Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Gleam by Raven Kennedy

19 reviews

kaelizaco's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

avialaeleigh's review

dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I do not know what thr author put in thesr books but I cannot put them down. 

So much happened that I'm a little all over the place and have no idea where to start. 1st ladies, gents, and nonbinaries they finally did it not more flirting and half assed stolen kisses Auren and Slade finally did the dead, multiple times. And it was HOT 🔥🥵. I am not usually one that cares if there is full on smut in a romance book but in this one it was top tier *chefs kiss*. 

Also I just love the banter between Slade and Auren it's giving that perfect enemies to lovers vibe that we all die for. Also the banter between Auren and the wicked as well. She just fits right in with them and I can't wait to see them all together permanently. 

Also fucking finally Midas gets what he deserves. Especially after finding out that he was the Baren that we see in her flash backs to her past. What the fuck made him so intitled. If I could jump into the book I would torture him for all the shit he's done to Auren. It's fucking ridiculous. 

Also I cried when he cut of her ribbons. What the fuck is wrong with him? Did he really expect her not to retaliate at that? Is he that stupid or is under the assumption that she just a stupid girl that will just do what he says because he said it? Men are stupid. 

Also I am so glad we find out who fake Rip was. It's his mother fucking brother. I mean it makes sense given context but still. I hope we see more of him. And is he also Fae and if he is what are his powers? Will we learn the powers of the rest of the wicked? I guess we will find out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and War

thelongroadtosanity's review against another edition

dark 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

"Love happens in all kinds of ways. Fast. Slow. In bits and pieces, or immediate. Filled with lust, one-sided longing, a snap realization never noticed before. Deeply. Thoroughly. Love is a whisper we didn’t hear or a sound that drums in our ears and drowns out everything else.”

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The tension in this was palpable. The slow burn, utterly amazing. I literally cannot wait for my book to come in two days so I can keep reading because WTF WAS THAT CLIFFHANGER OMG  

I also really enjoyed that the spice level in this series has escalated with this book and I can't wait to see what's in store for the characters. I feel like we were introduced to another big player in this so I am intrigued to see where her true allegiances lie. 

One of the most gut-wrenching, emotional, and devastating scenes I have ever read is in this book. 


I don't know if I can wait the 48 hours for the next book, but I will try my hardest. (07/2024)

5 out of 5 stars for true, emotional devastation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

homesweetread's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

Aussitôt le tome 2 terminé, je n'avais d'autre choix que d'enchainer directement sur la suite et j'ai vraiment bien fait ! Ici on retrouve Midas qui m'a vraiment terrorisé pendant toute l'histoire. Il est tellement imprévisible, impulsif et manipulateur qu’il en devient terrifiant. 

De son côté Auren continue de déconstruire sa bulle de protection pour reconnaître les abus et sortir de ce schéma de maltraitance. Le développement psychologique est vraiment bien maitrisé et encore une fois, on ne peut qu’apprécier sa force. La quatrième armée et le Wrath m'ont vraiment manqué et je n’attendais qu’une chose : qu’elle quitte ce stupide palais au plus vite. 

La personnalité de Rip est hyper intéressante à creuser et je suis encore plus tomber amoureuse de lui. Côté intrigue, plusieurs passages m'ont briser le cœur et le cliffhancer était vraiment horrible ! Heureusement que la suite est déjà sortie, parce que je n’aurais pas pu rester sur cette fin.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Grief

yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this one.

There were many twists and reveals that I didn’t see coming. The cliff hanger leaves much to question that I’m assuming will be answered in the future books.

I love Slade. I love the Wrath. Auren is growing on me….like a fungus. Lol

watching Auren come into her power was beautiful. She still made a few mistakes but she has learned to fight for herself and for Slade and it was so refreshing.

The sex scenes were very hot! It switched to more modern language for a second and it was a bit jarring at first but it was well done. There were also some heart wrenching scenes that were well done and had my jaw on the floor. I really liked this one and I’m glad I stuck it out to get to this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Infidelity, Torture, Blood, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Infertility, Vomit, Kidnapping, and War

telepathictori's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit and Trafficking

dealfea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

5.0

Gleam might be my favourite book in the series. The banter between Auren and Slade is so fun. I love Auren standing up to Midas, fighting back any way she can.

The absolut heartbreak of her realising just how thoroughly he used and abused her. I hate Midas so fucking much. Auren's death for him was surely painful but it should have been even worse. The scene of Auren loosing her ribbons still tears out my heart and made me sob.

This woman deserves all the happiness she can get and I hate that she still has to suffer through so much more 😞 I really do love this series and the characters in it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

scarlett_f's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Trafficking, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War

midnacine's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

This is absolutely my favorite book in the series, it wrenches my heart out every fucking time. Not a big fan of the narrators' performances in this one- I don't think Blake Lockhart reads women's voices well, so that took me out of the smut, and Zara Eden's inflection and pronunciation choices were strange at best. Narration I'd probably give a 3.75/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Trafficking, Stalking, and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Grief, and War

_charliesbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Death, Infertility, Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Pregnancy, and Alcohol