Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Hooked by Emily McIntire

41 reviews

angelofthetardis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I read this series of books last year (and reviews were posted at the time), but recently found the first four were available as audiobooks as part of my Audible subscription. However, they're being removed in a couple of weeks, so I want to try and get them listened to before then! 

The audio version definitely adds a level to the story in bringing it to life, especially where you have a male narrator reading James' chapters and a female narrator reading Wendy's chapters. However, I still cannot understand why you would hire two narrators for that purpose, and then not have them speak the appropriate lines in the other person's chapter (I.e. have the male read James' speech within Wendy's chapters and vice versa). They don't do badly at putting on the opposite voices, but it just grates on my nerves!

I was less convinced by the voices/accents employed for the secondary characters - the male narrator had an especially tough job given that he's a Brit and most of the secondary characters Americans. I couldn't tell you whether the accent was right for the setting (Brit here), but it was quite harsh and didn't necessarily suit the narrators' natural tone of voice. But equally they managed to bring each character to life throughout with different voices for each and, for the most part, they didn't wander too much. 

There were a couple of places where I felt the narrators could have 'acted' a bit more to get the point across, but generally it was a very enjoyable listen.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Gun violence, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity, Bullying, Vomit, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Rape

filipa_maia's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

So, this was my first dark romance / smut read, and although this is not my preferred genre, I did appreciate this book.

The characters are complex, with a background that really explains where they are now, they have good arcs, and overall this book has a decent plot. I predicted part of the final plot, but not all, so I still got surprised.

Mostly, I liked the fact that Wendy wasn't completely removed from managing her own life - okay, maybe after what happened she didn't have much of a choice, but still.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Confinement, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Blood, Death of parent, Body horror, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Torture, Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Car accident

Minor: Infidelity and Vomit

kylasmv15's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Moderate: Medical content, Bullying, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Confinement

Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, and Vomit

sleeping_unicorn's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity

galleytrot's review against another edition

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

4.25

READ: Mar 2024 

FORMAT: Digital 

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 4.5 / 5⭐ 

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 4.25 / 5⭐ 

FINAL – OVERALL: 4.25 / 5⭐ 

In this book, Wendy is feeling a little lost in her father’s apparent lack of interest in either hers or her brother’s lives, and a rebellious night out with her coworkers has her stumbling into the arms of a very dangerous man. As she sets foot in the doors of the Jolly Roger, James recognizes Wendy immediately as the daughter of the man who ruined his life, and while it surprises him that Peter is in the area, unfettered access to his daughter – famously his pride and joy – is fortuitous beyond expectations. Revenge all too sweet is finally within his grasp, and it would be made all the sweeter with Wendy broken and used up by his side. 

Fairy tale reimaginings are something I need more of in my life, and who doesn’t like to root for the heinous, irredeemable villain every once in a while? When my friend proposed this as our next buddy-read, it felt like a good choice, mixing flavours of fantasy, crime, romance, and drama – something for each of us. I might not claim that this story is especially original or clever, but because I don’t stray from my normal genre all that often it was very much new and novel. Some things felt well-thought-out while others felt a bit silly or ham-fisted. I liked that the author wasn’t precious about sticking to the motivations and relationships of the characters from the original works, although plenty of recognizable winks and nods were given to keep the reader looking for them. 

One thing my friend and I agreed on is that towards the end of the book, at the reveal of the even eviller villain, while adequately set up throughout the story, didn’t come with a very satisfying explanation. We were both left with far too many questions regarding their motivations and their ability to orchestrate the events of this book, with so much dependence on random chance. The stars wound up aligning so perfectly to set off a specific set of events, and the idea that the villain would wait in the shadows for as long as they did doesn’t honestly make much sense to me. These notes aside, the book still captivated the both of us completely, and was likely made better as a shared experience. We had a good time, and we are likely to continue on with the series over time. 

This book has at least one character who is portrayed as non-white; there is otherwise little else in the way of diversity. 

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.

This book contains:

death, murder, torture, violence; blood, injuries, gore; weapon violence (knives, guns); alcohol use; implication of past incestuous sexual assault of a minor; past physical abuses of a minor; past parent deaths (car accident, plane crash); drug trafficking; mentions of bullying; kidnapping, confinement; fire/arson; mentions of drug addiction; animal abuse; drug abuse; mention of past infidelity; and, vomiting.

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Confinement, Trafficking, Vomit, Alcohol, Cursing, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity, Abandonment, Addiction, Bullying, Incest, Pedophilia, Car accident, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse

graciegru's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.0

If you like smut in between gruesome torture and murder then this is the book for you. It’s not my cuppa tea, but to each their own. I felt like most of the book was sex. I wish there was more development from when Hook/James started to fall for Wendy. It felt like he switched  from wanting her for  revenge then loving her… just a little odd. 

 The end was nice and heartwarming, though so there’s a plus

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Abandonment, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Confinement, Cursing, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, Torture, Toxic friendship, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Stalking

emileical's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Torture, Domestic abuse, Death, Child abuse, Violence, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cursing, Infidelity, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

mollyamalia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Abandonment, Violence, Grief, Gore, Infidelity, Gun violence, Death of parent, Classism, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Blood, Alcohol, and Addiction

cristina_reading24's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Kidnapping, Torture, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Cursing, Death, Violence, Murder, Child abuse, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Car accident and Pregnancy

shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Death, Confinement, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping

Minor: Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity