innae's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Not what I expected. It was sad and beautiful and gave me the feels.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Alcoholism, Self harm, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Drug use, Infertility, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, and Abandonment
samix3reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
kaleygb's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-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
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Death, Bullying, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Addiction, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Alcoholism
Minor: Infertility, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Child death
hopecobblepotworld's review
challenging
dark
sad
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
"His eyes told me he knew pain, and they were in a committed, unbreakable relationship."
Darling Venom took me a long time to read. I kept having to stop and go back to it. I don't know if it was the subject matter, but I suspect so. Be warned, fair reader. This book deals with:
•Suicide
•Grief
•Mental Illness
•Suicidal Ideation
•Alcoholism
•Gaslighting
•Death of parents
•Scars
•Cutting
It's a lot.
Part One introduces us to Charlotte and Kellan Marchetti. Two young people teetering on the brink of the decision to commit suicide. But because they meet a pact is formed - once a year, they met in the roof of the school until they are seniors. That's how they stay alive. Their pact. But Charlotte noticed how much Kellan was physically and emotionally bullied at school. She knows he's cutting himself and doing drugs. She tries to get him help. But nobody listens. Not even Kellan. Then comes Senior year. And she's running late. And it all goes horribly wrong.
Part Two, Four Years Later, sees Charlotte working at an Editorial Firm where her boss, the owner, just happens to be pregnant, and the OB/Gyn is Dr. Tatum "Tate" Marchetti, Kellan's surviving brother and former guardian. Tate is fielding his way through numbness to mild rage when Charlotte enters his life via her boss. Then enter the third Marchetti male, Terry Marchetti, Father of Tate and Kel and author of the sensation The Imperfections. Part Two spends a long time or what felt like a long time to me going around the relationship between Tate and Charlotte, Terry and Charlotte, and Tate and Terry. All of this was guided by a manuscript left to Charlotte by Kellan. The physical book is 470 pages. I don't know if it could have been cut down. It just felt like it was going around in circles at times.
I was to public speaking what Tommy Wiseau was to acting. ~ Tate Marchetti
Part Three - You'll like this part. This is where Tate shakes off his demons and goes for it. This is where it starts to get good.
The Epiloge - This part made me cry. When you read it, you will too. I just hope you survive Part Two.
I'm reading this a solid 3 black hearts 🖤 🖤🖤. I think Charlotte and Kellan would approve.
Darling Venom took me a long time to read. I kept having to stop and go back to it. I don't know if it was the subject matter, but I suspect so. Be warned, fair reader. This book deals with:
•Suicide
•Grief
•Mental Illness
•Suicidal Ideation
•Alcoholism
•Gaslighting
•Death of parents
•Scars
•Cutting
It's a lot.
Part One introduces us to Charlotte and Kellan Marchetti. Two young people teetering on the brink of the decision to commit suicide. But because they meet a pact is formed - once a year, they met in the roof of the school until they are seniors. That's how they stay alive. Their pact. But Charlotte noticed how much Kellan was physically and emotionally bullied at school. She knows he's cutting himself and doing drugs. She tries to get him help. But nobody listens. Not even Kellan. Then comes Senior year. And she's running late. And it all goes horribly wrong.
Part Two, Four Years Later, sees Charlotte working at an Editorial Firm where her boss, the owner, just happens to be pregnant, and the OB/Gyn is Dr. Tatum "Tate" Marchetti, Kellan's surviving brother and former guardian. Tate is fielding his way through numbness to mild rage when Charlotte enters his life via her boss. Then enter the third Marchetti male, Terry Marchetti, Father of Tate and Kel and author of the sensation The Imperfections. Part Two spends a long time or what felt like a long time to me going around the relationship between Tate and Charlotte, Terry and Charlotte, and Tate and Terry. All of this was guided by a manuscript left to Charlotte by Kellan. The physical book is 470 pages. I don't know if it could have been cut down. It just felt like it was going around in circles at times.
I was to public speaking what Tommy Wiseau was to acting. ~ Tate Marchetti
Part Three - You'll like this part. This is where Tate shakes off his demons and goes for it. This is where it starts to get good.
The Epiloge - This part made me cry. When you read it, you will too. I just hope you survive Part Two.
I'm reading this a solid 3 black hearts 🖤 🖤🖤. I think Charlotte and Kellan would approve.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Minor: Child death and Miscarriage
everythingbutthebagel69's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Wow wow wow. Not at all what I was expecting but in a very good way.
Im giving this 5 stars because didn’t want to put this down, I thought about it when I wasn’t reading it & it surprised me.
Would someone literary minded have a diff opinion, maybe, but I really enjoyed the ride.
All that said, I do have some qualms. Our FMC is very naive. It kills me.
The way Tate reasons to accept his feelings for Charlie is so dumb. The voicemail being permission?? Stupid.
And the elephant in the room being MALPRACTICE. I MEAN I GET IT IN THE STORY BUT IT’S STILL A TOUGH PILL.
Im giving this 5 stars because didn’t want to put this down, I thought about it when I wasn’t reading it & it surprised me.
Would someone literary minded have a diff opinion, maybe, but I really enjoyed the ride.
All that said, I do have some qualms. Our FMC is very naive. It kills me.
Spoiler
Saying I love you after giving head for the first time? Come on.The way Tate reasons to accept his feelings for Charlie is so dumb. The voicemail being permission?? Stupid.
And the elephant in the room being MALPRACTICE. I MEAN I GET IT IN THE STORY BUT IT’S STILL A TOUGH PILL.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism
lianareadss's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
⚠️TW// SUICIDE, STILL BIRTH, SH, DEPRESSION, FIRE — potential spoilers ⚠️
i've read positive and negative reviews on this book and there were a lot of opinions i agreed and disagreed with,, here's my personal opinion on all the different topics covered in this book. i want to start with the fact that this is not a romance book; the romance is a subplot. people who are promoting it as one are so wrong 😭
to begin with the suicide/mental health aspect, a lot of people were saying it was romanticized, but i honestly didn't see it. in my opinion, i think this book showed a realistic situation of teenage depression and suicide. the whole emo/goth stereotype was unnecessary or more like overdone bc it sets a bad impression on people who dress or present themselves in that style but aren't depressed or suicidal. the reasons kellan chose to do it might not seem realistic to everyone reading the book, bc through communication and therapy it might have gotten better. i want to note that kellan was an addict. other than his mental illnesses, he took heavy drugs at such a young age and that alone can heavily fuck with someone's brain. depression is much more complex though and mental illness can be so overbearing and difficult, one's decisions can get blurry. as much as the people who loved kellan wanted to help, no one could have saved him but himself. this book portrayed a worst case scenario. you see how it affects your loved ones and how much there is that kellan could've lived for, but chose not to. no matter what though, suicide is never ever the answer. if you are having suicidal ideation, please reach out to trusted ones, a suicide hotline or call 911. no matter what you're going through, your life is so important and you're worth SO much.
next, i loved how the author represented so many different types of complicated familial relationships. leah and charlotte, terry and tate, kellan and his entire family,, all of them were such great stories. through leah and charlotte's troubled past, the author showed how much an older sibling can sacrifice for their younger sibling <i>because</i> they love them, and yet those sacrifices can bring upon so much resentment for all that they've lost for others. i do think leah should've worked on her relationship with charlotte sooner, because what had happened wasn't charlotte's fault, and that reality check tate gave leah was one of the very few situations i applauded him in. through terry, the author showed how catastrophic addiction can be on families. they can cause so much damage that is so hard to repair, maybe even irreversible.
lastly, i wanna touch on the romance. honestly??? if kellan was alive, he would have despised both of them for getting together. it is absolutely NOT what he would have wanted and i bet he's haunting them from the grave <s>as he should</s>. also it was so fucking weird when charlotte walked in on tate and JUST KEPT WATCHING?????? THAT WAS SO CREEPY!!!!!! that ob-gyn scene was so embarrassing i literally felt the second hand embarrassment in my chest. i get the fantasy, but it was SO POORLY EXECUTED 😭😭😭 i liked the fact that charlotte and tate helped each other get through their grief, but tate is such an asshole and charlotte's savior complex is so annoying. when a guy tells u he's going to hurt you, YOU BELIEVE HIM!!!! it's not your responsibility to fix or save a grown man, let alone a whole ass DOCTOR. you can be there for him, but you can't change him. also i hate age gaps and this book did NOTHING to change that. he called her a kid more than once then spoke about how horny he was for her and that is honestly so predatory to me. they were also so inconsistent; if they had just communicated properly, all would have been well.
regardless of its flaws, this book was <i>really</i> good. i loved kellan and i loved leah and i loved how grief was portrayed in such a complex manner and showed all the ups and downs that one goes through as they heal from all types of grief and inner child wounds. it is such a well written book if you minus the romance 🥴
i've read positive and negative reviews on this book and there were a lot of opinions i agreed and disagreed with,, here's my personal opinion on all the different topics covered in this book. i want to start with the fact that this is not a romance book; the romance is a subplot. people who are promoting it as one are so wrong 😭
to begin with the suicide/mental health aspect, a lot of people were saying it was romanticized, but i honestly didn't see it. in my opinion, i think this book showed a realistic situation of teenage depression and suicide. the whole emo/goth stereotype was unnecessary or more like overdone bc it sets a bad impression on people who dress or present themselves in that style but aren't depressed or suicidal. the reasons kellan chose to do it might not seem realistic to everyone reading the book, bc through communication and therapy it might have gotten better. i want to note that kellan was an addict. other than his mental illnesses, he took heavy drugs at such a young age and that alone can heavily fuck with someone's brain. depression is much more complex though and mental illness can be so overbearing and difficult, one's decisions can get blurry. as much as the people who loved kellan wanted to help, no one could have saved him but himself. this book portrayed a worst case scenario. you see how it affects your loved ones and how much there is that kellan could've lived for, but chose not to. no matter what though, suicide is never ever the answer. if you are having suicidal ideation, please reach out to trusted ones, a suicide hotline or call 911. no matter what you're going through, your life is so important and you're worth SO much.
next, i loved how the author represented so many different types of complicated familial relationships. leah and charlotte, terry and tate, kellan and his entire family,, all of them were such great stories. through leah and charlotte's troubled past, the author showed how much an older sibling can sacrifice for their younger sibling <i>because</i> they love them, and yet those sacrifices can bring upon so much resentment for all that they've lost for others. i do think leah should've worked on her relationship with charlotte sooner, because what had happened wasn't charlotte's fault, and that reality check tate gave leah was one of the very few situations i applauded him in. through terry, the author showed how catastrophic addiction can be on families. they can cause so much damage that is so hard to repair, maybe even irreversible.
lastly, i wanna touch on the romance. honestly??? if kellan was alive, he would have despised both of them for getting together. it is absolutely NOT what he would have wanted and i bet he's haunting them from the grave <s>as he should</s>. also it was so fucking weird when charlotte walked in on tate and JUST KEPT WATCHING?????? THAT WAS SO CREEPY!!!!!! that ob-gyn scene was so embarrassing i literally felt the second hand embarrassment in my chest. i get the fantasy, but it was SO POORLY EXECUTED 😭😭😭 i liked the fact that charlotte and tate helped each other get through their grief, but tate is such an asshole and charlotte's savior complex is so annoying. when a guy tells u he's going to hurt you, YOU BELIEVE HIM!!!! it's not your responsibility to fix or save a grown man, let alone a whole ass DOCTOR. you can be there for him, but you can't change him. also i hate age gaps and this book did NOTHING to change that. he called her a kid more than once then spoke about how horny he was for her and that is honestly so predatory to me. they were also so inconsistent; if they had just communicated properly, all would have been well.
regardless of its flaws, this book was <i>really</i> good. i loved kellan and i loved leah and i loved how grief was portrayed in such a complex manner and showed all the ups and downs that one goes through as they heal from all types of grief and inner child wounds. it is such a well written book if you minus the romance 🥴
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, Grief, Self harm, Infertility, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Bullying, and Addiction
camilabooks2022's review
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Death, Self harm, Drug abuse, Suicide, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Grief, Drug use, and Child death
rdmoreland0801's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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
4.5
Let me start off my saying this book was devastating. Not devastating in the way that you can’t recover, but in that beautiful way that makes the world appear different.
Charlotte and Kellan meet on the school’s roof one night, both planning to end it all. However, they end up making a pact to meet each other on the same roof on the same day each year.
Through these meetings and some secret note-passing over the years, they form an incredible bond. One kiss sealed their fates, but it wasn’t enough to save Kellan.
After the night Kellan’s life ended, we jump forward four years to check in on Charlotte and we meet Tate, Kellan’s brother with whom he shared a difficult relationship.
We see Charlotte and Tate work through their grief around Kellan and try to come to terms with his death. Both of them feel guilt and the responsibility for Kellan’s death.
It turns out that Kellan left a manuscript for Charlotte, Darling Venom, a book about how Charlotte tried to save Kellan and they got their happy ending.
Through working on this novel, Charlotte and Tate find solace in each other. At first, guilt keeps them apart but they realize that Kellan brought them together and they were meant to help each other through the grief.
This story is beautifully told through the eyes of Kellan, Charlotte, and Tate. We see the deep emotions they all experience and get a glimpse into how life-shattering suicide can be for the loved ones.
There were a few parts of the story that seemed out of place or unnecessary, but overall, I absolutely enjoyed this book.
A good cry is always therapeutic.
Spoiler
Charlotte and Kellan meet on the school’s roof one night, both planning to end it all. However, they end up making a pact to meet each other on the same roof on the same day each year.
Through these meetings and some secret note-passing over the years, they form an incredible bond. One kiss sealed their fates, but it wasn’t enough to save Kellan.
After the night Kellan’s life ended, we jump forward four years to check in on Charlotte and we meet Tate, Kellan’s brother with whom he shared a difficult relationship.
We see Charlotte and Tate work through their grief around Kellan and try to come to terms with his death. Both of them feel guilt and the responsibility for Kellan’s death.
It turns out that Kellan left a manuscript for Charlotte, Darling Venom, a book about how Charlotte tried to save Kellan and they got their happy ending.
Through working on this novel, Charlotte and Tate find solace in each other. At first, guilt keeps them apart but they realize that Kellan brought them together and they were meant to help each other through the grief.
Spoiler
This story is beautifully told through the eyes of Kellan, Charlotte, and Tate. We see the deep emotions they all experience and get a glimpse into how life-shattering suicide can be for the loved ones.
There were a few parts of the story that seemed out of place or unnecessary, but overall, I absolutely enjoyed this book.
A good cry is always therapeutic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Pregnancy, Addiction, Miscarriage, and Infertility
kayceeisbookish's review
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Sexual content, Vomit, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
louanimal's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Addiction, Bullying, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Suicide
Minor: Miscarriage