Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

That Sik Luv by Jescie Hall

7 reviews

enchantingreads_rosyreviews's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"Her understanding of love is entirely different from mine. Her lens, through which she sees the world around her is warped, in my opinion. But to her, my lens is a direct reflection of the pain I’ve yet to surrender. 'Some would call me broken... but I’ve never known anything other than the comfort of my pieces.'”

I didn’t know much about this story going into it. I read Hawke by the author & everyone raved about this one, so I picked it up. The duet audio performance was incredible in bringing these words to life! This is a dark one, like with a capital "D" but it’s also a beautiful one. Heartbreaking at times, edge-of-your-seat suspenseful at others, and always well-written. Fans of dark romance with a splash of crazy, some effed-up misogyny & an unhinged kind of “sik” love, then this is definitely the read for you!

“I don’t expect a simplistic love with Aero. It will never be normal, just as it shouldn’t. It’s complicated. It’s an abstract piece that’s painted with harsh strokes of pain, jarring splashes of deception, and obscene colors that scream in the face of injustice. I shouldn’t need to change him, and honestly, I don’t want to. But what I desire more than anything is an alignment of souls set in our own unbreakable bond.”

This was my darkest romance read thus far, but I knew I could trust Jescie’s beautiful writing. On the surface, this is a book about exploring desire, escaping oppression (mainly religious), and getting revenge. That’s completely true, this book contains the dark versions of all those themes. I mean it, this book is dark and true to its genre. But what I loved about Jescie’s writing were the layers of storytelling she gave us. There was mystery, a heist of sorts, assassin/hitman-style of revenge, a twisted love story, and discovering oneself.

And I have to say: if Chapters 54/55 of ACOMAF are the “ultimate, drop the mic” chapters for romantasy fans, then That Sik Luv’s Chapters 43/44 are the dark romance equivalent. Seriously! “Worth” and “Abstract Love” are poetic, tragic, emotional, beautiful, and unfortunately a representative experience for too many people. The audio performance during these chapters was incredible. And Jescie Hall's words are spectacular. Bravo! 

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darcycallista's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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bbygirl21's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

I absolutely loved this book. The pacing was slow, but perfect for this story. Aero was amazing, I loved that he took his time revealing everything to Briony letting her figure things out on her own. Briony was a badass. I loved that she paved a way for herself even when people tried to tear her down and stop her progress. And I loved how Aero broke Briony to make her stronger. And she definitely rose to her potential.

I will say I was disappointed when it came to Saint. I was rooting for him to not be one of the bad guys. And while he may not have been as bad as his father the bishop and the governor, Saint still ended up not being who I was hoping. I grew to like him over the course of the book. And then got severely disappointed by his true character. I am glad he did receive the same fate as his father, the bishop, and the governor. Saint deserves to live with his actions of blindly following his father.

That epilogue was fire though. I loved the exchange of power between Aero and Briony. I loved how Briony took Aero for herself and "cleansed" him of his past the same way Aero cleansed her. I love that he finally surrenders his complete self to her. I don't think this book could've ended any better. It was phenomenal.

I would absolutely recommend this book. But definitely pay attention to those triggers. This books won't be for everyone.

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poupimali's review against another edition

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

4.5

The story is good. 
all the secrets, the lust, the twisted and losts souls.
I am not a religious person but the notion of prohibition, of sin are well described. And you can appropriate them to see how much everything is f*uckup.
Aero is as a stalker psycho as I like.

I understand that some find similarities with the first book of Haunting Adaline. And I agree. But the story is really far from it.

and I hate the pregnancy trope especially in the middle of the book. it pissed me off until we learned that she is on the pill… WTF because it made absolutely no sense regarding how religious she was).

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kittykels's review against another edition

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

4.0

I mostly enjoyed this book. As someone who grew up with Christianity and left it behind as I got older, I appreciated the exploration of how it feels to have your entire worldview flipped upside down. Obviously I cannot relate to having a stalker that leads me on a sexual awakening, but I enjoyed reading about it! 😉

I gave the book 4 stars instead of 3 because I think a lot of things I wish the book had done differently were personal preferences rather than actual criticisms. This book is dark and can be pretty triggering in so many different ways, but overall it was well written and a good read. 

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book_cryptid99's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0


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serena_andherstories's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

5.0


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