Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Satan's Affair by H.D. Carlton

26 reviews

xana42's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

bergha1998's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Absolutely crazy town from start to finish. I mostly read it because I was craving some Why Choose? action. The spice scenes were great, but a bit too far in between. Also, personally the gore was a bit too much for me, thus I rated it a bit lower. 

Why Choose, Gore, 4 🔥

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

bchantele15's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Car accident, and Death of parent

Consistent mentions of cult and ritualistic behavior

lolalastname's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

0.5

In both Haunting Adeline and Hunting Adeline, Sibby’s presence in the narrative felt odd and out of place. Though I didn’t have high expectations going into Satan’s Affair, I had the tiniest sliver of hope that this novella would make sense of her character. Boy, was I wrong.

To put it plainly, I don’t know why this novella exists. Many fans of the series urge newcomers to read Satan’s Affair before reading Haunting Adeline “to avoid spoiling the twist.” I disagree. The novella was published between the release of books 1 and 2- long after Haunting’s social media virality. The “twist” isn’t a twist at all, simply Sibby’s most identifiable trait (and the punchline of every scene she’s in). The upcoming 2 novels starring Sibby as the lead render Satans Affair little more than a rushed exposition dump.

The most damning strike against Satan’s Affair is its own prose. While Sibby’s point of view is a nice break from Adeline and Zade’s grating internal monologue, it comes with its own problems. I tried and failed not to notice the writer behind the curtain, but the authors overwhelming presence in the narration completely broke my immersion in the story. I didn’t read Sibby’s thoughts and feelings- the writer told them to me, and explained exactly how to feel about them. The constant shift between first person present and past tense at random intervals was also extremely distracting.

Even though Satan’s Affair is  full to the brim with blood, guts, and gore , it lacks the tooth and grit needed to get me to buy what it’s selling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Slavery, and Trafficking

theartistreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

TROPES: Seri@l k!ller, travelling haunted house, unhinged and psychopathic heroine.

👏🏻We love us a good unhinged heroine with psychopathic tendancies.👏🏻

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

crinkledmochi's review against another edition

this is so incredibly bad,,, makes me not want to read cat and mouse duet at all 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting

zc2's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Very VERY spicy. I read the cat and mouse duet before this but I’m finally happy to see into Sibbys life and past. Cant wait to read what happens to her after the end of hunting Adeline

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

laurenvoice's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Satan's Affair was intense. From the first page, it was violence, and the violence continued non-stop. There was no break from the violence in Sibil's life. Sibil's experiences are hard to read; however, H.D. Carlton noted a trigger warning list at the start of the book; take note of the warnings, as Satan's Affair was full of taboo topics and intense scenes.

The "twist" at the end of this novella was a tad disappointing; there were clues scattered across the novella indicating this twist.

However, the violent killer having a severe mental health disorder is overdone and adds to the misinformation about mental health. But to note, the author did include a scene in the epilogue that makes the reader question who are we to label someone's mental health if our experiences don't match theirs. As someone with a psychology background, that was an interesting question to pose.

Nonetheless, although there was some disappointment surrounding the ending of this novella, the introduction to Zade was compelling, but morally grey characters are always interesting. It was good to see Sibil's thought process about Zade; she sensed his danger; however, when she got to know him understood that he was the same as her. It is good to see Sibil finally feel accepted by someone other than her "henchmen".

I read Satan's Affair as it was suggested to read this novella before the Cat and Mouse Duet. I am intrigued to see how Satan's Affair has set up the introduction to the series and how the events at Satan's Affair impact Zade. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping

Minor: Pedophilia, Trafficking, Stalking, and Death of parent

annica_fourie's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

lauramonas's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis