Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

20 reviews

ezwolf's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

Been non-stop thinking of “How many times must I mourn you?”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Transphobia, Vomit, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Deadnaming, Death, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Sexual harassment

akswhy's review against another edition

emotional 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

2.25

I love the concept of this book and the queer characters are handled with care, but the plot is typically melodramatic for the period romance genre. There was not a lot of comedy to break up the heavy drama, and the plot hinges on a very abstract pair of villains that don’t seem to do anything bad until the last 50 pages. I liked the characters and relationships, but the plot and tone didn’t work for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Transphobia

fretsandflour's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

mar's review against another edition

emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

4.25

really loved most of this book!!! i do think the climax was weirdly tonally dissonant but for 90% of the story i was having a great time :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Transphobia

lilac_rose's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

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

4.25

This book made me happy and I'm not going to expand on that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Sexual content

Moderate: Deadnaming and Transphobia

Minor: Sexual assault

elliya's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted slow-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

4.5

This is such a sweet world :) Viola and Gracewood both felt well rounded to me, though some other elements of the plot felt somewhat tacked-on rather than fully integrated into the story. Such fun regency-era clothing descriptions as well, which I always love! And a very emotional and superbly well-written sex scene.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

fran's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

kingcrookback's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

I enjoyed this! I appreciate how Hall decided not to make Viola being trans the central conflict and instead focused on gender and gendered expectations. (Although, being the anxious person I am, I spent a lot of time worried that that would happen to Viola. That's entirely on me, though.) The yearning and tension were so good, and I enjoyed both Viola and Gracewood as characters both grappling with the internalized prejudices that they've been steeped in.

This isn't a critique of the book so much as me working out my preferences and how the book aligned with them. I'm still at the beginning of my foray into romance, and while I think some combination of LGBTQ+ and "not contemporary" are more my speed, I don't think I really hit my stride with this one. While I enjoyed the characters' introspection, I think I personally need more plot to keep me fully engaged.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Deadnaming, and War

Minor: Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Kidnapping

itsbeanefun's review against another edition

emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This is exquisite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Minor: Sexual assault

froukjemelenhorst's review against another edition

hopeful slow-paced

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

3.5

Idk man. I don’t know if romance is for me. I know myself to be hopeless romantic when it comes to certain ships, but I think the reason I am more invested in some relationships over others is that there is actually a plot with high stakes to also keep me interested. 

This book was extremely devoid of plot, so much so that the middle 250 took me like 2.5 weeks because nothing was happening and I was so bored because of it. 

I also felt like the relationship was so quickly developed (which does make sense with Viola and Gracewood’s history), but then afterwards every scene between them felt the same. In a book with a focus on these two main characters I found myself looking forward to the scenes with the side characters, because they felt new and fun every time. 

I will say that the trans rep, which was one of the things that initially drew me to this book, was really great and you could feel the care put into it. Combine that with the great writing, this book was very enjoyable to read, but the aforementioned things made me rate it 3.5 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Deadnaming, and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault