Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The House with the Golden Door by Elodie Harper

24 reviews

asteeri's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence

akswhy's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

A solid follow-up to a fantastic book. Eloise Harper is an expert at weaving tension through a novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse and Death

abi_dutton's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, and Toxic friendship

emiliedr_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Panic attacks/disorders

caelfind's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse, Death, and Grief

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

withlivjones's review

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

I’ve only had Rufina for a day and a half but if anything happened to her I’d kill everyone in this room and then myself

Wow. What an incredible continuation of Amara’s story that takes us away from the brothels of Pompeii and to the extravagant but tenuous life of the city’s courtesans. Pompeii springs to life through Harper’s writing, and so do its inhabitants! I said this with The Wolf Den and I’ll say it again here, Harper creates some of the most well-written female characters and relationships I have read in a very long time, maybe ever. Amara is a fantastic protagonist, and even if some of her decisions are so reckless they cause you to bang your head against a wall in frustration, you can so easily see her desperation to protect herself and those she loves. Britannica and Victoria are also incredibly deep characters, and even the more minor female characters like Martha and Drusilla are explored with a lot of depth and empathy. A special mention of course goes to Felix for being such a slimy, awful, sinister villain whose pursuit of Amara really helps keep the tension high. 

I adored the development of the relationship between Amara and Philos, I’m usually not a fan of forbidden romances but their devotion to each other is so beautiful that I have no choice but to root for them.

Alas, in the end their relationship did fall victim to the miscommunication trope and there wasn’t enough time in the book for them to fully resolve that mess, but I do hope they manage to reconcile in the third book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Colonisation

namielle's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This book is the second in the Wolf Den Trilogy. We follow Amara a former prostitute that must navigate her life as courtesan to a wealthy patron.

This was another strong book in the series, and I enjoyed all the characters introduced, as well as the appearances of former characters. I hated some of the decisions made by characters, but Harper’s strong suit is that she makes it fairly easy to understand why her characters are making what seem like godawful decisions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Violence

clara_oakley's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Sexual assault and Slavery

Moderate: Death and Sexual violence

kirareads02's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I enjoyed this one just like the first one. The more I think about it the more I dislike the two main characters and I don't know why. However, this has not hindered my enjoyment. 

Can I nicely ask for a felix prequel? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement and Pregnancy

Minor: Genocide, Sexism, and Religious bigotry