Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Corrupt by Penelope Douglas

60 reviews

one_more_chapter96's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

Fairly well written and an interesting plot with a lot of dark elements emotionally/psychologically. I liked the points where Rika and the Horsemen worked together and were bonding, and I loved the elements of Kai & Michael. The push and pull with Michael was hot but a bit frustrating at times with him being so emotionally constipated. Overall an easy read with a suspenseful and spicy plot.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

reese1987's review against another edition

"As long as they are old enough to crawl, they are in the right position"

Statutory rape/pedo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Pedophilia

willsnow's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

0.25

F*ing atrocious, read it because I thought there would be spice. There were like three scenes but they all came after the most twisted F ed up attempted rape moments. The MC is genuinely insane and not a normal human 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

starspacecorn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad fast-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? It's complicated

I honestly don't think I can describe just how much I despise this book. Aside from the romanticizing of sexual abuse, the amount of absolutely unnecessary sex these characters have is bonkers. ALSO! The story switches between the main girl and her love interest's points of view- both 3 years ago and in the present. And uh, 3 years ago Ms Girl was 16. A minor. And this man even admits that "yeah she's 16 but that won't stop me." I really tried to like Michael. I really did. But he did TOO many things that are absolute no-nos. The amount of times Rika said 'no' to him but he messed with her anyway was absolutely ridiculous. Also I hate all of his friends. Kai was okay until the absolutely unnecessary threesome he has with M and R at the gentlemens club. I think why I'm mostly angry is because this story could have been so good, but no of course not. The plot was so messy, there was too much smut and not enough world building, and there was SO MUCH SEXUAL HARASSMENT/ABUSE. Red flags all around. Literally the main group of guys Rika is so desperate to be a part of went to prison for beating up a police officer, arson, and R**ING AN UNDERAGE GIRL. And the story's like, "yeah but they have abs." And then they hold so much resentment towards Rika for ratting them out that they (Michael included) burn down her house, steal all of her money, send her mom to a mental hospital so Rika can't talk to her anymore and are seconds away from r**ing her and killing her when then suddenly "oh she didn't do it? All is forgiven 🤪🙏" I am also upset at how obsessed she was with M bc he is literally such a horrible person and keeps playing games on R and only sees her as a piece of meat. Everytime he sees her he decides to mention that he got hard just seeing her and he wishes he could take off her clothes. Rika isn't that great either, tho. She's obsessive, dumb, and doesn't answer her phone toward the end when she KNOWS she's in danger, just because she's cocky and it's convenient for the plot. Also there is SO much sexual tension between her and the only other woman in this story, Alex, and when they actually do it, the scene is told through the POV of Michael watching them. Rika only did it to make M jealous and then he basically throws poor Alex out and Rika doesn't even give her a second glance. This makes me so angry because the only slightly gay scene in this entire thing was for a man's pleasure and I wish they wouldn't have even put that in there because it furthers an idea that lesbians only exist for the pleasure of men and I must say shame on Penelope Douglas. Anyway there's this completely unnecessary chapter after the epilogue of when M was 16 and R was 13 and he picked her up from practice and she was crying and she watched him kill a dog (poor thing was already dying, he just made it go faster) and she was angry and visited her dad in the cemetery and he took her home, and anyway the whole point of the chapter was to show that Rika was the one who inspired M to make his group of assholes and it was just so unnecessary. I could have lived the 20 minutes that chapter wasted from my life, but no I had to get unnecessary background at the very end. Also, I don't understand how these characters always notice the nipples getting hard? Like, as a woman I barely ever notice unless I'm freezing cold, so that's unrealistic. Also R casually mentions she likes fencing and then doesn't bring it up until the end of the book. And when she puts on the fencing uniform she mentions that "it rubs against [her] clit." LIKE GIRL GET BETTER PRIORITIES ON WHAT TO THINK ABOUT. Because THEN she gets turned on by the uniform rubbing against her that she goes and has a threesome in the bathroom. I can't make this shit up. I can't. Anyway I hate this book and I will never read it again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

neness's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Stalking

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Alcoholism

milena99's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Misogyny and Murder

antidietleah's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Alcohol

Minor: Incest

mproper1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

justinewalker's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I think this just wasn’t my cup of tea, but if you like dark romance I recommend giving it a try at least! I personally didn’t like certain characters to an extent that they made the whole book worse to read, but other parts and characters I did enjoy. All the side characters are quite flat imo. The flipping between past and present really worked for me, though I can see it not working for others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, and Murder

palebea's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This is probably my first "dark romance" where the MMC really is nasty. Check your TWs for this one and don't lean into the fact it's apparently a romance. There's not much romantic about it. The relationship is toxic, possessive, bit taboo with the weird obsession with her as a child? It's a bully romance. The MCs are not nice. Content warning info:

There's some risky SA/rape scenes that get a little hairy but no actually depicted rape. You do not have enough trust in the characters to feel safe that it won't happen though

 

I liked Rika, she was a pretty likeable FMC considering the circumstances. My heart broke for her a couple times and no I don't think Michael did nearly enough grovelling for me personally. This was gnarly to read but gripping and intriguing. 

The HEA also felt a bit forced

The twist I liked and although I didn't exactly guess it, I had an idea it was coming. 

Overall, a disturbing read that was addictive, dirty and had me questioning my morals. Difficult to rate as it's the first book I've read like this where the darkness in the dark romance presents itself as toxicity in the relationship. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Rape, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Violence