Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

That Sik Luv by Jescie Hall

20 reviews

bbygirl21's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Blood, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Stalking, Self harm, and Sexism

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, and Death of parent

rumaisaaa's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

3.5

“They want to crumble her sweet, innocent soul into the ground, whereas I want to break it, reviving her pieces in my darkness.”

fair warning: quite possibly one of the darkest books i have ever read. 

the plot had a LOT of potential, especially with the whole religious corruption aspect and the kind of character Aero was and how Briony offset him so starkly. the whole premise of the book offered SO MUCH yet, it fell short. 

Aero didn't do it for me as the MMC, whilst i get that the book was dark and i have read my fair share of morally grey men in dark romances, i didn't feel the connect with Aero. he was too brutal in his attempt to show Briony "the light" (as he so eloquently puts it). i unabashedly agree that he was the catalyst to and cause for Briony's growth. his methods worked, yes, but he was crude, unnecessarily harsh and relentless at times (read: SEVERAL). 

as the main (sik) love interest, i needed his vulnerability, his softness and his affection shown more. while i do understand the darkness of his downright traumatising past and how that moulded him into who he was throughout the course of this book, i feel like his character's growth only came in the last 20 pages or so. frankly, it was a little too late for me, especially considering his actions, his words and his thoughts throughout the rest of the book. Briony quite literally overlooked everything he did and only ever saw his greater motives (which, agreed, were good when seeing the larger picture) but the disrespect she faced from him, the lack of answers, the riddles, it was too much for me. 

that said, Briony's character was beautiful. her growth and empowerment were written really well. i loved how she embraced herself and let go of all her inhibitions when she realised that she didn't need to conform to the church elders. also, i LOVE LOVE LOVE the fact that she recognised that power abuse is real, even in apparently religious and 'holy' places, and decided to cut herself off from aspects of christianity that she did not believe in and yet, held onto her faith in a supreme power, despite Aero's non-believing. 

tldr; didn't enjoy it as much as i hoped i would but Briony (fmc) for the win. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Stalking, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Torture, and Toxic relationship

naechan's review against another edition

0.5

This was so bad I was in physical pain while reading it, but I refuse to DNF a book so I forced myself to finish it and that’s the real sadomasochism right there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Pedophilia, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

nebulousbooks's review against another edition

dark inspiring tense fast-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

5.0

This book changed my brain chemistry. I loved it so much. I’m going to be thinking about it for a long time to come, I think 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Torture, Sexual content, and Stalking

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Rape

faith99's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Confinement

poupi's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual violence, Stalking, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Rape, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Adult/minor relationship

siffpedersen's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Violence

agraves16's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Didn't know if this would be too much for me coming from a cultish religious background, but I loved it. There were actually some profound statements in this book I felt at my core. I found myself cheering them on in their revenge and it felt almost like my own healing of trauma at the hands of religious people/institutions. 

My only "ick" was the FMC's name...its just weird, the kind of weird that's distracting because every time I saw it I had to try to wrap my head around how to pronounce the damn thing and it always just felt odd to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Murder, and Stalking

kittykels's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Murder, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and Gun violence

Minor: Child abuse and Alcohol

the_banshee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Stalking, Murder, and Violence