Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Ensnared

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

shelfgremlin's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

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birbpal's review

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adventurous 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? N/A

4.25

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25 Stars

Who knew spider aliens could be so adoring and hot?! I seriously am so surprised how much I liked this book! I love most of Tiffany Roberts's works, but I held off on reading this series because spiders seemed icky to me.😅 But it is the new year; 2024. So I thought, "Fuck it, let's read a spider monster romance!"

This book was filled with immersive culture, worldbuilding, and lore that immediately drew me in. Ketahn as a MMC was so unique! He was simultaneously sweet and fierce and what made him even more interesting (other than the fact he is a humanoid giant spider obvi) is that he was so skeptical and critical of his own people and their beliefs. It made him seem very fleshed-out to me.

Another thing I loved about the book was the slowish-burn between him and Ivy. It took them some time to act on their desires for each other, which felt realistic, giving how different they are from each other and the language barrier too. It only made the pay-off even sweeter and more deserved. My heart feels so full for the two of them.💗

Ivy as a FMC was good, although I felt she was definitely the weaker character of the two. I hope to see more development in the future for her. But I will say I found her backstory quite tragic and unique. I definitely understand why she ended up leaving Earth, I would too if I were in her shoes.

Overall, the book ended on a minor cliffhanger that makes me excited to jump right into the next one! This was a great read to star out my challenge this year, and hopefully, the next books live up to this one!🐥💕

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shinyfox's review

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adventurous emotional funny 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

5.0

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inkdrinkers's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

"Not vrix, not animal, not spirit... what was she? His. If nothing else, she was his."

Ketahn is a vrix hunter, used to living in the tangle outside the stone halls his people call home. He brings back meat for the rest of his people every month, at the behest of a queen who's motives seem more and more unclear each day. When Ketahn falls through a pit during a hunt, he discovers a strange metallic beast - and inside it's a belly is something he's never seen before. When Ivy wakes up in the arms of a beast who's half man, half spider, she doesn't know what to think or do - but as time passes in his care and they grow to communicate with each other, she begins to question if the fates have tugged on a thread and brought them together.

I have been SO eager to dive into this series. I've heard good things about it not only from the monster romance community, but for fans of sci-fi, and it DELIVERS. Ensnared is the kind of sci-fi book that clearly cares about it's lore and world-building, and while it's heavy-handed in the beginning, the info dump is absolutely necessary by the time you reach the end. The Vrix world is fascinating, with its own monarchy and different class levels, and figuring out where Ketahn both fits and doesn't is a great way to orient yourself with the world.

By far my favorite part of this is how sci-fi it feels. It's like if you took the Predator films and combined it with Tarzan. The "lost in space" trope of a human having to adjust to alien life will always be one of my favorites, especially as the reader begins to learn the vrix words for familiar things as Ivy does. This is just overall a really, really fun book and perfect for anyone who loves science fiction with a little sprinkling of smut. I can't wait to read the next two!

Content Warnings: Sexual content (between human and alien), Violence/Death (overall), Sexual harassment/Sexual assault/Sexual violence (heavily featured in both Ivy and Ketahn's stories, both past and present. It's noteworthy to say Ketahn and Ivy also explore each other's physical differences multiple times, in varying degrees of description), War (past), Murder, Abandonment (in past)

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greystory's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

I got talked into finally digging into this one by Opal Reyne's new discord. Overall, enjoyed, and especially loved the worldbuilding and the way we eventually come to meet the female main character, Ivy.

I liked Ivy quite a bit. While her story was sad, she was still determined and strong and doing her best in a really shit situation, both prior to meeting Ketahn and afterwards.

Ketahn. Man, I really wanted to like Ketahn more. In general he was alright and there were times I could really dig him but then he'd go and do something pretty dub-con-y with Ivy and I'd be very displeased with him again.

Although Ivy is ultimately always OK with whatever bullshit he pulls, it's clear it's not always immediately consensual or wanted. I was always hoping they'd at least address it afterwards or something but nope, they never do.

The closest they get is actually the worst offense when they first mate and she tries to talk about it. He reiterates that she's been claimed and when she tries to say "you can't just decide that!" he becomes threatening. Instead of it turning into sex (and only sex), I would have really loved a moment of them connecting on another level and communicating better. Why couldn't he just explain what a claiming is and how it works instead of insisting on his own way?

Like why did he never actually say the dress he made was supposed to be a wedding dress?? That alone could have made the tone of the initial claiming way different and maybe Ivy wouldn't have been so scared? (WHY was she even written as scared to begin with???)

One of the things he did do well was be a complete smartass about the self-centered shitty queen. I especially loved this little comeback:

Telok straightened also, drumming his forelegs on the branch. “And you, Ketahn. I am glad she did not eat you alive.”
“Had she done so, I would have used my final breath to ensure she choked.”

Again, the worldbuilding was cool and I was very engrossed in the mystery of the story around Ivy's people.

That ending kinda sucked. It was very abrupt, no resolution.

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ashlikes's review

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adventurous 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? No

3.25

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mx_virg's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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kbairbooks's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The smut didn’t start until 84% of the way through which, considering I was under the impression this was more smut than romance (my bad), was disappointing. I could see why it was set up that way but it was a bit disappointing. The ending had me enraptured though and I’m excited to see what happens in book 2.

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