Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Hooked by Emily McIntire

82 reviews

sabrinakreads's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was very entertaining.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

savage_book_review's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

I read this series of books last year (and reviews were posted at the time), but recently found the first four were available as audiobooks as part of my Audible subscription. However, they're being removed in a couple of weeks, so I want to try and get them listened to before then! 

The audio version definitely adds a level to the story in bringing it to life, especially where you have a male narrator reading James' chapters and a female narrator reading Wendy's chapters. However, I still cannot understand why you would hire two narrators for that purpose, and then not have them speak the appropriate lines in the other person's chapter (I.e. have the male read James' speech within Wendy's chapters and vice versa). They don't do badly at putting on the opposite voices, but it just grates on my nerves!

I was less convinced by the voices/accents employed for the secondary characters - the male narrator had an especially tough job given that he's a Brit and most of the secondary characters Americans. I couldn't tell you whether the accent was right for the setting (Brit here), but it was quite harsh and didn't necessarily suit the narrators' natural tone of voice. But equally they managed to bring each character to life throughout with different voices for each and, for the most part, they didn't wander too much. 

There were a couple of places where I felt the narrators could have 'acted' a bit more to get the point across, but generally it was a very enjoyable listen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

filipa_maia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

So, this was my first dark romance / smut read, and although this is not my preferred genre, I did appreciate this book.

The characters are complex, with a background that really explains where they are now, they have good arcs, and overall this book has a decent plot. I predicted part of the final plot, but not all, so I still got surprised.

Mostly, I liked the fact that Wendy wasn't completely removed from managing her own life - okay, maybe after what happened she didn't have much of a choice, but still.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Infidelity and Vomit

tranquiltides's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I feel that this book is very deserving of all of the hype that has been generated around it. But reader beware, if you’re looking for redemption arc, light hearted romance and healthy relationships, this is NOT the book for you. 

Its dark, its sexy, its consensual, but there are elements about it that can be triggering for some readers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Excrement, and Car accident

Depictions of child abuse, P*dophelia, and child death are more vague allusions than explicitly depicted

kylasmv15's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Vomit, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

angellike333's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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: Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Sexual violence, Blood, and Car accident

Minor: Gun violence, Stalking, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

dexlud's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

I’m still unsure on my feelings towards this book. I definitely resonated with the daddy issues, but I also didn’t enjoy a lot of this book. The first half was pretty mid but the second half was alright. I enjoyed the drama ig? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

galleytrot's review against another edition

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

4.25

READ: Mar 2024 

FORMAT: Digital 

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 4.5 / 5⭐ 

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 4.25 / 5⭐ 

FINAL – OVERALL: 4.25 / 5⭐ 

In this book, Wendy is feeling a little lost in her father’s apparent lack of interest in either hers or her brother’s lives, and a rebellious night out with her coworkers has her stumbling into the arms of a very dangerous man. As she sets foot in the doors of the Jolly Roger, James recognizes Wendy immediately as the daughter of the man who ruined his life, and while it surprises him that Peter is in the area, unfettered access to his daughter – famously his pride and joy – is fortuitous beyond expectations. Revenge all too sweet is finally within his grasp, and it would be made all the sweeter with Wendy broken and used up by his side. 

Fairy tale reimaginings are something I need more of in my life, and who doesn’t like to root for the heinous, irredeemable villain every once in a while? When my friend proposed this as our next buddy-read, it felt like a good choice, mixing flavours of fantasy, crime, romance, and drama – something for each of us. I might not claim that this story is especially original or clever, but because I don’t stray from my normal genre all that often it was very much new and novel. Some things felt well-thought-out while others felt a bit silly or ham-fisted. I liked that the author wasn’t precious about sticking to the motivations and relationships of the characters from the original works, although plenty of recognizable winks and nods were given to keep the reader looking for them. 

One thing my friend and I agreed on is that towards the end of the book, at the reveal of the even eviller villain, while adequately set up throughout the story, didn’t come with a very satisfying explanation. We were both left with far too many questions regarding their motivations and their ability to orchestrate the events of this book, with so much dependence on random chance. The stars wound up aligning so perfectly to set off a specific set of events, and the idea that the villain would wait in the shadows for as long as they did doesn’t honestly make much sense to me. These notes aside, the book still captivated the both of us completely, and was likely made better as a shared experience. We had a good time, and we are likely to continue on with the series over time. 

This book has at least one character who is portrayed as non-white; there is otherwise little else in the way of diversity. 

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.

This book contains:

death, murder, torture, violence; blood, injuries, gore; weapon violence (knives, guns); alcohol use; implication of past incestuous sexual assault of a minor; past physical abuses of a minor; past parent deaths (car accident, plane crash); drug trafficking; mentions of bullying; kidnapping, confinement; fire/arson; mentions of drug addiction; animal abuse; drug abuse; mention of past infidelity; and, vomiting.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Car accident, and Abandonment

graciegru's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.0

If you like smut in between gruesome torture and murder then this is the book for you. It’s not my cuppa tea, but to each their own. I felt like most of the book was sex. I wish there was more development from when Hook/James started to fall for Wendy. It felt like he switched  from wanting her for  revenge then loving her… just a little odd. 

 The end was nice and heartwarming, though so there’s a plus

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Stalking

readyforit's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

4⭐️4🌶️
The author really gets your hopes up and then you have a moment of WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!! There are lots of twists, some of which I predicted as the book went on. I also listened along with the audiobook and I’d say that’s the superior way to read this book, since there are 2 narrators. I do wish they did duet narration where the FMC and MMC are speaking to each other back and forth like a dialogue, rather than have the FMC chapters narrated by the woman and MMC narrated by the man. I also wish we got more Jon! Wendy and Jon and James and Jon. I also read the extended epilogue that is free on the author’s website and it’s a nice wrap up 10 years later, along with character profiles for Wendy and James. 

I liked both the FMC and MMC but I wished for more character development from Wendy. She doesn’t have a huge personality in the movie either but I feel like maybe she could’ve had some more development than “finding her voice” (barely). James is a complex morally gray character that often makes terrible decisions because he’s blinded by his trauma. I could see so many times in the book where I was like CANT YOU SEE THE ANSWER IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! And he would just continue blaming his enemies from his past.

If you’re hesitant to pick this book up, I’d lookup the trigger warnings. There is mention of

child abuse/pedophilia

but nothing graphic. Also just because this is a Peter Pan “retelling” doesn’t mean hook and Wendy have an age gap, they’re both consenting adults in their 20s. It’s more like the author uses elements of the story like names and places, as she calls it a fractured fairytale.  I liked the book and there was plenty of spice, but I wished it was longer for more fluff and maybe more backstory. I probably won’t be rereading it unless I forget the plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy

mentions of child sexual assault are all done through flashbacks and are not graphic