Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Awakening by Susanne Valenti, Caroline Peckham

111 reviews

katharina90's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

Cringe Fest. 

The writing is terrible and there's too much going on with the worldbuilding which leaves little room for a plot. 

The characters are flat and painfully immature. I also just couldn't keep the twins apart. 

There's so much cringey and problematic stuff in this book, including but not limited to the non-stop boundary and consent violations.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Bullying

Moderate: Sexual content, Infidelity, and Violence

Minor: Fatphobia and Racism

onyxpearl1017's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

3.5

This is a bully romance series. This first book is incredibly character driven, there are sooooo many characters that get introduced and they are all important. There are 9 books and many novellas, but this book is an amazing start to the journey and it’s such a fun read to go back to and notice details that you didn’t catch the first time. Zodiac Academy is my all time favorite series, I recommend it to everyone no matter what their tastes and preferences are 😅

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, and Bullying

yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Honestly the writing isn’t Shakespeare but man was I invested. Those boys are so infuriating ahhh. I can’t wait to see these girls rise because I can see the fight in them and although I feel bad for what happened I know they’ll kick ass because they’re already badass.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Bullying, Death, Alcohol, Violence, and Cursing

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Murder and Child death

roxyc's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Bullying, Sexual harassment, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual content, Hate crime, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Car accident

vclarisse's review against another edition

Poorly written, just free and unjustified bullying of the protagonists with no other plot point. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexism and Sexual content

tiny_april's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Minor: Sexual content

autumnwitch14's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

I enjoyed the world building very much. I wish it focused more on the fantasy elements outside of just supernatural races. I wouldn't say this book is much of a romance even though it describes itself as a bullymance. Maybe later in the series, but this first one in particular barely has any outside of a little flirting (in between all of the sexual assaults)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Genocide, Incest, Abandonment, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Slavery, and Infidelity

Mind control is prevalent in this book, meaning sometimes characters are forced to do things they don't want to do.

earlieststar's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious 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? Yes

2.5

im cringe but im free

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Classism, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

listen: it is described as bully romance but these girls get absolutely very much abused from beginning to end. it's not schoolyard bullying, those are crimes being committed every other page.

cait's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Stalking, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Abandonment

maggies's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.0

Okay, this is not good, but it was at least entertaining! I definitely found myself editing the book as I read, which is not a particularly pleasant experience. On the other hand, adjusting expectations for what it was—trashy fantasy/romance (I say lovingly!)—it wasn’t too bad. The inclusion of a presumably Latino character was bordering on racist, and aside from the poor writing, that was probably the worst thing about the book. This is my first experience with a kind of bully romance, and I’m not totally sure it’s for me, but I’ll probably keep reading the series.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content and Abandonment