Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Carnage by Shantel Tessier

16 reviews

bookedupchick's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Abortion, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

car_car22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

I thought I loved the first books in this series Ryat and Sin and Tyson but in comes Saint. The back and forth the passion and his friends! I love all of them and the story line. Ashtyn is the strongest female character I’ve read in a long time and is truly an inspiration and unapologetically herself. I really hope we get another L.O.R.D.S. book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

machteldv's review against another edition

dark

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

bookoholicanom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

So much goes on in this book and it’s just wow. But there is a plot twist I didn’t see coming that had me stopping my car to listen without distraction. At this point I love all of these books in this standalone series and it’s hard to pick a favorite now. Hayden is my favorite and he’s not even the main main character. I loved this book and the characters and the storyline. All of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

clairelisebella's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

taylormichele'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Favorite quote: “There is no God here, sweetheart. Make no mistake, you will kneel for me, but the things I have planned for you are anything but holy.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use and Torture

xlaurareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

this book was literally sooo good! i loved the dynamics between ash and the spade brothers, especially with saint, but i also really loved loved loved haidyn! would've loved to see more of him haha. you could really feel how much saint and ash love each other and while i thought ash to be a little too compliant lots of times in throughout the book, i also think she's a pretty strong and determined fmc. saint kinda felt like a badass with a secret golden retriever heart for ash and whilst i hated his behaviour towards her when he finally found her and took her back to carnage, i think his inner conflict on why he wouldn't let himself feel his love for her and make it visible to her was acted out amazingly! the plot going on towards the end of the book was great and full of unexpected twists and turns which made me gasp and cry out loud and guess everything - i couldn't put the book down, read until 2 am to finish it and went to work having slept for only 4 hours and that was totally worth it! the ending was great too and i was the happiest girly ever when i found out (although i guessed it already, but the author confirmed it) that

my man haidyn did, in fact, not die because of the motherfuckers who attacked him but is still very much alive

! nonetheless, the book was pretty dark, some stuff was really hard to swallow for me and i didn't like the dudes' behaviour towards ash when she came back to carnage...like yeah i get it hard times this that but duh they really could've handled the situation better cause they all knew she loves saint, he loves her and kash & haidyn love her as well sooo. but otherwise i enjoyed reading it quite a lot and had it finished within a day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

ahbee_p_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

2.5 stars purely for entertainment value.
The FMC needs serious therapy. 
The second half of this book was messy, and the flashbacks were repetitive. 
MMC isn't "morally grey," he's abusive.
I've read other books from the L.O.R.D.S series, so I went into this with a fairly open mind.. overall, I was disappointed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

booknerdcoco's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

This book seemed like pure smut towards the beginning (not complaining) and i felt like I really got to know the characters, though they jad brief appearances in the previous standalone novels, I didn't get the opportunity to properly get to know the , so I appreciate  that opportunity.

 Shantel Tessier is (imo) iconic for her plot twists, and I knew something HUGE was coming. And when it arrived...well, it bent me over and had its way. Because I was not expecting it...any of it!!!!!

The story starts off slow, but it does set up the history of the characters really well. I also really liked how this particular novel started to really build on the relationships she characters had from the other interconnected standalones. 

Dark and gritty are what springs to mind when I think about this book (very dark, in fact).

I got to the final 47 pages, and all hell was breaking loose. I was so worried. I would be left with questions that would go unanswered. Whilst I do have questions, a lot were answered in those final 47 pages. I think the other questions (like all of the series) are to set up to maintain a relationship with future novels. I'm OK with this. It's ST'S MO.

Now, for those of you who dont know, ST is the queen of the tease
 And what the plot twists hit, oh man, do they slap- HARD!!!

Plot 4.5/5
Spice 5/5
Book boyfriend 4/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Trafficking

misswirum's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

This book deserves 3 stars, but I'm giving it 4 and it's all because of how much I love Saint&Ashtyn😍

I have a love/hate relationship with this series.

I'm not a fan of the author's writing style. Her L.O.R.D.S-books are hard to read, but not because the writing is "difficult". It's just badly written. I have to read dozens of sentences multiple times and even then they don't always make sense. Her descriptions of people and the world surrounding them is also.. off. She's not giving us anything to work with and some things changes every time. I still don't understand how Carnage looks like. (In my head) it changes from being a bunker to a skyscraper to a small town. Which is it??

I'm not the only one complaining about the author's writing style because after every book there's a dozen post on the author's SoMe asking what the plot was and what they're missing 😂 

We're also been told through the last 3 books that "The Lords" are the most powerful people in the world (lol). But suddenly the Kings in Las Vegas can match their powers? Okay...

The author is also not a girl's girl. No FMC have a single thought behind their eyes. They HAVE been going to the university for four years, but I guess nothing really stuck? 
I totally understand the vibe Carnage's suppose to give, but I don't understand why the women can't be powerful in the end?
The SA's of the women in this series is also off the charts!! Like, can we dial it down? The scenes screams "written for shock value". 
In the next books I NEED the characters to question the Lords! WHY do they follow the rules? WHO'S giving the instructions??

Why am I giving it four stars when I have so much to rant about? Because the romance was cute and seemed real.
Ashtyn is my favourite of all the FMC in this series. There is just something about her 🥺 Saint's my favourite after Ryat.

The 🌶 is unreal in this and definitely one of my faves😏

4⭐️
2,75/5📝
4/5🌶

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism