Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Losers: Part II by Harley Laroux

23 reviews

dkgreads's review

dark emotional 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

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Blood

jessanicolesingh's review

dark emotional tense medium-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

4.0

For a categorically dark/taboo romance duet, these books were much more emotional than I had anticipated them being. I always love a good reverse harem, especially when the men play together too 😉

The series depicts a group of town outcasts in a polyamorous relationship that find themselves reconnecting with their old high school bully, Jess, whom they have all been obsessed with for years. After a chance encounter and car trouble, the guys propose a deal of sorts; if she agrees to join their quad for the time being they would fix her car in their shop. From there you can unsurprisingly expect a copious amount of spicy scenes, very heavy on the BDSM.

I absolutely LOVED these boys; Manson, the unofficial leader of the house and most forward towards bringing the FMC into the mix, Lucas, the hotheaded racer with a soft spot for cats, Vincent, the drug dealer turned romantic goofball, and finally Jason, abandoned by his religious parents that refused to accept him. Jessica on the other hand, I didn’t find myself all that crazy for, I felt like her plight was deeper than her personality at times.

I wouldn't really say there was too much of a plot outside of the payment arrangement that ultimately, and obviously, leads to Jess joining their “family.” There were some ghosts from their collective pasts slowly creeping in on them, namely Manson’s deadbeat father, Reagan, and a few stray bullies from high school still targeting them. From the first book to the second there was a fairly non-climaxal cliffhanger where the group was planning to take a vacation with just a touch of anxiety over the looming threats. Although the main antagonistic force wove in and out rather than a continuous buildup, this actually made the story more realistic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment

BDSM

autumnwitch14's review

dark emotional medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Blood, Medical content, and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism

wandering_seal's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

4.5

Reread.

Right. I love this series, love these characters, but I'd be lying if I didn't say this books got issues. It drags a bit when the story turns into

in-which-Jess-says-"I love you"-one-by-one

. Jess's mother does not get the comeuppance she deserves. But. BUT. The romance. The feels. I love these characters and I only want the best for them and this story is a part of that so how could I rate it poorly. It's got lots going for it if you can work around its issues. This story has stayed with me in a way I never would have anticipated, I love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Gun violence

amanda_reads13's review

dark emotional 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

3.0

We continue to follow Jessica and the men as they navigate their new relationship and deal with outside pressures.

I felt like he overall story and conflict took a backseat in this book and was almost an afterthought. We got the occasional issue with Manson's dad or Jessica's Ex, but not enough to build the tension needed for the reader to care. 

I do appreciate that we get more backstory on the men which allows us to see more of their personalities and their motivations. I think they are all interesting characters, but with 5 different POVs (+1 in this book), it is really hard for the reader to form a solid connection with each of them.

That said, you can feel the love between them. They are fiercely protective of one another and would do anything to keep one another safe. Unfortunately, they have always been a target from the community, but this has lead to such a strong and emotional bond between the men. 

We definitely saw the most character growth from Lucas. As he accepted the love and care of his partners, we saw him relax into the relationship more and become more confident in himself. He held onto so much anger and resentment, that when he let go and began to heal, he allowed himself to really feel that love and support. 

I hate to say it, but many of the spicy scenes felt like they were just thrown in there to get a reaction. Not many of these scenes progressed the plot or added to our understanding of the characters. This duet could have been edited down to one book. This would have allowed the author to place more focus on scenes that gave us solid character development or advanced the plot. It would felt less repetitive and would have allowed for us to connect to the characters more.  
I really appreciate the openness of their relationship. They all have amazing communication and are so supportive of one another. They aren't afraid to talk about everything and anything. I love how open they are about mental health struggles and the conversations around therapy and medication. I wish we had delved a bit deeper into the mental health side. 

Tropes: found family, poly, enemies to lovers

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

art3m1sxx's review

adventurous challenging dark 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: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kaybee_2033's review

dark 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

meowrie's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

This book was just as hot as the first Losers book, but with quite a bit more character development. 

I love all 4 of the guys. 

And Jess showed that she wasn't the same bitch from high school. So I changed my mind from the first review. She did deserve the screaming orgasms after all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mayllomi's review

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Violence

beccisays's review

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

Was great to see the growth and healing in our main characters, played out in a mostly realistic way. There was more emphasis put on the bonds between less connected members of the group this time, which was great to see and rounded out the characters.

Honestly the pee scene wasn’t to my taste and I felt like it had been put in purely for shock factor but thankfully it was brief enough to not ruin the read for me.

The plot and villains were kind of minor and inconsequential, just kind of there to add some tension I suppose. The romance, self-acceptance and character development was much more engaging. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail