Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Broken Bonds by J. Bree

21 reviews

noellelovesbooks's review

4.5

 Content Warnings: violence, ptsd, grief, bullying, kidnapping, physical abuse, body shaming, death of loved ones, sexual harassment, and sexual assault.

Joined a local book club and this was our first book club pick. I've heard from a lot of mutuals that this series was good but never heard any specifics about the series. Going in not knowing anything aside from the back of book description was a lot of fun.

Though she's only 19 I easily related and loved Oli and her BFF Sage. We get good world building and I love the way each relationship with each of the bonds is different but also constantly evolving.

I planned to read this slow...so I could attempt to space it out but...it was so good I devoured it. I was at 30% and the next thing I knew it said I was at 89%...at which point you have to finish. Right? haha

I'll definitely be jumping immediately into book 2 😎 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Violence, Bullying, Kidnapping, and Grief

taylormaria's review

challenging emotional informative 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? Yes

4.0

i honestly loved this. the plot , the characters , the conflict : chefs kiss. i def recommend you read this!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

melissa_rueff's review

emotional funny fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

This book is a good example of poly rep but filled with horrid misogyny. Every part of this book is just the main character shitting on women for being feminine or pretty or interested in men. The main character just is just screaming internalized misogyny all over the book. Honest to God I almost didn’t finish the book because it was so misogynistic. I finished it because I like the poly concept, but I really really think that the author  
 is a “not like other girls” girl and that’s really disappointing to me.  Like the concept that you can write about a poly relationship yet you can’t think that other women who are  feminine are not shitty for being so. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Stalking, Rape, Kidnapping, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Body shaming, Car accident, Classism, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting

The relationship depicted is severely abusive. I believe the author did that intentionally to create plot points, but the fact that the main character doesn’t recognize and then states the treatment as domestic abuse at the level it is really makes me question what this author thinks is okay. because everything that is happening here is domestic abuse and not even light abuse like horrid treatment is astounding to me. If you’ve experienced any form of like gaslighting, or like control, this might not be the novel for you, I say all of that is a warning because I don’t feel like I was warned getting into this book. I did enjoy this novel it has a lot of fun plot points is an interesting concept. There are redeeming characters, but the fact of the matter is, there’s not enough of a warning how severe the domestic abuse is, and it’s never really touched on even later on in the other novels and nobody really apologizes for the severe severe abuse outside of like “I’m sorry that happened but it had to happen because of the plot points that wr as the character expierenced so it’s excuse” which is a shit excuse and also abuse in itself. Understand me I like this novel but I am warring you it’s a bad time.

bangiebangs's review

adventurous 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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Oh this was a tricky one.

Things I liked:
- the writing (notwithstanding occasional typos)
- the mysterious setup... this feels like a pretty new take (maybe I just havent read the book series similar to this one?)
- Gryphon. Also Atlas. They seem like rounded people who think before they act. (The rest of the bonds are just insufferably childish, self-centered dudes)

Things I disliked
- he world-building. There is some info about what these bonds are and how they work, but why, when do you usually learn about your bonds, how do you find them (like, some people are "waiting to find" them? Also, seems like you can reject a bond, what happens then? How is power heightened or acquired when a bond is completed? So many questions, but not in a good "mystery we will uncover" way, but more a "causes confusion when reading" way. Also, what is the Resistance resisting against and why? No idea. But they seem to be the baddies for some reason?
- the FMC's naivité. Annoying as hell. I'm personally not a fan of mysteriously self-sacrificing characters, especially when it is then used to explain some shitty behavior without much context?
- description of FMC through the book. She seems to have a normal (or even hot) body in the beginning, enjoying her food, and as soon as she is forced to do more physical exercise the fact her clothes don't fit and are too big gets mentioned a lot. I find that annoying. 
- How old are the bonds? Like, all around same age, or some way older? Some are councilmen and uni professors, others students?

But overall... I read this quickly, and I was hooked. Spice is not happening here (0.5/5 for some drooling over hot bodies), but that's likely because this is setting up the series. Wished that I wasn't so confused half of the time when it comes to in-world politics, but hoping that things will clear up. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Stalking

Moderate: Death of parent, Car accident, and War

Minor: Abortion and Gun violence

sexual assault neglect (FMC is left without food for days on end, not being taken care of later in the book) FMC is violently implanted with a tracker (against her will)

jackietanori's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Okay, wait I liked this. Like a lot more than I thought I would. Yes, the main character is a little childish, but she’s also 19 so I give her a pass. 
I really like a couple of characters; Oli, Sage, Sawyer, Felix, Gabe and Gryphon. Nox can go die in a hole for all I care. 


Crying score: no. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Car accident, Rape, Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Vomit

booktrovertreader's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, Bullying, and Sexual content

Moderate: Car accident and Death of parent

catladymeg's review

adventurous slow-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death of parent

lostinworlds's review against another edition

There was two things that set me off. The fact that there was *trigger warning* grape innuendos. Even from one of the bonded guys themselves?!?! And home girl keeps saying she can't use her powers multiple times even though I've only listened to 8% of this book. Even though these powers can help her get out of the situation she is in.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Car accident

booktalkwithrae's review

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

OK I need to preface this review by saying the world building is severely lacking, the plot is not very flushed out, and I feel like there’s a lot of holes missing, and the main character can become quite annoying.But nonetheless, I was so addicted, And I couldn’t put it down

The best way I can describe my enjoyment of this book is, it’s like watching reality TV. There’s a lot of components that are skipped or brushed by. The reader is left with a lot of questions and it’s not very deep regarding plot and character development. But is it entertaining? Absolutely.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Violence

emwith's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Confinement

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Emotional abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Rape, Abandonment, Violence, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury