Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Predator by RuNyx

16 reviews

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Morana, the genius daughter of a Mafia lord, has created a super code that was stolen. Suspecting it was stolen by the elusive and lethal Tristan Caine, the only non -blood member in a rival Mafia family, Morana infiltrates his house intent on killing him and stealing back the code. But something bigger is going on and these two enemies must put their hate aside to fight it. 

I am not a huge fan of 3rd POV.  I wish this had been in 1st and dual POV, it would have been so much more interesting. 

Morana is apparently a genius. I guess this is a case of book smart but not street smart. Seeing as she is a "certified genius" and Mafia daughter, she sure makes some very poor decisions. We are meant to see her a strong and fierce, but she really isn't. 

Tristan's backstory is extremely horrific and that explains why is is the way he is. It would break most people, but it just turned him deadly. This could have made for very interesting character development, sadly he was petty one dimensional and boring. My take away is that he has beautiful blue eyes and whisky voice, as we are told 10000x. 

I thought the idea behind the plot, with the code, was interesting. But it quickly fell to the side as so many other things were introduced and made the plot super messy.

the missing girls, the impending Mafia war, the romance, escaping her father etc...

I did like Dante and Amara and am interested in their book! 

Tropes: Mafia, enemies-to-lovers, dark romance 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Torture, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

tguccione's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Physical abuse

Minor: Torture

asin26's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was so good I read it in 2 days! It’s a slowburn and their relationship spans 2 books but I loved it. I know I love a book when I keep wanting to read it and this was definitely that. THE TENSION 😱

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Torture

erinmd156's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Moderate: Physical abuse and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual harassment and Torture

cait_0310's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

(No spoilers) 
I was in a bit of a reading slump and nothing was helping. But then I found this book and I almost stayed up all night to finish it, it was that good!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Grief, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Medical content, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

shinyfox's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

Lots of staring happening in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Torture

Minor: Trafficking

Drug use - character has their drink tampered with

fairyfaum's review against another edition

dark emotional

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Torture

mana_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

So, I am surprised to have liked a book that was written in the 3rd person. Usually, I really have trouble reading when it's written like that. But strangely for this book I couldn't even pose it for 2 min. 

Secondly, can we take just 1 minute to realize how well written that the characters are?? I mean Tristan Cain please!! A misunderstood hero I'm telling you!! His story was just too sad and at the same time touching, I didn't expect it to take this turn. Morana and him are the perfect match for each other!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Sexual content

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Child abuse and Torture

princessofhelios's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

2.0

I personally didn't really like the book. The FMC keept on making stupid choices, and the plot wasn't really that great. I couldn't connect with Amy of the characters. The smut was mediocre. I will not be reading the next part in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Death, Grief, Cursing, Death of parent, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Gore, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, War, and Vomit

dlrosebyh's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

Tristan Caine has stood out in the murky underworld of the mob. He is a mystery to everyone because he is the only non-blooded person in the Tenebrae Outfit's inner circle, and he has morality that is debatable and unknown motivations. He is aware that he is dangerous.

As does Morana Vitalio, the daughter of the opposing family and a genius extraordinaire. Morana uses computers to do what Caine does with firearms. Infiltrating Caine's home with the intention of killing him as a mystery from twenty years prior resurfaces, Morana is not aware of the connection that ties them together. History, fire, and hatred collide with unanticipated sparks. But something more significant and detrimental is taking place in their world. And only they are capable of putting it down, despite their hostility.

I was quite pleased by this book in several ways. I didn't want to read this book since, to start with, I don't have any faith in Booktok. Not until some of my friends started reading it and truly enjoying it? I thought, "Perhaps this isn't as horrible as I thought." and I was entirely right. I love this book a lot.

Second, I'm not a fan of gloomy romances. I didn't read much other than the Made series. Even the idea of a writer romanticizing dark subjects makes me uncomfortable, yet when done well, I obviously dig it.

Thirdly, the cover didn't appeal to me. I do, in fact, judge a book by its cover. Really, who doesn't? I automatically presume a book is going to be poorly written if I don't like the cover. It’s fucked up, I know, but I think that high quality content ought to at least should have a lovely cover.

But even with those criticisms, I still adored the book. There is an unbearable amount of tension between Tristan and Morana. I can't recall the last time I read a novel with this much conflict between the characters. The bar was set so low that when the characters genuinely experienced stress, I was taken aback.

I believe RuNyx did a fantastic job creating them as characters. They're all very genuine, and I adore that they have mixed morals. I still have several unanswered plot-related questions, but I do hope the next book will address them. The writing style was the one aspect of this book that I didn't enjoy. I wasn't a great lover of it, and I'll be honest, because of that, I was intending to put this book aside. But, wow, I'm so pleased I forced myself to finish it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Blood

Minor: Torture, Death of parent, and Trafficking