Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Hold by Claire Kent

7 reviews

smuttymcbookface's review

dark medium-paced

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

3.25

After reading the kindled series, I decided to try more of Claire Kent's work since I loved it so much. Although Hold was fine, it didn't hold up to her other pieces. There was something inauthentic about the characters, and it really did feel like the lead up to a porno. Although it normally doesn't bug me, I found myself frustrated that the FMC was just coming over and over during sex. It made this monotonous to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexism, Blood, Forced institutionalization, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault and Gun violence

Minor: Rape

lotte5322's review

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Vomit and Rape

onlyonebookshelf's review

challenging dark tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse and Suicidal thoughts

sarahsg's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Sexual assault

andra_mihaela_s's review

dark emotional tense fast-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? No

4.0

This Sci-Fi Romance Novella was just what I needed at the time!

We follow Riana as she tries to survive prison by giving herself to Cain, the most powerful male.

I was watchig Jenn from The Book Refuge when she mentioned this story as a good try for consensual non-consent romance for those of us not sure if we like reading such topics.
The premise seemed great and I gave it a try! I don't regret doing that at all! :)

Claire Kent managed to flesh out both MCs, some essential worldbuilding - including a little history why such prisons exists an dhow one ends up in them; some politics and a little genocide history with some race (we meet a character who's part of that race), all these between interactions in the prison, and, of course, sex scenes. >..>...pretty impressive if you ask me.

Anyway, I don't know how to discuss 200pg novellas. so I will quickly list some pros and cons:
pro:+initial scene was quite engaging;
+the stakes were high enough with an actual culmination;
+great comunication between MCs given the situation;
+atmosphere

cons:-in the end we have insta-love;
-escape plan possible in any other situation;

Overall, I really enjoyed Kent's story and, who knows, maybe I will read further in the series...>..> The next MC is interesting enough..

Trigger warnings: attempted rape, non-consensual subject of voyeurism, extreme violence
Important note: the PTSD after spending time in such a place is acknowledged properly!

Hope this review helped you in deciding if you want to try reading Hold.
Enjoy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Rape, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse

ac02's review

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual assault

emfass's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• 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

3.25

Read because the Bonkers Romance podcast is my new favorite thing and I immediately want to read every book they've talked about so far.

On the podcast, Jenny mentioned that this book is a great example of tight writing, where there is no extraneous plot info, you get just enough to understand what's going on but then the focus remains tightly on the characters. I guess I can see what she meant, but also I felt the writing was almost...too economical? Like I actually wanted to spend a little more time fleshing out Cain and Riana's relationship. Also I found their dialogue kind of boring, and occasionally inane, and overall I don't think it did much to further their relationship or circumstances.

The premise and plot were indeed bonkers, but my feelings about this book can be summed up as "it was fine" and I think I won't remember much about it in a few weeks time (it's been four days since I finished it and already I'm hazy on most of it).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Blood, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Death, Sexual violence, and Blood

Minor: Vomit

Many graphic threats of sexual violence; attempted rape; groping