading this book was a waste of time and I don’t regret it, but I am also someone willing to ignore a lot of crud for a few nuggets of good stuff.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death
dark
tense
fast-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
4🌶️ this student/teacher taboo romance was quite the ride. I thought Emeric and Ivory were going to get caught so many times it was wild. I was throughly impressed that they weren't ever caught or at least until the end. Plus Emericand his blackmail really made it hard for anyone to get in the way we love a man on a mission to be with his lady. The undeniable attraction between these two was evidence from their first encounter. Watching Ivory fight tooth and nail to overcome her circumstances was honestly inspiring. I love seeing an FMC do what she needs to do and take no shit from anyone else for having to do what she does. Overall I loved seeing Ivory's journey and development. I also really appreciated seeing Emeric's struggle of how to handle Ivory's situation. It gave a nice insight on the struggles that Dom's can feel in the BDSM aspect and I feel like seeing that position handle being fragile isn't shown a lot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Rape, Violence
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
A broken girl dealing with big life changes and neglect finds herself, in her new teachers arms. They both have a dark past/present. We see how they navigate it all while they get to know each other a bit more personally.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence
⚠️ Animal/pet death—on page—in this book⚠️
I didn’t see any TW/CW in the beginning of the book edition I read and felt it very important to warn potential readers about this trigger because it was indeed a traumatizing scene.
Other than that I really liked this book, which surprised me because of the FMC being (almost but) not quite legal. I’m impressed that this story was still palatable to me despite this issue. Either the entire story as a whole redeemed the underage issue for me, or perhaps the BDSM representation, or maybe a combination of both. Whatever the case, I ended up liking this book very much.
I’ve seen a lot of comments in other reviews about the BDSM not being realistic. I think that opinion is potentially coming from people that haven’t experienced or ever learned about Master/slave dynamics. Since this dynamic is one I have personal experience with, I was very comfortable with it and even felt excitement at being represented fairly well in a popular novel. It was certainly an astronomically better representation than 50 Shades (🤮), in my opinion! Was it perfect M/s representation? Maybe, maybe not. That dynamic is so dependent on each individual situation, though. Not all M/s dynamics look the same. And certainly the possessive/ownership aspect will make some readers who are entirely unexposed to M/s very cringey in their gender politics sensitivities. But again, in a BDSM M/s dynamic, those things are consent based and as long as that’s the case, I’m fully supportive.
I didn’t see any TW/CW in the beginning of the book edition I read and felt it very important to warn potential readers about this trigger because it was indeed a traumatizing scene.
Other than that I really liked this book, which surprised me because of the FMC being (almost but) not quite legal. I’m impressed that this story was still palatable to me despite this issue. Either the entire story as a whole redeemed the underage issue for me, or perhaps the BDSM representation, or maybe a combination of both. Whatever the case, I ended up liking this book very much.
I’ve seen a lot of comments in other reviews about the BDSM not being realistic. I think that opinion is potentially coming from people that haven’t experienced or ever learned about Master/slave dynamics. Since this dynamic is one I have personal experience with, I was very comfortable with it and even felt excitement at being represented fairly well in a popular novel. It was certainly an astronomically better representation than 50 Shades (🤮), in my opinion! Was it perfect M/s representation? Maybe, maybe not. That dynamic is so dependent on each individual situation, though. Not all M/s dynamics look the same. And certainly the possessive/ownership aspect will make some readers who are entirely unexposed to M/s very cringey in their gender politics sensitivities. But again, in a BDSM M/s dynamic, those things are consent based and as long as that’s the case, I’m fully supportive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder