Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward

5 reviews

yuna's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-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

2.5

 This was such a mixed bag. There's a lot I didn't like--it's so overbearingly mid-aughts and white and the sexism is off the charts even when it thinks it's not. (I stg, I get it, y'all listen to gangster rap to show how badass you are, ffs stop with all the rap references. And I'm not even going to start with the fuck-ton of 'sensei-ing' going on here.)

AND YET. I finished it. I've dnf'd books for far less. I think the story got in its own way too much trying to have All The Things With All The Backstory. It was apparent from the jump that there's a lot of worldbuilding going on beneath the surface. I liked most of the side characters and am curious to see what happens...but I'm not jumping into book 2 right away. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty and Transphobia

scarlet_frost's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a great classic 90s PNR, It has action, multiple POVs, A love story, and a HEA, while leaving room for many many sequels. If you like early Dresden files or other similar books, you’ll enjoy this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.0

I don't really know what to say about this book.  It's the first one I managed to pick up and finish in a while so it had that going for it but part of that might have been that I wanted to see where the trainwreck go.

So many things were conveniently coincidental.  It was full of tropes that I hate, like fridging, dubious consent, insta-lust/love, etc...

The take on vampires was different I suppose but the secret society based enemy was decidedly wacky.  Will not be continuing the series.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

edithcazares02's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted 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

5.0

I think that at this point I’ve read this about five times, and it timeless to me. 

I absolutely adore this book, in my opinion it was a great debut book. And I don’t care abut how people feel about this series, I never get tired of reading it. 

Wrath is just more complex and meaningful than he was when he was introduced. I absolutely love him and I am so glad that he was the first brother that we got to see. Him and Beth are just so perfect together. I love that their love changed him for the better and that he now values the importance of love and coming to terms with all of his past. 


Beth was absolutely adorable, and of Course who could forget about boo.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

roseamillerg's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Genocide, Physical abuse, and Stalking