Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Raven King by Nora Sakavic

94 reviews

unicorn3's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Following Neil and the other Foxes through this book is definitely a ride as we get to know everyone else and their reasons to be a Fox in Wymacks team.
The writing style is a tad better, the characters aren't that stereotypical anymore, but it's still not really good.
The development and the stories of every single Fox tho, that's what actually makes these books so good, seeing them growing as a found family, overcoming their past struggles and helping eachother through them, that's what makes these books as good as they are.

Neil being oblivious that they are his friends (Nicky actually telling him, that yes indeed they're friends), him feeling "weird" whenever someone does something for him, it's heartbreaking and oh so bittersweet to see him finally having an actual support system, feeling free and careless, I love it!

This book starts a bit slow and turns into a rollercoaster of emotions, it prepares everything for the last book while being better than the first installment of the series. It's not the best, but so much better than the first and makes you really fall in love with the characters!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Outing, and Toxic friendship

leeonapple's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual assault

lauwbinx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

kai1013's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse

regina_184's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

3.5

Again this is a guilty pleasure book of mine, that I discovered in the pandemic and occasionally re-read.

This book has a more interesting plot than the first book ( when it comes to relationships) but it does have more intense subject matter. If you are not interested in reading anything with sexual assault and rape I would stay far away from this book.

Overall, I can't say this is a objectively good book since the plot is insane, but I do enjoy it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

Was this book still confusing: yes. Was this book even more traumatic: yes. Were some of the plot points a stretch: yes.
Do I think this was the best in the trilogy: one hundred percent yes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

sophia_pearl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

andmingmingtoo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Can I, in good conscience, recommend this book to a normal person? Probably not
Has the "you know, I get it" speech irrevocably rewired my brain chemistry? Absolutely

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Outing

slackens13's review

fast-paced

• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

nikoops's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

As with the rest of this series, it’s hard to describe. The characters are engaging, the plot, ridiculous, and the writing decent. This might make it sound like you shouldn’t read it, and honestly? Despite the 5/5 stars, you probably shouldn’t. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

The Raven King picks up exactly where The Foxhole Court ends. The story remains in Neil’s POV, starting with the Foxes spending Halloween all together; it becomes apparent that it was definitely Riko behind Seth’s untimely death; however, with Seth gone, the team does seem to start to work together more cohesively on the court. They start to rank up wins, and there is hope for them to make it to the semifinals. Things start to go downhill when Nicky’s family invites him and the twins home for Thanksgiving. The invitation comes with the directions that the twins have to come or else Nicky cannot go. Desperate to see his family again and hopefully reconcile their differences, Nicky asks Neil to get Andrew to agree to go. Neil does, but not for Thanksgiving; Nicky’s family is accommodating. The meal comes with an unexpected and devastating surprise—they have invited Drake (Andrew’s former brother to be, had he been adopted by the Spears), and he is waiting upstairs secretly for Andrew. Luther (Nicky’s father) tricks Andrew into going upstairs where he is knocked over the head with a bottle by Drake and assaulted. Neil suspects Andrew is in trouble, when Luther mentions Drake, and goes upstairs with Aaron to see. They wind up breaking down the door to find Andrew being assaulted, Aaron winds up killing Drake. Aaron is arrested for the murder, but is allowed back until his trial due to Matt’s mother posting bail. Betsy makes the choice to have Andrew go off his meds due to the circumstances, which requires him going to Easthaven for 24/hr supervision as he comes off them. During this all, the team grows closer still as the team decides to stick together as often as possible—Aaron also gets to spend time with his girlfriend Katelyn. At the Christmas banquet, Riko tells Neil that he has to come to Evermore for winter break—he threatens Andrew’s safety should Neil refuse. Neil, of course, agrees to this, and is subjected to torture for the entirety of winter break. He returns to Palametto unsure of how he got there, with new scars, his natural eye and hair color back, and a four tattooed on his cheek. He calls Wymack for help, and reveals some more truth to him, the book ends on him wondering how their season will go, and how he will survive it.