Reviews tagging 'Outing'

Serpentine Valentine by Giana Darling

2 reviews

caitlinemccann's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I enjoyed the dark academic setting and the overall twist on the Medusa mythos. If anything, I just wanted more of this--the pacing in particular felt rushed and I would have loved to see the tension stretched out. But this was a quick and compelling read and I'm excited to try more from Giana Darling in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Emotional abuse, Torture, Gaslighting, Bullying, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Grief, and Hate crime

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Outing, and Infidelity

Minor: Vomit

The author warns in the beginning that the on-page sexual violence are explicitly in Chapter 2, which she says you can skip. It is referenced throughout the book, but less graphically. So if you need to skip that chapter, you can.

readingwith_kelsey's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

🐍🖤 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖: 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒚 Giana Darling

“𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩”

🐍 ᴍᴇᴅᴜꜱᴀ ʀᴇᴛᴇʟʟɪɴɢ
✨ ᴅᴀʀᴋ ᴀᴄᴀᴅᴇᴍɪᴀ
🐍 ꜱᴀᴘᴘʜɪᴄ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ
✨ ꜰᴇᴍɪɴɪɴᴇ ʀᴀɢᴇ
🐍 ᴛʀᴀᴜᴍᴀ ꜱᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴏʀꜱ
✨ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ
🐍 ʀᴇᴠᴇɴɢᴇ ᴘʟᴏᴛ
✨ ᴏᴘᴘᴏꜱɪᴛᴇꜱ ᴀᴛᴛʀᴀᴄᴛ 

What a way to start my Giana Darling journey, omg. This was my first read by her and let’s just say she has a new fan. This Medusa retelling was everything I didn’t know my feminist heart needed.

Serpentine Valentine was the most raw and beautiful depiction of feminine rage. If you don’t know the story of Medusa, make sure you do your research on that before picking this up because *𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔*. Giana was able to hit all of my emotions with her poetic-like writing style. 

Lex has easily become a new all time favorite FMC for me. Her resilience, strength, and feminine power left me in awe multiple times throughout this story. Her transformation into darkness was tragically beautiful. Lex’s revenge plan brought Luna into her rage filled atmosphere but the way Luna’s light and kindness softened Lex was incredible. The chemistry between these two dichotomies was truly addicting. I can’t skip over my love for 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒏 𝑬𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒘 turned all woman wolf pack. The found family amongst these badass women was undeniable. 

𝐈 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚’𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 

tw: this story contains topics which may be sensitive to some readers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, Outing, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Sexual assault, and Homophobia

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Suicidal thoughts