Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

11 reviews

heather667's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Rape, Suicide, and Death of parent

yourbookishbff's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

It's hard to capture how remarkable this is, both as a stand-alone and as a series start, and for historical romance readers who have read *any* Civil-War-era romance by white authors, this is a must-read series that reflects authentic people and stories (Alyssa Cole truly lights a match to the lost cause narrative that underlies the majority of books in this corner of historical romance). This installment centers the story of Union operative Elle Burns (inspired by the real-life spy story of Mary Bowser). Elle is a free Black woman working undercover as an enslaved woman in a Confederate officer's home. She meets Malcom McCall, a white Union operative, while he is working undercover as a Confederate officer visiting the region. The progression of their relationship centers honest communication around the stark power imbalance between them, and Cole deftly used open-door scenes to further deepen their communication. I would consider this a blend of historical romance and romantic suspense, with clear and historically accurate world building that is driven by Cole's obvious commitment to thorough research. Moreover, the writing is beautiful. I highly recommend this book and this series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

imds's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and War

beccaand's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-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

4.5

the yearning? ugh i die for it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, and Blood

Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping

bergamot_breeze's review

adventurous challenging dark inspiring 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? No

3.75

Really enjoyed this! I LOVED Elle and I was so invested in her day to day life. If this had just been about her I think this would have been a new fave. Despite going into it knowing it was a romance, the romance became my least favorite part. It felt as if it detracted from the rest of the story. Overall, though this was very good and I’ll keep reading the series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence

mandi4886's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Infidelity, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, Trafficking, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

aqtbenz's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Medical content, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

emfass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

2.0

I really wanted to like this book. I'm updating my review a week after finishing it--the more I think back to this book, the more I think it just overall didn't work for me. Both the romance and the spy plot weren't compelling to me; I was SO STRESSED for the two main characters at all times, and I didn't find the development of their relationship very convincing.

I did appreciate how Malcolm was maybe the first person to make Elle feel really seen, but otherwise I just was not impressed with where he sat in his privilege, and didn't think he grew enough to deserve to be with Elle. 

Also, for being a spy plot romance, I found things moved pretty slowly. The switching back and forth between trying to further the romance and trying to further the action felt choppy throughout. There was also so much redundancy in their inner monologues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Racial slurs

Minor: Death and Suicide

bookishjournal1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, and Kidnapping

paolina's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.5

I love Alyssa Cole's books. She's a master of crafting engaging romances that aren't all fluff, but tackle historic and social commentary. I'd say that the main characters fall for eachother pretty fast, but if that actually bothered me I wouldn't read so much romance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, and Trafficking

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent