Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Priest by Sierra Simone

47 reviews

bsxlsan's review against another edition

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dark funny hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

tyler bell call me
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isabellesimone's review

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

3.5

I now have a love hate relationship with this book. It was amazing….until the last chapter. I’m still mad at Poppy for that ending. Epilogue was good though. But that last chapter had me wanting to throw the book across the room. 
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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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dark emotional lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I picked this up after hearing so much about it on TikTok. 
“Priest” the smutty romance story about a priest, and one of parishioners. Tyler may be young, and very good looking, but he has decided to devote his life to God. Everything seems to be going fine for him, until a new parishioner, Poppy, temps Tyler in every way. Now he has to choose between the life he has built, serving God, or a life with Poppy. 
Tyler Bell sounds like such an amazing priest, not because he is sexy or young, but he has such a beautiful way of looking at religion. He truly wants to change people’s perspectives about the Catholic Church, and he wants people to experience the beauty and love that God can offer them. I know that is not the main point of the story but I really appreciated this.
I really did not like Poppy as a character. She had a lot of flaws, and I think she epitomizes the concept of a toxic woman. She seduced Tyler and made him question his entire life. She knew how much he was falling for her, and she felt the same way, but then, when he was ready to give up everything for her, she threw it all away. She left him without so much as a word, and the lack of explanation is just unforgivable in my opinion. Tyler was such a good guy, and in spite of how Poppy treated him, he found his way, and he continued to work to find his life‘s purpose. I feel like he could do so much better than Poppy.
Overall, I think this book is very well written, but it does flirt with being a little much. I do think the author handled the content matter with grace, and I do not think that any religious aspects were brought up in a manner that were outright offensive. With that said, the nature of this book may offend some people. I do think the author is incredibly talented, and I do intend to read more from her in the future.
I do recommend this book if you are I interested in a super sexy book about a priest. 
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dragonmom's review against another edition

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

0.25

This is the absolute worst book I have ever read. The smut is fine but the actual plot of the book is horrible and the main characters are the most insufferable people I have ever read about. Tyler is a misogynist who keeps calling himself “a feminist ally” and then thinks things like “Sean yelped like a girl”. Poppy thinks about no one but herself, I mean who shows up at someone else’s door at 3am because they can’t sleep? It was insufferable to read and I can’t understand why people like this book outside of the mediocre smut. 
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charliebites's review

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adventurous emotional sad 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

3.5

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mana_reads's review

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challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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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chloelj27's review against another edition

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

2.5

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paperkindle's review against another edition

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

What an absolute stupid book 
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beckyyreadss's review

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

4.0

I want to read this because it was all over the book community. I knew this book would have me questioning my morals the whole way through. But holy mother of balls, I feel like I'm going to hell for enjoying this book.  

This book follows Father Bell. He is a priest and there are many rules a priest cannot break. A priest cannot marry. A priest cannot abandon his flock. A priest cannot forsake his God. Father Bell has had no problems playing by these rules for the last three years after a family tragedy set him on this path to priesthood. But this all changes when the sultry voice of Poppy Danforth sinks its claws in them through the screen of the confessional booth, and he can’t get her sins out of his head. It should be easy for Father Bell to put his impure thoughts of her to rest, considering the vows he has taken. It should be nothing to overcome what the sight and sound of her does to him, when his life with the Church meant everything. But the more he sees Poppy inside and outside of the church, the more she makes him feel like Tyler Bell instead of Father Bell. It gets worse once he has his first forbidden taste of her lips, Tyler can’t help but break all his rules for Poppy – no matter what it might cost them both. 

I liked that it wasn’t all smut and no story, there was an actual story with actual characters with two very different family dynamics and very real traumas. I think Tyler’s head was a very intriguing and damaging place, knowing why he joined the church and trying not to go down the same road whilst falling in love was difficult and confusing for him. Also, I love the fact that he fell in love with a stripper which obviously added to the sin aspect of the book. Poppy, I thought was also a damaged character who didn’t understand why she was like this and instead of going to therapy she went to church. The smut was fire and honest to god, the alter chapter is going to be stuck in my brain for longer than normal.  

I disliked the single POV, even though I was surprised to see that this was from a male’s point of view being the priest, I would have loved for this to be a dual POV especially with the last couple of chapters when they were apart. I liked the forbidden aspect of the story, but felt like it was easily pushed aside once Tyler got over his inner monologue and started sleeping with Poppy. I would have liked more of the forbiddenness.  

I feel like I need to go to church after reading this book but I'm looking forward to Sean’s book.  
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booksalacarte's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

2.75⭐️ 4.5🌶️

Forbidden love
Taboo romance
Contemporary romance
Miscommunication
MMC POV

The book’s story/character’s meet cute is starts kind of abruptly with very little context on the FMC’s side. The FMC point of view isn’t actually her POV, but her confessions to the MMC. So the all male POV was something new in contemporary romance, for me.

I was mistaken that this was a dark romance. What I expected to happen, did not happen. It felt like there was foreshadowing for it, but then kind of felt like a dud… but in reality it’s just a taboo romance… set up like a dark romance? 

The spirituality of the book is what caught me off guard. On one hand it seemed so genuine, raw and applicable, on the other hand it seemed perverse and fetishized in many different ways. I found myself very conflicted with the juxtaposition of the premise of the plot/theme/spice. I also kept reading… so I don’t know what that says about me. 

I’m reading the next book to see if it’s a copy and paste situation.
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