Reviews with content warning for Torture - Slave to Sensation

Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

16 reviews

jackiepreston's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense 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? No

4.5

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joyreads2024's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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

5.0

5 stars, can I say anything else??
I have read this book like a hundred times in nearly over a decade, and each year it ages like goddamn fine wine. These two have gone through everything with me, and they still make me squeal, blush and kick my toes like i’m talking to a crush. It’s also how my partner of 2.5 years realised that I am a SUCKER for a girl flirt (also known as Lucas). EVERYONE needs to read this because I FUCKING ADORE THEM.

also to my friend who said Sascha was a lil whiny, lowkey see it towards rhe end but I also would be overdramatic if I thought I was gonna go bye bye. I just froth this book and everything about it.

YES YES AND MORE YES.

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lanagio's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

I love this series! I’m excited to be going through them again. I absolutely love animal shifters and the way the Psy-world works is unique and gives a lot of opportunity for different types of adventures than the standard battles etc that occur in many fantasy books. I like both Lucas & Sascha’s characters and their chemistry and love is enjoyable. Cheers to rereads!

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ravenslanding's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

4.75

I enjoyed this. As the name suggests, it's a pretty sensual book. But, it is also more than the name suggests.
This, my friends, is dystopian romance. Now, yes, a subrace of humans with psychic powers, and another of human/animal shapeshifters makes it an urban fantasy/dystopia cross over, but I like that kind of thing. The psy are in an Equilibrium-like society, hammering emotion out of themselves before the end of high school (or else). Sascha, who is psy, has a big dangerous secret that she FEELS.
Most of the sensation part of the story comes from Sascha suppressing, or exploring, or growing into. Also the leopard shifter pack she ends up with are affectionate (not unlike big cats) with kisses and hugs par for the casual interaction.
The book is very tactile.
Anyway, there is mystery, there is romance, there is the uncovering of the dystopia. There is a happy ending.

Honestly, I had to sit to figure out why I didn't gleefully love it, and finally realized it is because it wasn't funny. Just not that kind of book. Which makes it not my most favorite, but I don't think counts as a flaw

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courtreadsney's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Story: 5/5 ⭐️
Audio: 3/5 ⭐️

As a long time paranormal romance reader, started reading the genre around 14 years ago, Nalini Singh is a freaking master at her craft and I'm both excited to now read her books for the first time and kicking myself for not reading them sooner. This book absolutely encapsulates that classic paranormal romance energy. The possesive and protective male lead yet paired with a fiercely independent and badass woman. Lucas and Sascha were such a great couple. I read this book in a day and I am not typically that girl anymore, adult life and responsibilities are obnoxious, but I said forget it I'm reading this all! The writing and plot just flowed so well and the tension was placed in the right spots and there was conflict without it being eyeroll level miscommunication or something that felt forced. The story felt like the perfect length to both grow attached to the characters and their love story, while also not dragging out parts of the plot unnecessarily. Overall I highly recommend this series for anyone who loves paranormal romance or shifter romance. Also if you read this please read it with the context and understanding that it was published in 2006. I personally listened to the audiobook and can definitely tell the narration style and audio quality are overall lower than what we would expect currently. The narration was okay and allowed me to read via audio which has been my preference lately but it's not something I would seek out as a first time audiobook listener either. Regardless the story itself is amazing and I cannot wait to continue the series!

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smallmac's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The romance is alright, the Changelings are interesting but not incredibly different from other characters I've read about. What I'm most captivated by is the implications of Sascha's handicap and how she deals with it.

I knew almost right away that her energy keeping her emotions in was the reason she couldn't do much else of value to the Psy society, and it was nice to be validated when the truth came out. Hiding the undesirable parts of yourself (masking??) is very relatable, and it was gratifying to read about Sascha accepting her gifts and reframing everything she knew into a world where she could not only survive but thrive.

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siu_rose's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious 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

3.5

Overall I enjoyed it well enough. I thought the different races were inventive and made a good setup for the romance. Which was fairly predictable but still good, I was rooting for everything to work out. although there were still moments when I thought oh come on, really?. I felt the ending of the plot was a little abrupt or skipped over some things a bit or something.

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allingoodtime's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I’m so tempted to say, “Why didn’t anyone tell me how fantastic Nalini Singh is?!?” I cannot do that since it would be a lie. For years I’ve seen recommendations for this author. Any time I see her name come up it’s with high praise. So I only have myself to blame. This book was amazing!

I had a bit of trepidation going into this as an audiobook. I knew it would be a huge world-building book due to it being the first in the series. On top of that, it was a single narration. It wasn’t long before I was fully immersed in this story and my misgivings were forgotten. I was fascinated by the different races and their characteristics. While this book is firmly in the paranormal genre, it also sometimes felt like a science fiction story in the way the storytelling and world-building progressed.

All of the characters fascinated me. From Sascha and Lucas to all of Lucas’ pack and the other packs that have been introduced so far. There are so many possibilities for the direction this series can go and I’m excited to see how everything unfolds. Sascha and Lucas have wonderful chemistry and, as the story progressed, I loved seeing familial chemistry grow between Sascha and others in Lucas’ pack. I truly believed these people loved and cared for each other deeply.

While I often chat my husband’s ear off about books I’m currently reading and will tell him how much I enjoyed a book after I’ve read it, I rarely do what I did with this book. I paused the story, looked at him out of the blue, and said, “I really love this story.” That’s it. Simple, but it said so much. I didn’t want to tell him about the book because I was too engrossed to stop listening, but I couldn’t wait to tell someone how much I was enjoying myself. If you’re a paranormal reader and haven’t read this author yet, stop putting it off!

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caitlinemccann's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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givemaribooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this book. It's a great start to this series. I am upset with myself that I waited so long to get to this series. I liked the characters a lot, and I am glad that the book was not too worldbuilding heavy, which tends to happen with first books in a series. I do think the book is a bit outdated, especially when it came to ableist language.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator is great, especially voicing the psy characters.

CW: murder, kidnapping, torture, death of parents (recounted)

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