Reviews with content warning for Death - Still Beating

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann

82 reviews

thecozylibrary_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

one of my favorite books of the year! this book is extremely dark and emotional, i recommend checking out the TWs before diving in.

still beating made me feel so many emotions. dean & cora are kidnapped by a serial killer who makes the victims fall in love with each other before unaliving them. dean is the fiance of cora's sister and they both have spent the last 15 years hating each other. once kidnapped, they're forced to do unspeakable things which makes their bond grow -- they need each other to get through life after what happened to them.

this book is emotional and angsty! i loved dean so much, he was so strong for the both of them.

Content Warnings

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-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

4.0

*Please check the trigger warnings before reading this book*

Cora hates her sisters fiance Dean. He has been a thorn in her side for the past 15 years. After attending her sister's birthday party, her wallet is stolen and she has to call Dean for a ride. She figures she will just sit through the awkward car ride home. What she doesn't anticipate is waking up the next morning handcuffed in a psychos basement, next to Dean. The two of them must lean on one another to survive and support each other as they are tested in unimaginable ways.

When I say I cried, I mean I sobbed. This story tore my heart open. It was tragic and heartbreaking, yet beautiful. There were parts that were really hard to read. Everyone deals with trauma differently, I think that Cora and Dean's story shows that in a realistic and sensitive way.

Dean was extremely traumatized and definitely suffering from PTSD, yet he still had this incredible emotional maturity.

He loved Cora, but realized that they were in this toxic spiral. He always put her first and did everything possible to protect her and help her heal, even when that meant walking away. He is much stronger than he gave himself credit for.

Cora went through something unimaginable. Not many people would have been able to survive what she did.

She struggles with being pulled between Dean and her sister. Dean is the only one she can lean on and she depends on him heavily. She is going through a rollercoaster of emotions and really struggles to deal with the trauma she has endured. She is scared to be 100% in with Dean because of Mandy and she kind of treats him like crap. She doesn't realize that Dean's sacrifice is really what she needed, she needs to heal herself, he can't heal her.

A few things that annoyed me:

- I didn't like how everyone pushed Cora to "move on". She has been through something seriously fucked up. No, she doesn't need to date or go out to the bar.
-I disliked Mandy. She is completely devoid of compassion and empathy. At one point she says to Dean that she was surprised that he didn't want to have sex the second he escaped. Like what? He has been through some MAJOR trauma and you are being so disrespectful and overly pushy. She gave him no space to breathe and just expected Dean and Cora to go back to "normal".
- I didn't like that we got this backstory of Dean and Cora hating each other, but not really hating each other. We are supposed to believe that they have formed a trauma bond, which makes total sense, but then we are shown all these flashbacks that lead us to believe that there were feelings between them for a long time. I wish that there wasn't this "we loved each other all along" undertone to the story. It kind of takes a away from it.

Tropes: Dark, Taboo, enemies to lovers

Content Warnings

alilbitofeveryth1ng's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

Content Warnings

jess1214's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

breesbookmark's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

pibblemama97's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-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

5.0

Content Warnings

booksshereads's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Read all triggers. This book comes with a punch in the first part of the book. If you're not ready, you won't be able to get through it. What I loved about this book is what the characters gained and learned from their hard experience. It wasn't easy for them but the story does not disappoint for me at all. I need more time to eat up what I read to give a better review.

Content Warnings