Reviews tagging 'Torture'

That Sik Luv by Jescie Hall

48 reviews

hereiskyra's review against another edition

adventurous 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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 SPOILERS AHEAD…

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I had ALL of the mixed feelings reading this book. Pretty sure I gained some new forehead wrinkles from raising my eyebrows so much. 

I’m not crazy about the religious aspects but after figuring out what part it played, I didn’t find it so taxing. This writing and content was so unexpected after reading Hawke & KID. This book belongs in an entirely different realm. So, it took a while to get into but once I did, I was on the edge of my seat. 

That confessional scene will live rent free in my head, probably forever. Maybe the club scene, too. Dayummmmm.

Please tell me why I was genuinely feeling gaslit allllllll the way up til the end with Saint?! 

I thought for sure he was going to turn out innocent in all of this… boy, did that all take a turn. Just like everyone and everything in this book, I should’ve given up trying to figure things out because I got NONE of it right. 

It took a LONG time to warm towards Aero. It wasn’t until Briony started to crack that tough shell created by his trauma that I started to understand and appreciate him a little bit. Don’t get me wrong, he’s really not even morally gray… he’s just morally black. BUT he cares deeply for his girl and I still dug it. 

Briony thankfully had some good character development towards the end because for the longest time I was annoyed with her. Yes, she fought and she was strong… but by the end she was a straight up badass and I loved every second of it! 

At the end of the day, these two were flawed and that’s okay. They broke each other and then built each other back up in only ways that they could… understanding that trauma and circumstances don’t have to be forever. 

Seriously, though… They’re both completely f*cked in the head. But… in the best way. 

And that epilogue was… HOLY HELL 🥵

Favorite quotes:
 “Right and wrong dance together to the music of my own pitiful and weakened excuses, as I find myself locked in a slow dance with the devil himself.”

“We’re toxic. My blood, infected with the same sick love he owns for me. We crave this illness.”

“Love is beneath us.”

 Tropes:

Forbidden

Age-Gap

Stalker

Enemies to Lovers

Touch Her and Die

Religious FMC/Morally Black MMC

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

fairylass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

notamouse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

3.5

🌶️🌶️🌶️

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

ellielucia's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

sunray_sunburn's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

Ok, what to say about this book.. This was a journey that I was not necessarily prepared to go on but I am glad that I did. The content is very dark and also very real. The experiences of members in high control religions were depicted in a perfect and gut wrenching way. The story was built over time in an interesting and entertaining arch that kept me guessing along with Briony. 

To address everyone who is upset that Aero isn't Zade. Your are absolutely right! He is not Zade and that is the point!! I think you missed the entire arch of his character. The trauma that Aero works through in this book is eons worse than what Zade has to go through in HA. To me, Aero's story was so complex and layered that it made him an even more dimensional MMC. Also it is kind of weird that we are comparing two very bad men to one another... They are both walking red flags who stalk the FMC and force themselves on her (that being said, I enjoyed both TSL and HA because I am also a messed up sick person, lol). 

This book healed and broke me in ways that I was not prepared for. The audio was amazing. It is hands down the best audio experience I have had with a book. Joe Arden had to make rent and he did!! I loved the pure raw emotion that he brought to the character. I am not sure what deep place that came from, but I hope that he is ok, haha! 

Read the trigger warnings and listen to them (unlike me). It was intense in the best way possible. It is definitely a contender for the darkest book I have read. Also I am excited to get my physical copy because that is how much I loved this book. 

Book Boyfriend Rating: 9.1/10 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

rekaanna22's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Torture, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse

tellmetomorrow's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The first time I read this book, I gave it one star. I went into it with a very surface level mindset.
This time, I really allowed myself to delve into the trauma of the characters and I found that I WANTED the revenge they seeked. I ended up rooting for them. 
Aero and Briony had opposing yet somehow still parallel life paths, both seeing different traumas and they were able to heal through them together. By their own means, in very sick and twisted ways. 
I'm glad that I had taken the time to reread it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Somnophilia

mae_dexter_author's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

dumbbxtchash's review

dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, and Sexual harassment

ana_banana13's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

A lot of the other reviews I’ve read about this book are either people comparing the MMC of this book to Zade or being angry that this comparison was ever made. Reading this book, I honestly don’t think they can be compared. The few hints are there like the roses and their motives, but they truly are inherently different individuals with unique experiences shaping the people they are. 

Aero was a difficult character to love but at the same time so easy. Sometimes his actions made me mad or irritated but then when the pieces fell together, it all made sense. In a way, we went on this journey with Briony in learning about this world and Aero. 

This book was super interesting! A lot of twists and turns, and a good amount of spice too! I rarely ever say this, but the spicy scenes were a bit too lunch for me. I feel like at times I wanted the plot to move forward but a smut scene was stuck in (I even just skimmed over a few). I enjoyed the story but it was just a bit slow for me at one or two points. 

Overall a solid spicy dark romance! 
Spice Level: 5/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture