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brookec100's review against another edition
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting
meat_muffin's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Rape, Self harm, and Death of parent
daisycantread24's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and War
doahdancer's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
dwarrowdams's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexism
goldensisyphus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
shelfgremlin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
the premise of this book is that jule, our lovely human mc, is left home unguarded and gets kidnapped by orcs when they attack her home. grimarr, our especially lovely orc mc, decides to take her as his mate in an act of political revenge and whisks her away to orc mountain.
i know this was supposed to be an enemies-to-lovers story but itās more of an enemies-to-abused-and-abuser story. iām not at all averse to dark romance, kink, kidnapping, whatever. iāve read and quite enjoyed books where one mc tortured the other and then they got to know each other and fell in love afterwards. i say this to mean that thereās very little that i think an mc canāt come back from, but abusing someone that you are in a relationship with or have already professed to love is one of those things.
grimarr had a bad habit of saying one thing and doing another. he would whisper sweet promises into her ear about being the best mate for her and how heās so much better than her husband but then he would turn around and act heinously. he thought that because he didnāt physically hit her like her husband did that he was better, but then heād say shit like this -
āI will bind you and gag you,ā his menacing voice said. āI will starve you. I will keep you from the sun for the rest of your days. I swear this, woman.ā
they were constantly going around and around in circles. heād say something horribly messed up, apologize or make an excuse, jule would forgive him (of course,) and then heād do something again. his mistakes always stemmed from mistreating jule because she didnāt do what he wanted or lying/withholding important information from her. it happened again and again and again. and my issue with that is that he did these things AFTER he claimed to love her and care about her and that's where this crossed the line from dark romance to stockholm syndrome/toxic relationship for me.
and that isnāt even the worst of it. grimarr was far more concerned with maintaining his position of power over the orcs than he was about her happiness and wellbeing. he showed this to be true repeatedly, punishing her for speaking out against him in front of others, making a group punishment when she ādishonorsā the orcs,
some of this is explained away with āhe had a planā and apparently jule just didnāt know it, but putting her in a situation where she would feel that distress and didnāt know it wasnāt real is equally bad when heās continuing to repeat the same mistakes over and over. even through to the end of the book he doesnāt learn.
and thatās not to say that jule is perfect, not by any means. i can sympathize with her actions a lot more because iām sure she was traumatized to all hell at this point, but she grated on my nerves. there were some elements i loved about her, but she was so inconsistent as a character. she was not particularly brave (which is fine) but she would have these moments that felt out-of-character, like
their relationship was nothing but toxic from beginning to end and i donāt think it was intentional. i think i was meant to be hoping for a happily-ever-after at the end, but i was just hoping sheād escape to themyscira and never have to deal with men or orcs again. whereās wonder woman when you need her?
the writing was pretty good. i picked up a few words i was unfamiliar with and thatās always a welcome bonus. there was a good arc, though the ending was a bit too fast compared to the rest of the novel. some of the language, though, was very repetitive. iāll be very happy to never hear anyone described as āhaleā or ālustyā ever again.
if this book had been sold as a stockholm syndrome trope i probably would have liked it, but i went in expecting a true romance and didnāt get it. iām not sure if iām going to continue the series. iām interested in some of the other orcs but iām not sure i wanna read a repeat if itās similar to this one.
Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and War
this book takes place in the midst of a war between humans and orcs. there are descriptions of war and murder from both sides. the mc, jule, experiences abuse both at home with her husband and by the orc who kidnaps her. she processes grief over her confinement, her situation, and what she has lost on-page.christyjoreads's review against another edition
5.0
One, that was the spiciest book I've ever read.
Two, the political machinations were insane and heartbreaking. Oh that betrayal was a kick in the heart, but I totally understand what was going on......oh boy!
I am not a fan of enemies to lovers, but this was more two people from two totally different cultures trying to figure it out.
Grimarr had been betrayed before so he didn't count on any support from Jule. Jule had been used by all her family members. Trust was almost impossible. This was SO FRICKIN GOOD.
Thank god for the HEA or I think I would have curled up in a ball and died from heartbreak!
This is the best book I have read in a long time!!!!
Finley Finn - you made me feel the feels with this one! I applaud you! Wow!
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, and Pregnancy
jburson's review against another edition
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
sdemo08's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Then before I knew it, we were all at the final battle and I was hoping against all odds these two would persevere. I loved how things wrapped up and really enjoyed seeing Lady Norr come into her own.
Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail