Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Carnage by Shantel Tessier

6 reviews

chauntel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Medical content, Stalking, Grief, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexual violence, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Kidnapping, Addiction, Bullying, Car accident, Drug use, Gore, Pregnancy, Abortion, Body horror, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Gun violence

Moderate: Vomit, Suicide attempt, Torture, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

whichdirection's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

1.0

This book absolutely needed another editing run, there are multiple grammatical errors/errors in sentence structure that just made me do a double take. Additionally there are several spots where the characters say/think something, then repeat themselves a few paragraphs later.

This book is marketed & listed as stand-alone but I would argue you absolutely need to have read Sin & Ty’s books for a good chunk of this one to make sense. Otherwise the immediate introduction of all these characters & the things they know about Luke and Whitney would make No Sense.

There were a lot of plot holes, and inconsistent characterization.

(Saint is meant to be protective & even cuts off a guard’s hand for touching Ash, but does nothing at all to find/punish the man who SA’d her until he shows back up?)

And at the end of the book, nothing had really changed for any of them. No one developed as a person and their situations never changed.
Additionally Ash & Saint’s relationship (like their Romance and their Love) is developed mainly in flashbacks which I found incredibly unfulfilling. They have plenty of sex but he gives her Zero aftercare and they never really talk/bond.

Ash seemed to have a deeper emotional connection with Haidyn in my opinion.

Overall I was just really confused and disappointed for the majority of this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Vomit, Death of parent, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Blood, Death, Alcohol, Violence, Torture, Murder, Medical content, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, and Drug abuse

Minor: Toxic friendship and Trafficking

firequeen_ash23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

Title: Carnage
Author: Shantel Tessier 
Series: L.O.R.D.S #5
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Spice: 🌶🌶🌶🌶

The first book I ever read by Shantel Tessier was The Ritual, and from that moment on, I've been obsessed with her writing, the characters, just this whole series. I've been looking forward to reading Carnage since I read about the spade brothers. And of course, Shantel Tessier DID NOT disappoint with this 5 star read. 

I love that Carnage, like the other books, was filled with mystery. Carnage is riddled with questions, unclear motives, secret agendas by multiple people, some of them unknown, and of course, it's got plenty of villians. I love how each book can be tied together in some way with whether it's the same characters in the same universe, the timeline, or just something that happened in one book but affected others in another book. I couldn't get enough of the darkness in Carnage. It’s raw and gritty, I love it and couldn't help but want more. Shantel is a fantastic smut author! You could forget about the hot and spicy moments in this book, whew 🥵🥵!! I really did enjoy the scenes between Ashytn and Saint, not to mention when Saint let Haiyden and Kashton play, too. The way Saint and Ashytn's owned their toxicity with their selves and with one another was just HOT! I love Saint's depravity. I love Saints' obsession with Ashytn. Yes, he loves her, but he's also obsessed with her to the point it's slightly toxic, but of course, that makes it even hotter! 

I also really loved Haidyen and Kashton, the other Spade brothers, in this book. Haiyden and Kashton, though scary and maybe a little crazy, they're both sexy AF, bad@$$, and killers, but they both care about soft spot for Ashytn, especially Haiyden. 

I really don't think I have one bad thing to say about this book, though I do wish some things would have been a little more fleshed out with better explanations, but I still loved the book. I CAN'T wait for the next Spade brother book. Shantel Tessier has become an autoread author for me with this series. If you haven't read the L.O.R.D.S series, then I highly recommend Carnage and the rest of the L.O.R.D.S series; they're all 5 star reads!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cursing, Death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual violence, Grief, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Addiction, Car accident, Alcohol, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

kaadee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

I’m begging and pleading on my knees for one of these girls to run as far away as they can. I was ROOTING for Ash, but that dumb dumb had to get caught. I just want ONE FUCKIN GIRL TO LIVE HER LIFE SAFE AND HAPPY FAR AWAY FROM THESE LORDS.

Also, the plot is so all over the place, last 100 pages never make sense but I stay for the smut.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Abandonment, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual content, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Car accident, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

laylareadsthings's review against another edition

dark sad tense 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

Oh boy was this a roller coaster, as many others have said! 

Overall this series is basically a perfect five stars for me. It’s top tier dark romance and my favorite to recommend when someone is ready to dive into DARK dark romance (please take TW and content warnings very seriously, they are lengthy and there for a reason). The smut is iconic, I don’t think anyone comes close to Shantel in this genre. So it pains me to say that this wasn’t my favorite of the series. And LOOK like I said I LOVE this series, so by ’least favorite’ I mean no insult, there were just some issues for me and each new addition is competing with perfection. Spoilers will be hidden, open at your own risk. 

One of the reasons I’ve enjoyed this world is the attention to detail with the plot. The long conning and planning, the way characters maneuver around an incredibly strict set of rules. In Carnage, some of the character motivations and decisions felt more juvenile to me than previous books. More chaos than control. This may be because you’re juggling more characters here so the story doesn’t feel as tightly woven. There is more reiteration in this book than previous ones of the FMCs consent and interests, which some may find repetitive but I think is extremely important with this story. Ashtyn and Saint will make you work for their love, and I’m going to be thinking about them for a long time. Saint is SO GOOD, might be right behind Ryat for me as #1. And Ashtyn is really unlike any FMC I’ve read before which I mean as the highest compliment, especially in this genre where FMCs can feel repetitive to me. 

There is lack of, or mis, communication in every Lords book but in Carnage there was more than once where I couldn’t buy the fallout from an event because of it. One of these events is Ashtyn leaving. She is helped by an additional MC who knows why she leaves. This is also THE pivotal plot point for this entire book’s events. And while I completely bought her emotional journey, as the author does an incredible job writing her trauma and reasoning through her decisions, I couldn’t buy her determinedness to stay silent once she’s returned. As the reader, I just felt like a single conversation would have solved the entire issue.  The commitment from Saint to her was crystal clear from page one. While this is explained with Ashtyn feeling hopeless (and again, the author does a wonderful job here!), there were many times her actions and inner monologue show the exact opposite. Her character started to confuse me, which left me frustrated during the 60-85% mark of this book until the resolution picks up.

There’s incredible interconnectivity from the other books in the series, people pop up for a reason and it doesn’t feel frivolous. This book is written as a standalone, however I recommend you read the prior books to get the full impact. If you go in blind, the ending may feel confusing to you - but I actually think it would be a wild ride to go back and piece everything together knowing how this book wraps up. 

I am  so freaking thrilled to continue in this world and I’m dying for the next two brothers’ books (and hopefully many more)!! Once I’ve read a few palette cleansers, I’m excited to go back and do a reread. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexism, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Abandonment

natashareadsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Carnage is a dark revenge romance- check TW before going in! And while it's not required to read the rest of the Lords series before hand- I definitely recommend it.

Ashtyn was set to become a Lord's chosen one- and not just any Lord, but Saint Carter- one of the Spade Brothers who is set to run Carnage. And as a Chosen, Ashtyn belongs to Saint- but when things get complicated - Ashtyn must make an impossible choice. She tries to run... Only to be dragged right back. But now instead of Saint's love, she is faced with his revenge. Will Ashtyn survive, or will Carnage be the death of her? 

So, ai absolutely love Shantel's books- she is the queen of dark romance & I devour everything she writes- and Carnage is no different. 

I loved Saint & Ashtyn's story. It was hot & spicy & dark & twisted and I loved every second of it. 

Saint was dark and wicked and down right delicious. If you love diving into the deep end, and love the depravity then I definitely recommend this book. 5⭐ out of 5⭐

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Alcohol, Grief, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Drug use, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Car accident, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Confinement, Cursing, Medical content, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Bdsm, bondage, somnophilia, claustrophobia, branding, orgasm denial, forced orgasm, humiliation, degradation, CNC, DubCon, anal,