Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Corupt by Penelope Douglas

21 reviews

shereadytoread's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I struggle to rate a book like this. It definitely kept me engaged (I read it in less than a day) but I also found it overdramatic and nonsensical in some ways. It feels like watching a soap opera where everyone is terrible? It hinges on the premise that these rich kids families are so powerful they can do anything in broad daylight like kidnap kids from school in front of everyone. It seemed like a really interesting underlying premise but the choices were so unbelievable it took any emotional depth out of the story.

Like it’s not a bad experience but I’m not sure where I fall. I found it more engaging than the last book I read by them so I rated it 3.5 instead of 3 but it’s pretty middle of the road for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

Minor: Kidnapping and Stalking

starspacecorn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad fast-paced

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

I honestly don't think I can describe just how much I despise this book. Aside from the romanticizing of sexual abuse, the amount of absolutely unnecessary sex these characters have is bonkers. ALSO! The story switches between the main girl and her love interest's points of view- both 3 years ago and in the present. And uh, 3 years ago Ms Girl was 16. A minor. And this man even admits that "yeah she's 16 but that won't stop me." I really tried to like Michael. I really did. But he did TOO many things that are absolute no-nos. The amount of times Rika said 'no' to him but he messed with her anyway was absolutely ridiculous. Also I hate all of his friends. Kai was okay until the absolutely unnecessary threesome he has with M and R at the gentlemens club. I think why I'm mostly angry is because this story could have been so good, but no of course not. The plot was so messy, there was too much smut and not enough world building, and there was SO MUCH SEXUAL HARASSMENT/ABUSE. Red flags all around. Literally the main group of guys Rika is so desperate to be a part of went to prison for beating up a police officer, arson, and R**ING AN UNDERAGE GIRL. And the story's like, "yeah but they have abs." And then they hold so much resentment towards Rika for ratting them out that they (Michael included) burn down her house, steal all of her money, send her mom to a mental hospital so Rika can't talk to her anymore and are seconds away from r**ing her and killing her when then suddenly "oh she didn't do it? All is forgiven 🤪🙏" I am also upset at how obsessed she was with M bc he is literally such a horrible person and keeps playing games on R and only sees her as a piece of meat. Everytime he sees her he decides to mention that he got hard just seeing her and he wishes he could take off her clothes. Rika isn't that great either, tho. She's obsessive, dumb, and doesn't answer her phone toward the end when she KNOWS she's in danger, just because she's cocky and it's convenient for the plot. Also there is SO much sexual tension between her and the only other woman in this story, Alex, and when they actually do it, the scene is told through the POV of Michael watching them. Rika only did it to make M jealous and then he basically throws poor Alex out and Rika doesn't even give her a second glance. This makes me so angry because the only slightly gay scene in this entire thing was for a man's pleasure and I wish they wouldn't have even put that in there because it furthers an idea that lesbians only exist for the pleasure of men and I must say shame on Penelope Douglas. Anyway there's this completely unnecessary chapter after the epilogue of when M was 16 and R was 13 and he picked her up from practice and she was crying and she watched him kill a dog (poor thing was already dying, he just made it go faster) and she was angry and visited her dad in the cemetery and he took her home, and anyway the whole point of the chapter was to show that Rika was the one who inspired M to make his group of assholes and it was just so unnecessary. I could have lived the 20 minutes that chapter wasted from my life, but no I had to get unnecessary background at the very end. Also, I don't understand how these characters always notice the nipples getting hard? Like, as a woman I barely ever notice unless I'm freezing cold, so that's unrealistic. Also R casually mentions she likes fencing and then doesn't bring it up until the end of the book. And when she puts on the fencing uniform she mentions that "it rubs against [her] clit." LIKE GIRL GET BETTER PRIORITIES ON WHAT TO THINK ABOUT. Because THEN she gets turned on by the uniform rubbing against her that she goes and has a threesome in the bathroom. I can't make this shit up. I can't. Anyway I hate this book and I will never read it again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

_kaylareads's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Slavery, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury

antidietleah's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Alcohol

Minor: Incest

ephemeral_remi's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jesshart8's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

roseamillerg's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

zc2's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring 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

4.5

I didn’t like how

micheal never apologizes to her like it was a really traumatizing event and he straight up was like huh that sucks wanna make out? end

the whole tense plot of why are they in jail and why is it Rikas fault really had me on edge wondering what’s gonna happen next. Recommend if you like romantic thrillers!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

ecravens's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

al4ssandra's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Gaslighting