Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Devious Obsession by S. Massery

13 reviews

meowrie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is the second book in this series and Steele is a bully, yes, but not like Grayson. He was psychotic.  Steele did some horrible things to Aspen but she tried to have a backbone. 

The prologue was hot. And the sex was on fire. The two of them together were panty drenching ridiculousness. Lots of somno, lots of oral (missing from the first one), voyeurism, primal play, all sorts of great stuff. Loved it. And there was a plot too. Bully plot with a stalker subplot. Like the first book. 

Aspen had a history of trauma so watch your triggers here. 

There are some things that happen that got a little darker too, near the last part of the book. I'm sensing a theme with this series. Not that this is a bad thing. It's doable. I'm digging the series so far. First time reading this author and I like it so far. 

The audio was bomb. I love Teddy Hamilton and Desiree Ketchum and they both did a fantastic job with this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Dementia, and Alcohol

nikkimreads's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Blood

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

lucycharm9's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

I like this one ALOT! Not only for the twisted (devious more appropriately) obsession between Aspen and Steele, but the loyal friend group who always got each other’s back. I would say Grayson was the darkest but Steele was that mean one.

Heat: 🔥🔥🔥🔥~🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (tons of spice along the story and somewhat feels way hotter than Grayson’s book)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Stalking

Moderate: Child abuse and Drug use

allorah's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

Dark hockey but romance, check triggers, contains step sibling love affair

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Sexual harassment

missdevo's review against another edition

3.5

I loved the 1st book in this series, so I guess I had high expectations.  This one just felt a little... messy to me. The spice was spicing, so no complaints there, but the character building missed a step. The motivation for Steele felt forced, and the subplot about Aspen's past felt too fragile, like the author was afraid to really get into what happened, and that made her trauma feel forced too. I had a hard time drumming up any emotion from the plot, and on face value that makes no sense. If you outlined it, it was definitely dramatic-but the character development stole a lot of that from me.  I still liked the book and plan to continue reading the series. I'd recommend it for people who like high spice (check triggers first!) and don't mind the plot being a little thinner. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Pedophilia

paoitz's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Child abuse

ladylaurenexplorer's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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? No

4.5

4.5!

Wasn’t the plot that I expected, but definitely enjoyed it. Steele is now on the same tier as Dare, Carter, and Ryatt. 

This for me showed a different side of the humiliation kink. Especially since we as the reader gets both MC’s POVs. 

I loved how they first met. It give them a little bit more edge when they, mainly Steele, began falling in lust/love. 

I wasn’t expecting the father plot nor how Stephen really became redeemable in my eyes in that room with her.

But what really surprised me was the Miles’s POV. I am glad we had that little bit of insight, because I was definitely starting to not like Willow. I kept saying come on girl…read the room please.

Then having Jacob and his situation forewarning us for his book…which I am so so ready for. He’s actions are on the level with MC of Sophie’s Surrender. They both are totally unhinged and obsessed. I can’t wait to see how he pulls everything off once he finds his girl again.

I would recommend this and am very glad I got the SE of this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Death of parent

tguccione's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Gun violence and Forced institutionalization

andeng's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

autumnafterwork's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? No

4.0

I honestly liked this book way more than the first one. Sure the plots are similar but I feel like Steele has so much more love and respect for Aspen. They had real conversations and dove deep into each others emotions. It’s still a pretty dark book but I did enjoy reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Drug use and Kidnapping