Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Gleam by Raven Kennedy

123 reviews

annikenr's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Torture, Vomit, Trafficking, and Injury/Injury detail

thelongroadtosanity's review against another edition

dark sad 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

"Love happens in all kinds of ways. Fast. Slow. In bits and pieces, or immediate. Filled with lust, one-sided longing, a snap realization never noticed before. Deeply. Thoroughly. Love is a whisper we didn’t hear or a sound that drums in our ears and drowns out everything else.”

*
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The tension in this was palpable. The slow burn, utterly amazing. I literally cannot wait for my book to come in two days so I can keep reading because WTF WAS THAT CLIFFHANGER OMG  

I also really enjoyed that the spice level in this series has escalated with this book and I can't wait to see what's in store for the characters. I feel like we were introduced to another big player in this so I am intrigued to see where her true allegiances lie. 

One of the most gut-wrenching, emotional, and devastating scenes I have ever read is in this book. 


I don't know if I can wait the 48 hours for the next book, but I will try my hardest. (07/2024)

5 out of 5 stars for true, emotional devastation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

beckyremillard's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

alyyrose's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

I’m so glad I got to get back to this series and to this book! It’s so beautifully written and the growth of Auren’s character is exciting to follow and I can’t wait to get to the next one. If you’re a SJM fan I would recommend reading this series! (🌶️🌶️.5)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Torture

agustdefault's review against another edition

3.0

alright raven. u got me. i like this one. im not sure if the writing style is better in this book or if im just used to it now but the last half especially i flew through. i dont like men but i would for slade tbh. also what is with aurens determination to never say the word man??????? why does she say male every time????? it sounds so weird and always took me out of the story bc the sentence flow would stop. also can we as a society collectively come up with a new word thats not pussy or cunt because im so tired of het smut scenes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content

rasha_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Gaslighting

frantically's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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? No

3.5

The lit student in me, the critic, would like to rate this 3 or even 2 stars. Nothing happened. Just like in the last book. But the Aurip (?) stan in me won out.

You know, maybe sometimes we don't need a plot. Maybe some healing and some sex is enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Rape and War

purplexwidow's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

The plot is getting stronger, the romantic tension is building … the payoff is👌 This was a fun read! Ends on a cliffhanger (seems to be true for all the books in this series so far.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Sexual content

mikasana's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.25

Best of the series (so far).

This is also the only series I feel has no definite beginning, middle nor end for each book. It’s more so just one sliver of a large overarching story that stems from the first book. There’s usually 1 definite moment that becomes the highlight of each book so far but again, beginning and end are all pretty blurry. 

This approach makes the world and its world-building pretty lacking with more questions than answers as book seems to stray away from. The majority of the focus is on its characters and their relationships/development. 

So despite all its flaws, the slowburn is immaculate. The payoff from book 2 into book 3 is delicious. I love the tension, the flirtations, and the push/pull between our FMC and her love interest.

I will say, however, my biggest gripes were some of the pet names that were used (I hate seeing “baby” as a term of endearment) and some of the raunchier scenes that just felt a little bit out of place with the rest of the book.

Overall the series has me hooked and despite its flaws I will be finishing all of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pregnancy

rubisbooknook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

Ok this is the book where this series fully shines! Book 1 and 2 in the series were all set up for the perfection that is this book. I absolutely loved it! I was so emotionally invested in Auren’s journey to find her strength and it was beautiful seeing it. The love story finally took off in this book too and I was obsessed it. There were also some shocking revelations and surprising moments that had me on the edge of my seat until the last page. I always say the best was to know if a book was good is when it makes you get so lost in it that you forget you’re reading, and this is one of those stories that has the ability to do that! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Trafficking, and Injury/Injury detail