Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Credence by Penelope Douglas

196 reviews

cheeserue's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

"One phone call, a coach seat, and four states later, it finally occurs to me . . . I don’t know these people."

I have mixed feelings about this one. it was entertaining enough to pull me in and want to finish reading, but also the characters made me want to scream.

Tiernan is a meekly little thing who's never felt the love of her parents, not because they weren't there, but because they are too far up each other's asses to care about the fact that they chose to have a child. this causes her to not develop a personality or any self survival skills. she ships herself off to her "uncle" whom she's never met and barely heard of.

the boys are a combination of a 40somthing year old 'step' uncle who fucks the 25 y/o  neighborhood skanks, a who psychopathic mute who immediately tried to rape her upon meeting, and Noah who I kinda liked.

I will never understand why she chose keleb, they barely spend time together and when they are in the same room he has the most red flags out of all of them. you could play a drinking game with all the shitty things he does to her; but for some reason she forgives every little thing he's done the second she finds those books.

I'll give it to Penelope, she did have me feeling a bit for him while I was reading those 'journal' entries, however his trauma and inability to speak does not cancel out how toxic he was the whole book.

that threesome scene had me sweating like a sinner in church. 

don't even get me started with the ending. automatic loss of star for pregnancy trope, not all stories need to end in a marriage and kids.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

alex_bousquet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Lots of red flags that were ignored. But I absolutely loved reading this book and watching each character grow and become adults basically. Needed more spice 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Pregnancy

elliedw1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional lighthearted sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Abandonment

geh91's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

edietz22's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

annabelleg's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-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

3.5

This was something to say the least, I did enjoy it a little but the long chapters and the general relationship made it kinda hard to get through at points. It’s the longest it’s taken me to read something in a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

amberlynnnnn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

jcoates's review against another edition

dark 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? No

2.5

This was an uncomfortable read and so many plot points are messed up.

The men in this long-lost extended family often regard her as a daughterly/ sisterly figure, but she has sexual worth all of them.

 

I get that it’s a dark-themed romance but the kissing-cousins vibe isn’t my idea of a sexy time.  

That said, it was so over the top that I was curious enough to binge the audiobook in two days. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cancer and Rape

abbysingh's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

shireleah's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.75

Love the spice but could have been better if there was more background to the other characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent