Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Ritual by Shantel Tessier

47 reviews

im_s_morgan's review

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It’s giving Damon and Elena with the toxicity, but yet still working. That being said, I still love this book and “touch her, I’ll kill you” trope is slowly becoming my favorite. I ain’t going to lie and say that I did google a certain part of the book(ifykyk) to see what actually happened because I couldn’t continue reading if it was true. I 100% recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Cursing, Blood, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Torture, Gaslighting, Death, and Vomit

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

dscholl's review

dark emotional fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Violence, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Torture, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Rape, and Murder

Minor: Pregnancy

leatherboundriot's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

DNF at 26%
I wanted to like this one so badly. There were some aspects that really intrigued me but the writing style, characterizations, and pacing just weren’t it for me.

Second Read Review: Update 08.24.2023

So I went back and finished the book. I have to admit that it surprised me. The first time I made it about a quarter of the way through and didn't really connect with the characters or plot. Diving back in at that point, I did continue to struggle with it for a while, but around 50-60% it got better. I struggled with the pacing of the book because it felt like it was moving very fast-- and it was, but in the second half of the book, we started to get more substance to the story that drew me in. 

The spice was 10/10, that was never the issue for me. 

All in all, I think I'm on board to read more in this series. Maybe not the entire thing, or even in order, but there are some other characters that I would like to know more about. I've got my eyes on you, Ty 👀

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Stalking, Violence, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Murder, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Gun violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pregnancy and Kidnapping

alxisrae's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional relaxing tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug use, Torture, Body horror, Grief, Violence, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Kidnapping, Rape, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

spicycronereads's review

FMC seems ridiculously naive or just dumb. FMC’s BF was annoying. MMC…I like some kink and dark romance but the graphic murder, threats of rape, drugging women, and just abject humiliation is a miss for me. The villainous rich students with their privilege were caricatures. I absolutely believe this level of privilege exists but the characters were just ridiculous. And don’t  get me started on the author’s clumsy attempts to incorporate their sound track. Not only did I not care about the characters or the world by 21%, I liked them even less than when it started. Not going to waste precious time on more of this drivel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Classism

dovahkiin_freyja's review

Blakely/Ryat-  He belongs to a secret society where he can take (and control) a woman of his choosing. After being told to choose *her* he stalks her, she breaks up with her bf after finding out

Spoiler

he's cheating, then starts sleeping with Ryat after her ritual "choosing him/vowing" eventually they get married and then she finds out that it was really just "a game to him".
She runs away for a few weeks until he finds her and drags her back. Then he tells her that she has to undergo some kind of test for the Lords /Ladies.

 
(I'm at 62%, and I'm going to DNF this book. The author uses too many exclamation points and the writing comes off. as annoying & childish. The story isn't interesting enough to keep my attention, and I feel like I wasted my time) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Stalking, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse

cait's review

challenging dark funny 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Confinement, Infertility, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Grief, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Body horror, Classism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Murder, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

luckypurple's review

adventurous dark fast-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? No

4.75

I don't even know how to rate this one. Probably 4.5 stars with all kinds of toxic relationship red flags. Dark and super smutty. Check your trigger warnings lol. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Pregnancy

crj96's review

I typically prefer clear consent in my spicy book reads, so this is not exactly a trope I'd read. However, I could have finished it if it were written well. The spice didn't carry you along with chemistry of any sort. The characters were too one dimensional. Just decided it wasn't worth finishing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Rape, Torture, Slavery, Sexual assault, and Misogyny

kaadee's review

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

Ryat’s name is the only cool part of this book. Was I hooked? Yes. Was it good from an actual writing perspective? No. The world building is so ass, it’s laughable. That’s not why i read it though. 2 stars for okay-ish smut.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship