Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Demon's Dream: An Unexpected Love by Elle Kayson

10 reviews

sistatv's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Baby.... I thought you heffas was lying AGAIN... a 700+ Page book/dictionary/ENCYCLOPEDIA? Ain't no way, my guy... I just KNEW you heffas was llyyyyiinngggg BUT BAAAAEEEBBBBYYYY. Yall told the truth and we will never be SHAMED THE DEMON... This was a wild, fun fantastic voyage and I enjoyed it all. This book is extremely far from my normal favorite black romance genres and SHAME ON ME for not being open to trying books like this... ESPECIALLY  IF THEY COMING WITH THIS. I have a few very slight complaints  or criticisms but NONE of them are even worth mentioning. Reading fiction books  are for entertainment, enjoyment and escapism and baby this was allofem...
I read fast but Freeeennnnnd I read the whole book in less than a day. I ate it right up... The story caught me RIGHT UP from the beginning. Push through the first 2 chapters and suspend your respectability politics and bourgeois BS and enjoy a great book with lovely vibrant characters, crazy love, suspense, trauma, drama, spice, surprises, healing, family, and LOVE.  I really loved it and I'm sooo glad you heffas were NOT lying about this 700 plus page a** dictionary/encyclopedia of a book...lol @SistaTV loves you and Damien, Dream, Smoke and Bestie, Kam and  everryyybody. 

PS. We need an audiobook with amazing voice actors and a movie slash television series  with doubly amazing actors directors cinematography etc... ASAPTUALLY. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

t_ashleyxo's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

agreen901's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Violence, Murder, and Abandonment

bibliominx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Kidnapping, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming and Terminal illness

shanaetheflyest's review

dark emotional funny 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

3.75

I've finally finished the very very dark novel, Demon's Dream and now at the end of the book I'm left feeling like the juice just wasn't worth the squeeze.

There are so many characters in the novel that you have to keep up with, and to be honest, Elle Kayson does a fabulous job at making them all equally entertaining, intriguing, and the events of their lives are interesting...but then there are a million others mentioned at the end of the novel and your head is left spinning as you try to keep up with who's who. I mean, even the FMC, Dream, gets a new name...Baby?

That said, I wish Kayson had bothered to extend the novel by another two or three hundred pages to give us more insight into the lives of the children at then, even if only Kam/Kalylah.

The story fast forwards 10 years, a significant time, and we don't know how the FMC or MMC get along as new parents, newlyweds, or what they do for work - does Demon keep killing? Is Dream still washing drug money?

I'm left with more questions than answers and that's soooo unfulfilling after reading 750+ pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

jadedavon's review

dark emotional funny fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

shhhh_shereading's review

dark funny tense slow-paced

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

5.0

🎵: More Than Enough by Alina Naraz 

Baby the plot was plotting. My heart rate spiked several times with this book. I wonder if we’re gonna get Kam and Kaylah’s story. 

Damien “Demon” Montana was a complex character I had trouble feeling for, but as the story progresses you “get” him. Then I really started rooting for him. His character development was excellent. And when he did speak (of course he was man of few words), he was is funny af. 

Dream Dior Castle did get on my nerves a bit, but my girl grew up and got her happy ending. 

Smoke. My man, my man, my man. Now listen! It was Smoke and Dayana for me the whole book. I couldn’t get enough of them. And that wedding scene. All he said was, “Come here.” I could have passed smooth out. 

Bruh. Dream and Dayana didn’t care about other dudes lives at all. Like please stop involving these other men in their impending deaths. 

Kam had me tearing up though. It be the kids that get me every time. 

Them deadbeat daddies was downright despicable and deserved their demises. (Say that 5x fast as you can 😂) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

thesloreader's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

now_booking's review

dark emotional tense fast-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

I have a lot of thoughts about the way this dark, mafia romance was presented. On the one hand. I’m in awe of this author’s ability to stretch this story out for over 750 pages and have action on every single page and not let it drag for one minute. On the other hand, I don’t think this book needed that many pages to tell this story as well. Indeed, to me, it could have benefited from being split into 2 books by character/plot line. As it was, sometimes it felt like we were getting very single character’s POV and I don’t think that was needed I did appreciate the author’s ability to weave together the almost separate storylines and POV’s of the two protagonist sisters’ coming of age plots in a violent, organised crime context.

The premise is that Dream is her crime family’s fixer and after her brother offends the biggest crime boss in the area by eloping with his daughter, she is forced to sacrifice herself entering into a 1-month arranged situation with the closed-off, intrinsically-damaged from a traumatic childhood, cold-as-ice, Damien/Demon (the brother of the crime boss her family offended).  Sparks fly as the two clash in every way in that one month where family and safety are on the line, and violence and murder are the order of the day. Dream’s sister, Dayana, also features heavily in this as a subplot with Demon’s only friend, Smoke, Dayana’s foolish ex-fiancée, and an assorted cast of bodyguards, villains, cute kids, and broken people.

Overall, I liked this as a dark mafia romance. It is VERY dark and not for the faint of heart. There’s on-page violence, assault, torture, child abuse, murder, gun violence, the list goes on. I don’t think it needed to be quite as gratuitous as it was, but within the context of being a darker romance, it was good. The length of the book really allowed you to follow the characters on their journey of growth so that you felt part of their character trajectory. This solid character development was probably my favourite part of the book. I also enjoyed the adorable epilogue. This book is inherently problematic in the way of dark, mafia romance. The characters do and say awful things and deeper issues are brought up but never dealt with responsibly. E.g. the abortion plot angle. 

In all, I enjoyed this author’s writing. It’s my first book by them and I thought they did a wonderful job keeping this ticking along and to blending an ensemble cast of characters and giving us different POVs without getting lost.  Personally, I don’t mind a dark, mafia romance but this is representative of the very dark side of that sun-genre, so you may want to keep that in consideration if you’re checking this out. I recommend this for the right reader- the one who is willing to “just go with it” and read some deeply problematic people who’ve been through a lot of trauma find love even amidst murder, mayhem, brutal violence and craziness. Nobody in this book is alright and it’s so compelling!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, and Infidelity

Minor: Body shaming, Trafficking, and Classism

bookswhitme's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Mind blowing! It was dark, it was wild, it wasn't what I expected, but damn was it good. Two urban/dark romances wrapped in one? Genius. there were so many twists and turns that it was hard to keep up. I loved that though. It was also very hot and y’all know I love a spicy read. I just couldn’t put this down. Smoke and Demon were definitely unhinged, but they loved their women and would burn the world down for them. That’s just how I like my fictional men. Over 700 pages for a romance? Yeah I thought it was crazy, but actually it was WORTH EVERY PAGE! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pedophilia