Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Carnage by Shantel Tessier

7 reviews

heathertalksbooks's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book so much. It was intense though, at one point I was so in my feelings I thought I couldn’t continue.  I am so glad I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Trafficking, Car accident, and Abortion

jessanicolesingh's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

So… the Spade Brothers 💀🔥♥️🥹🥵

I quite enjoyed the plot and pacing on this one; there was the obligatory dark romance trope, but also some good thriller elements, unexpected twists, and admittedly tear jerking moments.

Even though the LORDS series can be read as standalones, I stand by the author's suggestion to read them in order, as this one specifically involved a lot of callbacks to both The Sinner and The Sacrifice. This book almost felt like a conclusion to the series, tieing in previous characters and wrapping up plot points, so I am very curious what to expect with Madness (releasing at the end of the year).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Torture

Moderate: Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

booknerdcoco's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book seemed like pure smut towards the beginning (not complaining) and i felt like I really got to know the characters, though they jad brief appearances in the previous standalone novels, I didn't get the opportunity to properly get to know the , so I appreciate  that opportunity.

 Shantel Tessier is (imo) iconic for her plot twists, and I knew something HUGE was coming. And when it arrived...well, it bent me over and had its way. Because I was not expecting it...any of it!!!!!

The story starts off slow, but it does set up the history of the characters really well. I also really liked how this particular novel started to really build on the relationships she characters had from the other interconnected standalones. 

Dark and gritty are what springs to mind when I think about this book (very dark, in fact).

I got to the final 47 pages, and all hell was breaking loose. I was so worried. I would be left with questions that would go unanswered. Whilst I do have questions, a lot were answered in those final 47 pages. I think the other questions (like all of the series) are to set up to maintain a relationship with future novels. I'm OK with this. It's ST'S MO.

Now, for those of you who dont know, ST is the queen of the tease
 And what the plot twists hit, oh man, do they slap- HARD!!!

Plot 4.5/5
Spice 5/5
Book boyfriend 4/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Trafficking

misswirum's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

This book deserves 3 stars, but I'm giving it 4 and it's all because of how much I love Saint&Ashtyn😍

I have a love/hate relationship with this series.

I'm not a fan of the author's writing style. Her L.O.R.D.S-books are hard to read, but not because the writing is "difficult". It's just badly written. I have to read dozens of sentences multiple times and even then they don't always make sense. Her descriptions of people and the world surrounding them is also.. off. She's not giving us anything to work with and some things changes every time. I still don't understand how Carnage looks like. (In my head) it changes from being a bunker to a skyscraper to a small town. Which is it??

I'm not the only one complaining about the author's writing style because after every book there's a dozen post on the author's SoMe asking what the plot was and what they're missing 😂 

We're also been told through the last 3 books that "The Lords" are the most powerful people in the world (lol). But suddenly the Kings in Las Vegas can match their powers? Okay...

The author is also not a girl's girl. No FMC have a single thought behind their eyes. They HAVE been going to the university for four years, but I guess nothing really stuck? 
I totally understand the vibe Carnage's suppose to give, but I don't understand why the women can't be powerful in the end?
The SA's of the women in this series is also off the charts!! Like, can we dial it down? The scenes screams "written for shock value". 
In the next books I NEED the characters to question the Lords! WHY do they follow the rules? WHO'S giving the instructions??

Why am I giving it four stars when I have so much to rant about? Because the romance was cute and seemed real.
Ashtyn is my favourite of all the FMC in this series. There is just something about her 🥺 Saint's my favourite after Ryat.

The 🌶 is unreal in this and definitely one of my faves😏

4⭐️
2,75/5📝
4/5🌶

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

colorcrystals's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Infidelity

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

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

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, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

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

Minor: Trafficking and Toxic friendship