Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

271 reviews

spacecadetlav's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-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

5.0

I had so much fun with this book! The banter was so cheeky, it had me giggling while kicking my feet. I usually don’t do a ton of gore but the choice to go dark comedy made it thrilling in a way that didn’t feel excessive. I’m hyped to read the next one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit and Cannibalism

Minor: Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

chrynella's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault

mscora77's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

The writing was great and easily kept me engaged. It was dark, gory, but also lighthearted and funny.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

edgybutfemme's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.5

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/ 5 - Featuring many explicit scenes with lots of detailed language. This book is heavier on the spice, but the plot is still there and doing something interesting. Also, it's at least a little kinky. 

 
The Smut / Kinks include:

cock warming, rough sex, praise kink, anal, adult toys, choking, spitting, dom/sub interactions, & genital piercings

I am absolutely in love with how unhinged these two are and the duel narration in this audio book is fantastic! I think my favorite thing about this book was how much Rowan was immediately into Sloane from the first moment they met. Sloane and Rowan have a deeply compelling banter and dynamic. I love that she calls him pretty boy! I love that when they bicker she'll say "you're the worst" or "I hate you", and he'll respond with "you'll love me someday." I love how funny they both are, both with each other and in their internal narration. If you enjoy a couple who are deeply unhinged individually and together, and who bicker like an old married couple, this book may be for you! 

Both characters felt fully fleshed out with compelling other relationships in their life, like Rowan with his brothers and Sloane with her best friend (and practical sister) Lark. Their backstories are compelling, and they each have a nice personal arc in addition to the overarching plot and romance. I am really looking forward to seeing where this series goes from here!

Of course, keep an eye on those trigger warnings as this is a dark romance between two serial killers who kill other serial killers. I was warned about the cannibalism (the main couple are not into it, but some of the people they hunt are), so I was braced for a lot, but honestly I would say there are only two big scenes/situations where it comes into play. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Torture and Stalking

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Full list from Brynne Weaver's website:

This is the book with the craziest list, so hold on tight *cracks knuckles*. Yes, this really is the list. Yes, it all does happen. / Eyeballs and eye sockets / Amateur surgery / Skin ornaments / Chainsaws, axes, knives, scalpels - a lot of sharp objects / Accidental cannibalism / Not-so-accidental cannibalism / Questionable use of a mummified corpse / Lobotomized man servant / Ill-advised use of kitchen implements / I’m sorry about the cookies and cream ice cream (I’m not really) / Detailed sex scenes which include (but are not limited to) cock warming, rough sex, praise kink, anal, adult toys, choking, spitting, dom/sub interactions, genital piercings / References to parental neglect and child abuse / Parental loss (not depicted - one parent murdered, one parent passed in child birth) / References to child sexual assault (not in detail) / It’s a book about serial killers, so there’s some generally messed-up murder and chaos

meganemarshall's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted 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

4.5

This was amazing! Anything that involved romance and murder, I knew I was gonna like, but this knocked it out of the park. 

This book was so funny. The banter between Rowan and Sloane was top-notch. The romance was sweet and believable. I liked all the side characters, and it makes me excited for the rest of the trilogy. I really liked the pacing in this for a minute. I thought when all the spice started, that's all the book would be, and then it turned it completely around. I really loved the ending. I was so shocked.

My only complaint is that if the phantom was the overarching plot of the series, I wish it was mentioned more. By the time we got to the end, I had completely forgotten that that was where the game originated from. Also, I will never look at a certain food item the same way again. Gross. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Murder

Moderate: Cannibalism

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault

cwerber's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Tons of trigger warnings in the beginning of the book.

Like seriously read them and think about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ertaylo2's review against another edition

dark emotional

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Stalking, and Murder

vic_to_ria's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I surprised myself with how much I liked this book. 
It was a great time to read, the characters were interesting and I loved how their serial killer professions stuck with the plot and was the whole glue that held them together. 
Their sense of humour was amazing and just made their chemistry stronger outside of their visual attraction. 
The tropes in the summary aren’t wrong boy fell first and so fast I wouldn’t be surprised that he planned out their wedding after that first meeting. Golden retriever boyfriend turns scary dog only if you touch his pooky. 
I really liked that it was a gradual progression relationship wise and that romance wasn’t their main motivator in that they wanted to hang out with someone who at a base level understood them more than anyone else did before and ever can given they kill people for fun (ya it’s their side hustle it’s hilarious) the way that the slow burn built their trust in each other was just perfect. 
The last half of the book is almost pure smut with some plot dangled in there. It was pretty intense so be warned but if you’re into that you’ll enjoy. 
My one wish is that we got to know more about each of the characters past traumas that are mentioned once (or in one case implied but never confirmed what happened 
) and never expanded on in favor of having spicy times but it would have been nice to get more depth to the characters but again it was mentioned so it’s not like it wasn’t there at all- just would have liked more. 
But overall it was fun and I 100% can see this as a bingable tv show. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Vomit, Cannibalism, Stalking, and Death of parent

candyjay19's review against another edition

dark funny medium-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

This book was intriguing, I haven't read a book quite like this yet and am pleasantly surprised to say that I loved the concept and the execution..
Why am I attached to serial killers? Who knows? but the addition of the chemistry and the humour just made this book utterly un-put-downable.
I will say just one point, somehow I started to want the violence over the romance... don't know what that says about me, but we will just leave it there...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Violence, and Cannibalism

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Stalking

ereadkie's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault