Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Satan's Affair by H.D. Carlton

4 reviews

ba_gelz's review against another edition

dark sad tense 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? Yes

3.0

I wish this book went more into detail about HOW Sibby killed get father and escaped the cult, we never get a complete story about her past which frustrated me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Eating disorder, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Blood, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Violence, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexual content, and Stalking

scarlethgiselle's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Sexual violence, Stalking, Gun violence, Confinement, Torture, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Grief, Mental illness, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, Gore, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Sexism

lolalastname's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

0.5

In both Haunting Adeline and Hunting Adeline, Sibby’s presence in the narrative felt odd and out of place. Though I didn’t have high expectations going into Satan’s Affair, I had the tiniest sliver of hope that this novella would make sense of her character. Boy, was I wrong.

To put it plainly, I don’t know why this novella exists. Many fans of the series urge newcomers to read Satan’s Affair before reading Haunting Adeline “to avoid spoiling the twist.” I disagree. The novella was published between the release of books 1 and 2- long after Haunting’s social media virality. The “twist” isn’t a twist at all, simply Sibby’s most identifiable trait (and the punchline of every scene she’s in). The upcoming 2 novels starring Sibby as the lead render Satans Affair little more than a rushed exposition dump.

The most damning strike against Satan’s Affair is its own prose. While Sibby’s point of view is a nice break from Adeline and Zade’s grating internal monologue, it comes with its own problems. I tried and failed not to notice the writer behind the curtain, but the authors overwhelming presence in the narration completely broke my immersion in the story. I didn’t read Sibby’s thoughts and feelings- the writer told them to me, and explained exactly how to feel about them. The constant shift between first person present and past tense at random intervals was also extremely distracting.

Even though Satan’s Affair is  full to the brim with blood, guts, and gore , it lacks the tooth and grit needed to get me to buy what it’s selling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Police brutality, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Body horror, Death of parent, Ableism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Cursing, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest, Slavery, Infidelity, Infertility, Trafficking, and Miscarriage

arys_library's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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

3.75

This book was pretty good! to be honest, I didn't know what this book was going to fully be about when I started it and I was... shocked, to say the least. This book was decently gory, but the graphic descriptions of death during these sexual scenes made me very uncomfortable at times. I will admit, the ending twist was incredibly interesting, it made me want to reread it to spot clues that could have pointed us to what happened in the end. But altogether, it was a fun read, a great intro to a hopefully amazing series, but because of the uncomfortable scenes, I probably won't read it again soon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Death, Torture, Violence, Gore, Murder, Blood, and Cursing

Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Vomit, Trafficking, Rape, and Incest