Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

59 reviews

haleydeppert's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

Um… where to begin. This book was just average to me, not great but not bad. I really struggled with this one because it only got exciting at around 250 pages. In my opinion, 250 pages is a lot to read while being bored out of your mind, waiting for something exciting to actually happen. I found myself skimming at random points in time, solely reading the dialogue. I had to continuously force myself to stop doing that… but it was a struggle. There was a lot more inner dialogue than anything and it bored me to DEATH!!! I cannot say it enough. HOWEVER, I did like the main male character. He was extremely charming and I enjoyed him thoroughly. LOL. Although, I must also say— I had already figured out the “plot twist” wayyy before the end of the book. It seemed fairly obvious to me. Besides all of that, I did somewhat enjoy the last half of this book. I just hate having to read half a book completely uninterested, as it takes the enjoyment out of reading. I simply cannot DNF books though, so I powered through it. I know this review sounds harsh, but I simply must say what is on my mind. I have to be honest though, I would consider reading the second book if I happened upon it at my local Half Price Books. 🤷🏽‍♀️ (Solely because I love the MMC. Cue the heart eyes.) (If you can’t tell… I have daddy issues.) 

Spice rating: 2-2.5/5 🌶️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, and Death of parent

_jamie's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Easy read, predicable elements. Interesting premise and storyline, intriguing religious elements. Not sure if it's enough to make me want to read the second book, especially with the last sentence of the novel

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Child abuse, Gore, and Classism

laurachignall's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

readinglawyer29's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

SPOILERS










I'm not giving this book a 5 stars because there were some things that annoyed the hell outta me (for instances, almost the names of the characters suck, the worst being the MC... I'll never get over it), but the story is great, the pace is perfect, the twists surprised me and I LOVED how the author depicted Poppy's sexual awakening and first experience. Also that there was a strong focus on HER pleasure, which is refreshing. I loved seeing Poppy feeling more and more empowered throughout the book, she is a badass and I'm here for it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

Minor: Misogyny

ipekcav's review against another edition

adventurous funny slow-paced

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

4.0

Modern values set in a fantasy romance. What’s not to love?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, and Violence

Scenes depicting child physical abuse that borders on sexual harassment. The abuse itself is not overtly sexual in nature, it is how other characters interact with it that makes it disturbing. It’s uncomfortable to read (as it should be). Details including spoilers here:

The main bad guy regularly takes a switch to the protagonists back as punishment for “bad behavior” and derives some sort of pleasure from it. He invites a friend to watch. The masochistic tendencies along with the humiliation of the protagonist give the punishment a sexual overtone. At one point she is forced to receive punishment topless.

vermontsnowboarder's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-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? Yes

1.0

I've described this book to people before as pocket trash. You know it's terrible.

The writing isn't great. In terms of the plot, there are a lot of plotholes—things that don't really make sense, and once you start to pull at one, the entire thing unravels and doesn't make any sense. Armentrout needs a better editor. There are A LOT of unnecessary moments and words. The FMC has so many inner monologues that it's exhausting and pointless. Her views and random thoughts do not add to the story; they take away from it by bogging the reader down. 

The worldbuilding is lackluster. It's supposed to be grand and sweeping and yet, it's flat and blase. It's not just that things are waiting to be revealed; it's that there is a lack of description and connection to the world in which this story is set.

Another thing that really bothers me is the blatant racism. The FMC's "best friend" is a black woman named, I kid you not, Tawny. Are you ready for her role? She is the FMC's lady's maid. The MCC's best friend is a black man who can shift into a werewolf (wolven) named Kieran (which means black, in case you didn't know), who is bound to the MCC. So basically, both of them are servants. The main characters and those in power are all white. 

Want a book with loads of sexual assault? This book has it in spades. The MCC hides his identity and uses his false one to get close to the FMC, proceeds to seduce her, take her virginity, and then gaslight her by telling her that it was "real". He knew full well that she never ever would have gone near him if she had known who he really was. After he takes her virginity, he continues invading her space and touching her despite her telling him no several times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Child abuse and Alcohol

booksoversecondbreakfast's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Torture, and Abandonment

courtneylmal's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

0.25

What was that ending?

This book started out pretty shaky BUT I was won over by the amazing work of the narrator. She had a way of narrating things so that the banter and characters flowed in a way that the prose didn’t. I will also credit the book with the fact that Poppy felt like an 18-year-old girl scrabbling for control in her own life. The themes and exploration of them was interesting. Poppy’s character lent to these themes and it was fairly well done. Aside from that, the foreshadowing as fairly well done.

What really tanked this book for me was the last quarter of the book roughly. While it was declining slightly before the twist was revealed, that’s what destroyed the book for me. Everything about the characters and who they were felt like it vanished. Their actions stopped making sense and while I thought some changes after the reveal of the twist were well some, most didn’t. I stopped understanding Poppy and her actions. I found myself so frustrated with her and what she was doing that it tanked the book for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Pedophilia

cdoubet's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury