Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Devious Obsession by S. Massery

9 reviews

meowrie's review

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

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

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

missrandomess's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault

hotfunnycoolgirl's review against another edition

0.5

watpadd-y. also there’s a lot i think you can get away with when reading something that you’d hate in real life (almost all dark romances) but this was ridiculous my heart just broke for her. 
He doesn’t discuss boundaries before doing anything (which of course turns out awfully with her being retramutised) which makes it assault and also sends her into shock as he basically recreates the most traumatic moments of her life. 

and then goes on to say (while having sex with her) he’s nothing like her dad even though he put her in the exact same situation he put her in against her will

 

he feels bad but then says he’d never apologise are you fucking kidding me. he never does aftercare even when he’s supposedly falling for her (he does after he assaults her whoopdydoo - but even that was more consoling her) fucking hate this guy also his whole broody thing fuck off, firstly very wattpaddy also you can’t even begin to compare his past to hers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, and Stalking

kelseyyreadssbooks's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Dementia, and Stalking

readingwithjamie's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.75

S. Massery has done it again. I am obsessed with Steele and Aspen, even more so than Greyson and Violet.

This is book two in S. Massery's dark romance hockey series. This can be read as a standalone, but you will get a little bit of spoilers for previous book if read before. If you are not into bully romance, C&C, or dark romance then this book is not for you.

Steele and Aspen meet at a summer college party where their chemistry is just explosive from the get go. They pick the same card for a very steamy game and leave each other without even knowing each others names. 

6 Months later they cross paths at school. They find out each other's name. Aspen's mom married Steele's dad and has been sent there to spy on Steele and make sure he is staying in line. With the stakes of their new family ties, they both end up hating each other. They are each fighting their own demons and outside forces that seem to keep them together, yet also push them away from each other. These two enemies are now caught up in a epic explosive game of war, where the lines of hate and love are so blurred that neither no the difference. They seem to have each met their match in other and push each other's boundaries. 

Steele is dominant, obsessive, unapologetic and yet protective at the same time when it comes to Aspen, he is also the healing power that Aspen craves in her life. Aspen is fighting her own demons and her saving grace is her passion for music. The darkness in Steele speaks to Aspen’s soul and gives her an out to express and relish in her own demons and darkness. Aspen is really Steele's perfect match. 

This book was raw, dark, addicting & will absolutely blew my mind. It’s got a mix of angst, it’s emotional, suspenseful, has lots of steamy scenes & will have you not being able to put this book down. If you like enemies to lovers, dark romance, sports romance, angsty, then I recommend this one. I can't wait for the next one.

Spice: 4

Thank you S. Massery for an eARC in return for my honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail