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chauntel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, and Suicide attempt
whichdirection's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This book is marketed & listed as stand-alone but I would argue you absolutely need to have read Sin & Ty’s books for a good chunk of this one to make sense. Otherwise the immediate introduction of all these characters & the things they know about Luke and Whitney would make No Sense.
There were a lot of plot holes, and inconsistent characterization.
Additionally Ash & Saint’s relationship (like their Romance and their Love) is developed mainly in flashbacks which I found incredibly unfulfilling. They have plenty of sex but he gives her Zero aftercare and they never really talk/bond.
Overall I was just really confused and disappointed for the majority of this book.
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Trafficking and Toxic friendship
firequeen_ash23's review against another edition
- 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
Author: Shantel Tessier
Series: L.O.R.D.S #5
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Spice: 🌶🌶🌶🌶
The first book I ever read by Shantel Tessier was The Ritual, and from that moment on, I've been obsessed with her writing, the characters, just this whole series. I've been looking forward to reading Carnage since I read about the spade brothers. And of course, Shantel Tessier DID NOT disappoint with this 5 star read.
I love that Carnage, like the other books, was filled with mystery. Carnage is riddled with questions, unclear motives, secret agendas by multiple people, some of them unknown, and of course, it's got plenty of villians. I love how each book can be tied together in some way with whether it's the same characters in the same universe, the timeline, or just something that happened in one book but affected others in another book. I couldn't get enough of the darkness in Carnage. It’s raw and gritty, I love it and couldn't help but want more. Shantel is a fantastic smut author! You could forget about the hot and spicy moments in this book, whew 🥵🥵!! I really did enjoy the scenes between Ashytn and Saint, not to mention when Saint let Haiyden and Kashton play, too. The way Saint and Ashytn's owned their toxicity with their selves and with one another was just HOT! I love Saint's depravity. I love Saints' obsession with Ashytn. Yes, he loves her, but he's also obsessed with her to the point it's slightly toxic, but of course, that makes it even hotter!
I also really loved Haidyen and Kashton, the other Spade brothers, in this book. Haiyden and Kashton, though scary and maybe a little crazy, they're both sexy AF, bad@$$, and killers, but they both care about soft spot for Ashytn, especially Haiyden.
I really don't think I have one bad thing to say about this book, though I do wish some things would have been a little more fleshed out with better explanations, but I still loved the book. I CAN'T wait for the next Spade brother book. Shantel Tessier has become an autoread author for me with this series. If you haven't read the L.O.R.D.S series, then I highly recommend Carnage and the rest of the L.O.R.D.S series; they're all 5 star reads!
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Miscarriage, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
kaadee's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Also, the plot is so all over the place, last 100 pages never make sense but I stay for the smut.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
laylareadsthings's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Overall this series is basically a perfect five stars for me. It’s top tier dark romance and my favorite to recommend when someone is ready to dive into DARK dark romance (please take TW and content warnings very seriously, they are lengthy and there for a reason). The smut is iconic, I don’t think anyone comes close to Shantel in this genre. So it pains me to say that this wasn’t my favorite of the series. And LOOK like I said I LOVE this series, so by ’least favorite’ I mean no insult, there were just some issues for me and each new addition is competing with perfection. Spoilers will be hidden, open at your own risk.
One of the reasons I’ve enjoyed this world is the attention to detail with the plot. The long conning and planning, the way characters maneuver around an incredibly strict set of rules. In Carnage, some of the character motivations and decisions felt more juvenile to me than previous books. More chaos than control. This may be because you’re juggling more characters here so the story doesn’t feel as tightly woven. There is more reiteration in this book than previous ones of the FMCs consent and interests, which some may find repetitive but I think is extremely important with this story. Ashtyn and Saint will make you work for their love, and I’m going to be thinking about them for a long time. Saint is SO GOOD, might be right behind Ryat for me as #1. And Ashtyn is really unlike any FMC I’ve read before which I mean as the highest compliment, especially in this genre where FMCs can feel repetitive to me.
There’s incredible interconnectivity from the other books in the series, people pop up for a reason and it doesn’t feel frivolous. This book is written as a standalone, however I recommend you read the prior books to get the full impact. If you go in blind, the ending may feel confusing to you - but I actually think it would be a wild ride to go back and piece everything together knowing how this book wraps up.
I am so freaking thrilled to continue in this world and I’m dying for the next two brothers’ books (and hopefully many more)!! Once I’ve read a few palette cleansers, I’m excited to go back and do a reread.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Abandonment
natashareadsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
5⭐ out of 5⭐
Tropes:
→ dark romance
→ new adult romance
→ secret society
→ revenge romance
→ sharing 😏 (NOT an RH)
→ possessive/OTT Hero
→ touch her & 💀
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Bdsm, bondage, somnophilia, claustrophobia, branding, orgasm denial, forced orgasm, humiliation, degradation, CNC, DubCon, anal,