Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Darling Venom

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Darling Venom by Parker S. Huntington

20 reviews

bbygirl21's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I absolutely completely loved this book. It had me on a complete emotional rollercoaster. I loved all the characters literally (aside from the characters at Kellen and Charlotte's school but they're not in a big chunk of this story so it's fine) even the ones you think you'll hate in the beginning by the end of the book you love them, flaws and everything. I literally could not stop reading this since I started it aside from the necessary things like eating.

The build up to Charlotte and Tate getting together was amazing. I felt their chemistry through and through even through all their hate for each other in the beginning.

And Leah (Charlotte's sister) I found myself rooting for her on her journey as well with love and acceptance of herself and letting others in after heartbreak and emotional/physical scarring. And Jonah is the most patient man I every had the pleasure of reading about. He understood Leah's insecurities and loves her unconditionally despite her trying to push him away.

By the end we got three love stories. Kellen and Charlotte (first love), Tate and Charlotte (soulmates drawn together by fate) and then Leah and Jonah (the patient love that takes determination and persistence). I loved reading every single one of their love stories no matter how shortlived or long lasting they ended up being.

I honestly can't recommend this book enough. I just highly suggest checking the trigger/content warnings because it gets quite heavy throughout the entire book.

Content Warnings

ruthhmarieereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.25

Content Warnings

northernbooknerd's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-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

***Disclaimer***
PLEASE check trigger warnings before reading.

I realized, with depressing clarity, that she wasn’t the venom at all, she was the antidote, but the quantities were off.

My Thoughts ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Do you ever finish a book and have the desire to turn right back to page one and reread it instantly? Well that's how I felt after being utterly destroyed by this book. I am also finding it difficult to collect my thoughts on this one, and I'm not sure that waiting to complete a review will make much of a difference because whatever I say couldn't possibly do this book justice.

Don't let people fool you into believing this is just a spicy romance story. I've seen it advertised as such a few times, and frankly that does this story a huge disservice. Yes, there are some spicy scenes in this book, but it is not the primary focus, nor should it be. In my opinion the romance, while great, as a whole took the backseat to the more important themes explored throughout the story such as depression, loneliness, loss, grief, and guilt.

With this book being written through multiple POVs you are able to see how our perception and idea of “reality” is not always accurate and certainly not the full story. It also does a great job of depicting how everyone deals with grief and guilt in their own way, highlighting the importance of having empathy for each other.

Huntington has a way of making you feel every emotions her characters do. When they hurt, you hurt. When they are conflicted, you question everything. When they are happy, you feel joy.

As I went into this as blindly as possibly the plot truly took me for a right and there were moments I HATED it (while still being fully engrossed and committed). I think this is part of why the story had such a profound impact on me, dredging up all of my emotions. For this reason, if you have checked the triggers and feel you can handle reading about them, I'd suggest reading this book without looking up plot details.

Final Thoughts

Beautifully heartbreaking is the best way I can think to simply describe this story. Darling Venom may very well be my top read of 2022 so far, it is certain a book that will stay with me and I fully intend on purchasing a physical copy to reread and annotate.

A love story that never happened. A love story that never would.

Format: Audiobook 🎧
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narration: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Dual)
Spice: 🔥🔥
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Who would like? Anyone who looking for a love story that is so very much more, that will break your heart and slowly piece it back together. *Again, check trigger warnings*

Quotes

Still, my heart was steadfast. The defiant little creature. It was a lesson I’d started to get used to: I had no control over my heart. It would do what it would do with no regard to the rest of my body. I guess that was the whole fascination with this organ. It could be your ruin, your salvation, your friend, and your enemy.

I knew myself well enough to know I didn’t survive books. They tore me to shreds. I’d never met an inanimate object as talented at breaking hearts as a book.

Pain is growth. Fear is risk. You can’t be happy if you’re not growing and taking risks.

Adolescent love is the greatest pain of all. It teaches you the power other people have to destroy you.

Grief is a side effect of love. It lasts as long as love lasts. You get used to the pain until you’re reminded it’s there. That is how it always works.

“I hope I never fall in love. Falling in love makes you so dumb.”...
“I hope you do. Falling in love makes you feel immortal. Don’t you want that?”

Triggers

Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide, Death of Parent, Death, Drugs, Alcohol, Bullying, Addiction, Abandonment, Depression, Pregnancy, Self Harm, Medical Content, Fire, Substance Abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Still Birth, Overdose
** This list is not extensive**

Tropes

Best Friends Brother, Age Gap, Slow Burn

Content Warnings

frantically's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.5

this was basically just one giant hipaa violation (and i loved it)

—

Tate and Charlotte had my crying out in frustration, just straight up wanting to cry and nevertheless, always rooting for them.

It was messy, it sad, it was happy, there was so much going on sometimes, I really wondered what this book was even supposed to be about 😂

Suicide and suicidal thoughts are something that's very close to my heart (and if I'd read this book a few years back, it probably would've been...bad for my mental health) and this is one of the few times where I've seen it portrayed accurately. Kellan and Charlotte's thoughts on it feel so real. And I could really feel with Charlotte and Tate being left behind — what did Kellan want to achieve? What was he thinking while jumping? I was always desperately hoping for one last chapter from his POV but of course, it never came.

I didn't expect this to be as much of a slow burn as it was but in the end, it was all so worth it, their relationship just progressed so beautifully, even if it was a bit of a mess sometimes but hey — that's real life, isn't it (and I'm always a sucker for both of the epilogue tropes ngl)?

The only reason this isn't getting 5 clean stars from me is the way that Terry — Tate and Kellan's father — is handled. Tate hates him for very understandable reasons and all Charlotte does is try to convince Tate to let Terry in again and forgive him. This is mainly just my own daddy issues coming through but I don't think Terry deserved any forgiveness and I don't like the progress his story takes.

Overall, such an emotional read that will definitely stay with me for some time. One of my new faves!

4.5 ⭐

Content Warnings

nehashtyle's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.0

Content Warnings

thoughtsfullofbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.5

Content Warnings

andeng's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

criticalbooks's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

shadowbunny101's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

I genuinely enjoyed this book A LOT but I want to point out some issues I had:

Why does the cover basically spoil the fact that K commits??? I wish I’d been in the dark about that :/ some might say it was obvious but I was halfway through the beginning when I looked at the cover again and realized K wasn’t the love interest and my mouth dropped open in shock. Like I was fully blind sighted but I wish that had happened AS I was reading not from the cover.
I understand (I guess) tates character but I was getting really frustrated with him towards the end. Like I got it but I didn’t enjoy it.
The obgyn scene…honestly I’m sorry I found it cringey. Like I get that it’s hot and that’s honestly why I picked the book up but when I was actually reading it I was cringing oops.

Good things about the book:

It was definitely more than a love story. There were side plots and interesting side characters and I really appreciated the fact that multiple stories sort of converged to provide a HEA.
Tate was hot asf. Enough said lol.
Everything related to K. LIKE EVERYTHING. This book was so good at showing what suic*de does to a family and to those close to the person abd I think that’s an incredibly important takeaway many people will have.

Content Warnings

clairereadstoomuch's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense slow-paced

4.75

This story is SO powerful. Oh, Kellan...

I honestly had no clue about the plot going in but DAMN. this story gripped me from the beginning. I couldn't put it down.

It's such a powerful story about life and second chances while all the same tackling suicide and depression as well as trauma.

Your heart will ache for Kellan, for Charlie and Leah and for Tate as well.

This story is about making mistakes, it's about miscommunication that could lead to tragedy. It's for those left behind, to those struggling, to those who don't believe they deserve to be happy.

But you do. And 'Darling Venom' will tell you the same.

Content Warnings

More...