Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

809 reviews

terii's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is going to be long...

This book was dark, my first dark romance actually. Honestly it had the atmosphere. I mean it was kinda scary and dark. I also have to confess that I actually have been jumpscared

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Kidnapping, and Stalking

muccia's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

if you know me IRL you didn’t see this review.

look. this is a vv conflicting book. It IS NOT for everyone. It IS problematic. It IS aggressive and dark and twisted. It IS NOT a fun little fairy tale. 

All that being said, I actually really liked it and as much as I can obviously see the issues, it made me feel something. A lot of somethings. It had me questioning a lot of things such as - should I maybe be in therapy? should I be arrested for listening to this in public? should I share my location with everyone that I know in case I’m kidnapped and thrown into the human trafficking underbelly of the world?

look I can see why people have issues with this - is it borderline torture porn? Kind of. Is there an extreme lack of consent? Absolutely at first, without a doubt. 

This book has more trigger warnings than any book I’ve ever read, but I think if you go into it knowing what it is, you’re less likely to be appalled and you’ll take it with a grain a salt. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, and Sexual harassment

fairyfluffcake's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Undeniably erotic but also undeniably disturbing. I like morally grey characters but I don't like female characters being bullied or forced into submission and then made to look like they're grateful for it. It was missing something earlier in the book to make it clear how and why Adeline was a manipulator and how and why Zade was in fact playing with Adeline's kinky enjoyment for being scared. Without that, it was just porn and worse, reinforced the idea that a woman doesn't really mean it when she says 'no'. Their relationship was obviously the main focus of the book, the rest of the plot was very predictable crime thriller and unconvincing government conspiracy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Torture, and Kidnapping

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, and Trafficking

ahappyhallowqueen's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

katiesbookcave's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

binneybooks's review against another edition

dark

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

llandprosper's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Trafficking

messy130's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

Okay, i gave in to booktok cause i was curious and everyone was hyping it up… My brother in christ, i did not think it would be this bad. I haven’t finished it completely and i don’t think i ever will. To put this into perspective it’s worse than any colleen hoover book like way way way worse.

Other than the literal rape that goes on all throughout the book the character story is so bad. It dosent make sense! why would zade vow to protect women but rapes one? like hello?! The language used to describe is so boring and the events aren’t entertaining. The rape scenes, literally could have been good if it was approached in the proper way with the proper care and aftercare with consent. The main character developed mixed feelings because she liked it since it felt good (as sex does)that what happened was alright. Which is so wrong! I’ve also heard people defending this book saying “that’s kink shaming” CNC is a kink which stands for consensual non-consent, which requires consent hence the name. In my opinion, there is no justifying it and this is not dark romance. It’s just full of rape. 

People may read and think this kind of stuff is “hot” and acceptable which is really dangerous. I’ve heard so many underage readers reading this book because it is “spicy” and because of the hype on social media. 

I literally cannot explain with words how bad this book is. Please save your money!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Cursing and Alcohol

r_hall210's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Sexual harassment

coral_moon's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

The content doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I could handle darker. It does bother me that it's unnecessarily long and poorly written. Why does smut equal plot holes and over-explanations? I guess not all dark romances can be written by Anne Rice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Stalking, Murder, and Sexual harassment