Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Between the Devil and the Sea by Chani Lynn Feener

13 reviews

jessie_h's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Abandonment, Murder, Rape, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Violence, and Mental illness

Minor: Child abuse and Death of parent

booklifeisthelife's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Confinement, Torture, Emotional abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Physical abuse, Death, and Murder

astralasher's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

1.25

I am just not a dark romance girlie at all. I spent so much time reading it before I realized where it was going and by that point I just wanted to get through it. If you like dark romance and don’t mind manipulation, kidnapping, assault etc, go for it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Stalking, Torture, and Violence

readers_pov's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

3.75

✒️ I wanted demons but got aliens. Because of my mistaken interpretation of the synopsis I genuinely thought I was going to read grimdark fantasy with demons, but this ended up being science fiction instead. I didn't realize that the mentions of demons and the devil were metaphorical 🤣 

Intergalactical detectives solving crimes such as murders, was a comfortingly familiar concept in sci-fi setting. The sci-fi aspects felt so natural I could even call it alternate reality. The story focuses a lot on the MCs, but does introduce the crime solving and police work to a satisfying degree. 

I really loved the unique take on empathic abilities. It was written well, but I would have loved even more exploration on that. It was left slightly superficial. Similarly with the world-building. If this was a series, and the story would continue introducing more of the world and everything, then I would be more satisfied with this. 

There were a few spelling mistakes which I found infuriating. But since this is independently published I understand she might not have had the chance to edit it properly. Nevertheless, the writing was exciting and kept me in its grip throughout the whole book. 

Despite my small critiques, I truly wish this would end up being a series, because I want to read what happens afterwards. I want to read more about them being happy, and being themselves and doing what they are good at. 

***
 Don't ignore the warnings given by the author! The warnings are there for a reason and if you can't stomach the mentioned things please don't read the book. Please be self-aware of what you can stomach. This is not for everyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Stalking, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Abandonment, and Blood

Minor: Death of parent, Vomit, Animal death, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

spaghettii's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Abandonment, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Stalking

bonriki's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Murder, Blood, Confinement, Violence, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Stalking, Pedophilia, and Vomit

pages_by_the_water's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

It is a GREAT read, managed to shock me (pretty hard, dark romance is my norm), BUT while the author does her best with the warnings there is quite a bit of rape amongst the main characters. She was honest and said these characters are messed up and she wasn’t joking. Still a great read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual content, Rape, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Blood, Domestic abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Pedophilia

elwyn_k's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Bullying, Sexual assault, Blood, Confinement, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking

nerdyspinster's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Dark romance between a serial killer and the detective he's obsessed with. Read the trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual content, Blood, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Sexual violence, Torture, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

mello_cra02's review

dark tense slow-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

3.25

**I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I wanted to give this book a higher rating because I honestly enjoyed it. The best part is that I got what I was promised from the beginning, a dark romance. A real one, not the kind of dark romance that's just a combination of kinky sex and very bad 'bad boys', and in the end, they have the perfect family XD.

I go for this genre because I want to read about nonconventional relationships and complex characters that may be damaged or don't fit into society's standards. I was more than satisfied with this book in that aspect. The psychology behind each character was remarkable. Every detail about their personality matched their actions and past.

Another great thing about the novel was the world-building. I'm not sure if the author has other books in the same universe but I would love to read them.

The story was interesting enough. I don't remember reading a book with that setting before. I never knew what to expect and I never imagined that things would turn up the way they did.

Why did I give a 3-star rating? There is no solid reason, it was a mixture of small points.

Firstly the book needs some editing. As someone who is studying to become an editor, I could not bypass that many errors. Small things, but they make the reading experience better. I'm talking about switching characters' names, repeating ideas that were already explained in previous chapters, and changing the details of the plot without warnings.

The pacing of the book bothered me a little too. I feel like it could have been a duology. The first part was too long in comparison to the second one. Both could be separated into different books and even extended a little. Otherwise, the end of the story deserves more attention. It's already a large novel, with more depth in their relationship it would be a success.

I think this summarizes all my thoughts. Thank you author for this opportunity. And thanks to BookSirens too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Abandonment, Blood, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, Gore, and Bullying