Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Sacrifice

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Sacrifice by Shantel Tessier

100 reviews

ogurule's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

misswirum's review against another edition

2.5

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Raise your hand if you're a victim of Shantel's misogyny and plot-writing-skills 🙋🏼‍♀️

First of all; this is not a romance. This is a (bad) thriller/erotica. Authors need to stick to the genre or be held responsible when they're not!!

The Ritual with Ryat&Blake is one of my favourite books of all time!! But after "Sabotage" I'm pretty sure the author just writes for shock value. She knows what her fans want, and what she'll "get away with". Which is OK, but I really liked her early writing style, so I'm sad 😞

I'm not bying the whole "universe" either. It's to far fetched and all the Lords do is kill each other?

The FMC is weak af, but that's not her fault. She's been groomed from a really young age. And her character description made me think of DeBrie from Arrested Development s4.... that's NOT the vibe you want 🥲🥲
The MMC is mean mean and doesn't have a redeeming bone in his body.

I used over a month reading this book, because I wanted to DNF it every other page. The only thing that kept me going was the tiny bit of mystery; who killed Whitney and what/who is Tyson saving Lake from?
The plot's not really going forward intil you hit the 60% mark. But even tho it's a stand-alone, you're left with LOTS of questions after finishing the book.

2.5/5⭐️
2/5📝
3,75/5🌶

Content Warnings

ihearturman's review against another edition

ts was disgusting

Content Warnings

ten_telegrams's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

kdelong's review against another edition

2.0

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Dark romance but the plots elements had potential. unfortunately the majority of the scenes between the mmc and fmc are dubious consent at best and the text seems to try to normalize the dom/sub dynamic in a highly unlikely fashion. Not for the easily affected by any kind of sexual violence or dubious consent dominance.

Content Warnings

sibb's review against another edition

3.5

3,5 ⭐ Ty was my favorite character so I was really looking forward to his book, it started out great but got just really confusing und underwhelming halfway through. The ending was really rushed

Content Warnings

taconaut77's review against another edition

2.25

challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

booklovinmamas's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Sacrifice is a complete standalone but is set in the same world as The Ritual and The Sinner. You do not need to read the other books before you read this one, but as someone who read both books, I do recommend reading them. You’ll miss out on reading Ryat and Sin’s books and learning their story about the Lords. You’ll also miss being introduced to Tyson Crawford.

Storyline/My Thoughts: I’ve wanted to read Tyson Crawford’s book since he was introduced in Ryat’s book (The Ritual). I needed to know his story and why he was not doing normal Lord things and was the owner of Blackout, a club that seemed to be where all Lords hung out to unwind, have fun, and cause trouble.

Shantel gave me all my answers about what happened to Tyson and his Chosen. She also gave me a revenge story worth every page of reading.

Tyson is the one that doesn’t abide by any rules and does his own thing. This man is not someone to mess with, especially when it comes to being double-crossed. He has every reason to avenge what happened to him. He did have a Chosen at one time, but something happened to her, and now he is given a choice to marry whoever he wants, and he chooses the one person that will help him avenge what was done to him. The issue is his future wife doesn’t want to marry him, but she has no choice. The society has deemed it to happen, and it will, even without her family’s blessing. Laikyn is the girl forced to marry Tyson, and he will make her life difficult.

Laikyn has been sheltered her whole life, and she was always treated poorly by her family. She’s never good enough and finds it strange why Tyson would want her as his wife. She’s never experienced anything, and Tyson doesn’t ease her into his world and what he wants from her. He wants her complete submission and will do anything to have it, even humiliate her. She’s his pawn to be used so that he can get his revenge finally. This is when readers should check their triggers because Tyson is a dominant a-hole to Laikyn.

If you expect a happy, sunny relationship between Tyson and Laikyn, don’t get your hopes up. Laikyn will find out quickly that if she doesn’t listen to Tyson, she’ll be punished. Their marriage is not typical, and I was taken aback by it, but not in the wrong way. Tyson does not do romantic gestures. He’s the one you expect to make you kneel and crawl to him, which is what he made Laikyn do several times.

What were my thoughts on Tyson? I loved his character, even if he was the antihero the whole time. If there is one thing I love about an antihero is when they flip a switch, and their love comes out for the FMC. In the case of Tyson, he did in ways where even the FMC was confused. No one touches what is his, and no one gets away with taking her from him. He will unalive everyone in his path to retrieve her. He lived up to what I expected of him and more. Don’t mess with Tyson Crawford!

What were my thoughts on Laikyn? I liked her character, but she won’t be my favorite. I gave her some leeway because finding out how her family treated her made me feel sorry for her, but she was dense at times, especially at the very end when everything came together. I did like that she had a feisty side of trying to fight back against Tyson at first. She was never going to win when it came to him. I did feel for her character after everything was revealed. Her family is one f**ked up family, is all I’m saying. She definitely deserved a HEA with Tyson.

This book has some dark elements, not as dark as Sin’s book, but that’s my opinion, and other readers may think this one is darker.

Shantel Tessier again gave me a twisted, f**ked up storyline that made me question my morals, but I had a hard time putting down the book. I needed to know the ending. This was a wild ride of a book, and I know it may not be everyone’s type of reading, but for me, I enjoyed it. Even though I need a good Romantic Comedy to help curve all the twisted things, I read in this book. I was questioning myself on some of the kinks that Tyson had in this book and if I actually liked them. Nope, I’m a bigger brat than Laikyn and don’t like being told what to do. (Just ask the husband.)

I give 4.5 stars and can’t wait to read Carnage. I love how Shantel gives us little snippets on what is next in this world. I need to know more about the Spade brothers. Those brothers are evil incarnate, but I know they have a good backstory on why they are the way they are, and I’m all for finding out.

Standalone/Part of Series: Standalone.

Steam/Spice: 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶

Genre/SubGenre(s)/Trope(s)/Element(s): Romance. Dark Romance. Revenge Romance. Secret Society. Forced Marriage. OTT J/P MMC. Virgin FMC. BDSM. Praise. Degradation. AntiHero. Touch Her and I’ll Unalive You.

Trigger(s)/Content Warning(s): Dub/Non Con. CNC. Shock Treatment. Breath Play/Choking. Rape. (Author has all possible triggers in the beginning of the book. I highly recommend reading it before diving into the book.)

Would I recommend this book? Yes. I recommend this book if you enjoy the Dark Romance subgenre and have read other books from Shantel Tessier or similar authors. If Dark Romance is not your jam and you have many triggers, this book may not be for you.
P.S. Don’t be one of those readers who judge others for reading Dark Romance, either.

Content Warnings

heatherfoltz's review against another edition

4.5

dark fast-paced

Content Warnings

jess_bythebook's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

At no point did I ever see where this book was going! I’m usually one to point out the plot twist from the very beginning, but this kept me on my toes and I couldn’t be happier! Enemies to lovers, forced proximity, tension, and oh so spicy. This deliciously dark romance is revenge at its finest.

Laikyn has grown up in the Lord’s lifestyle and knows what to expect when she comes of age. But when her already restrictive life gets hijacked by not just her worst enemy, but also one of the most threatening men in their world, she’s finding herself in new and deadly situations that she doesn’t know how to get out of.

“Lots of people mistake lust and love. The difference is love demands a sacrifice.”

Tyson answers to no one. He gave up everything to be where he is now and he’s had 3 years to plan his vengeance upon all those who have wronged him. And nothing will stop him from getting what he wants.

“She’s a means to an end. My chance at revenge.”

If you liked The Ritual, The Sinner, and Sabotage, you’re going to love the taboo themes of The Sacrifice. While set in the same world, it can be read as a standalone. The characters from previous books did, however, make an appearance and it made my little black heart jump for joy because Ryat is still just as fantastic.

Dark, dirty, and mysterious, Tyson is one of my new favorite book boyfriends! Loved the ending and while there’s a ton of different things going on throughout the book, I actually enjoyed how I was never fully able to guess what was going to happen next. Just sit back and enjoy this salacious ride!

“I am the only god you will worship, little darling. Ready to get on your knees for me?”

Content Warnings

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