Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Ritual

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Ritual by Shantel Tessier

215 reviews

clareasday's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious tense

Content Warnings

cash_mama's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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: Yes

Content Warnings

loganswifey's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Content Warnings

skylar5385's review against another edition

2.5

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

satanshomosexualagenda's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This book I don’t even have words. If you like dark romance and kink this is your book. But check the TW! This book has some things

Content Warnings

booknerdcoco's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was my first novel by Shantel Tessier, and believe me. It didn't disappoint!!

First of all, I was drawn in from that very first page. It doesn't ease you in, not like a lot of dark romance - Tessier went straight for the sweet spot...and it was oh so good.

I loved the smut (🌶🥵), but I really appreciated the plot full of twists and turns. Things that just came out of nowhere. I couldn't pick my jaw up off the floor, especially as I felt like I really got to know the characters.

I have experienced this epic story twice. Reading and audiobook, and wow what an eargasm that was!

I am officially obsessed with this series and this author!!

Content Warnings

smolone13's review against another edition

3.0

dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Ratings:
Goodreads: 4/5

Storygraph: 3/5

My Rating: 3/5

Synopsis:

Blakely entered Barrington University thinking that by the end she would be graduated and married to Matt but everything takes a turn when she lands in Ryat’s arms. Ryat is a L.O.R.D. which means he has to follow certain rules, regulations, and even do things that people in society have no clue about.

My Review:

This book was honestly really hardcore and it was hard for me to get into because for a while I was thinking that a lot of it was nonconsensual. It wasn’t until about halfway through that Blake talks about it and says that she enjoys the interactions and likes CNC but at first it wasn’t mentioned so it looked like a lot of things that were occurring between the two of them was rape. I will put that out there as a heavy trigger warning. So before you read it, if you have a hard time with that, there is that in there.

Moving on, I hated both of the characters, I am going to be quite honest. I didn’t find either of them likable. Let us start from the beginning with the two introduced characters Ryat and Matt. Ryat and Matt used to be best friends until Matt decided he was going to compromise their mission and not only murder the intended person, but also try to rape the woman that was next to the man in bed. That being said, wow what a start. Ryat doesn’t like this and tries to stop him and ends up “killing” the woman. Yes, I am already spoiling the book. However, Ryat honestly isn’t any better than Matt is. Matt is arrogant and thinks he can get anything he wants, including Blake. Ryat is the exact same way. Arrogant and thinks he can get his way with anything, including owning Blake. Honest to God, it it like reading the same side of a coin. The only difference is Blake didn’t want anything to do with Matt after a certain point, which pissed Matt off, and Blake uses Ryat to piss off Matt. Which in turn Ryat also uses Blake to piss off Matt. So they both are using each other to piss off Matt. However, Matt wanting to get his way with everything isn’t what makes Blake run into Ryat’s arms. No, of course not. The reason Blake ends up being in a situationship with Ryat is because Matt won’t tell her about the L.O.R.D.'s which pisses her off and then Matt ends up seeing another woman who he ends up using for his own gain. Otherwise, it is so easily noticeable I can’t help but see Blake as stupid. The answers are right in her face. Besides Ryat and Blake using each other to piss of Matt, they’re not any better. Ryat is hired by Blake’s father to make Blake his chosen. He does it. Ryat also offers to pay Blake’s father to marry Blake. Basically, she’s stupid, easy, and just accepts everything that Ryat does to her. Including putting her in a relationship with him and marrying him. Honestly, I don’t understand the stupidity of this character enough. Not to mention, her abusive mother isn’t her real mother and is the one who signed her up to become a chosen to begin with. The entire story is fucked up, and yes I understand it is a dark romance, but I also expected Blake to have more brains than to think for herself instead of following everything like a dodo.

Now that we passed the characters, the setting doesn’t matter too much. This entire book is smut. Every chapter you read has some form of smut in it. CNC, BDSM, choking, passing out, hair pulling, anal. Just about anything you can think of, it is probably in here. If you’re looking for smut, you’ve come to the right place.

The plot isn’t any different honestly. It is just smut. I think the closest thing to a plot is the both of them trying to capture Matt to murder his ass because he’s obsessed with making Blake his. So there is that, if you think it is some format of a plot, otherwise it is all sex.

Considering I managed to read the entire book, which I am impressed about, I would say the book is decent. I did read it for the main point of every chapter being sex, but there were a few things that raised alarms for myself and just Blake being overall stupid. Blake was just an easy target for Ryat to manipulate. I might try to read the rest of the series but I hope this review helped you, as readers, piece together if you really want to give this dark romance a try or not.

Content Warnings

savvypmc's review against another edition

2.5

fast-paced

(ETA: Upon further reflection, I’ve changed my rating to 2.5 stars. This story managed to capture and keep my attention but I honestly don’t know how or why. The story had so many plot holes and just generally lacked desperately needed substance. Thinking on it, I couldn't honestly tell you any facts about the main female character’s personality—she doesn’t seem to have any hobbies, likes or dislikes except that she doesn’t like not being answered when she asks questions. All I truly know about her is apparently she’s a hot brunette with big breasts, and a flat stomach. That’s about it.)

Three stars because it’s a solid story with serious potential but I am so sick of reading the word “whimper”.

Pick a different word.
(Mewl. Whine. Moan. Cry.)

Also, these specific lines bothered me:
“The air gets thicker, making it hard to breathe, which just makes my tits bounce when I manage to suck in a deep breath.”
“…her tits start to bounce at her intake of breath…”
“…her big tits bounce while she pants…”

My final complaint—naming every song by title and artist, every time. I would very much prefer to read a description of the music (such as “the bass beats in time with my pulse” or “the speeding tempo makes me feel dizzy”). Giving me a song title tells me nothing about what kind of music is playing, and stopping to even consider having to pause reading to look up the song pulls me so out of the moment, I often stopped and just did not want to continue reading. I hated it.

But overall, I did actually really like the book. Smutty, but with plot. It had a solid setting but some of the characters felt bland.

It felt, to me, like bare bones. Like, it was good, but needed fleshed out. I honestly think it could’ve been expanded into a duo, maybe even a trilogy.