Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Glow by Raven Kennedy

12 reviews

yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

I really liked this book. It was nice to see Slade and Auren grow closer and see their relationship evolve. The ending of this book had me gasping, crying, clutching my pearls. It was nice to see more of Slade’s past and more of the world. Auren has been through so much and although she occasionally slips on her journey she is so resilient. The relationship between Slade and Ryatt is also complex and interesting. There are lots of great written characters

and a lot to happen in the impending war.

I’m really interested to see where the series goes from here but I’m invested 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Murder, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Torture, and Misogyny

jasperw's review against another edition

The first book in this series I thought was long as it was mostly just set up, but interesting enough it kept me engaged. The second book I really adored. The third book felt like it dragged on and was way longer than it needed to be. This book, the fourth, is just painful. The writing is SO slow. So little happens and yet there are so many chapters with so many characters narrating. The writing just also feels overdone. Not every detail needs to be explained in painful detail. It also feels so repetitive. I really like the idea of this series, and I like some of the characters, but this book is making me not even care about them. I was really rooting for the love interests going into this book, but I just feel so bored and over them now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

_charliesbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

katvou's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, War, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Medical content, Child abuse, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Slavery, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

malisac16's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, and Child abuse

naturally's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-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

3.75

not as strong as glint, or gleam, however i still had a fun time reading. the plot was very slow and huge portion of glow could be considered filler. but i think that we're provided with a very in-depth character study for slade, who i've been desperate to know more about, and auren.

whilst some old questions were answered, so many new ones emerged. we learned a lot about slade's powers but i was confused about

about the actual magic and physics lore of orea, bc it seems very sudden that slade can now rip holes in dimensions across time/from orea to annwyn. now that the bridge is restored, i'm predicting his father will reappear in gold???

the sex scenes were very...creative! ngl there was a major tone shift whenever they arose. gone was the fantasy feel, and in came the real-world 21st century porn script. still hot though. very funny too.

although, i'm not sure if the dom/sub, rough sex undertones really work in a narrative that highlights auren's recovery from an abusive relationship idk. food for thought

glow is a book where you have to just along with the plot. i'm so invested in the series at this point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder and Death

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, War, and Addiction

hannibanani29's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual content, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Murder, Blood, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Death

Minor: Rape, War, Grief, Misogyny, Infidelity, Drug use, and Alcohol

januaryt123's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Sexual content, Torture, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Murder

ka_ke's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

5.0

Easily the best of the series, but that cliffhanger ending though!! The spice between Auren and Slade peaks in this book. But I knew during that ONE scene it was cause everything was going too well despite having 15% of the book left! Also why Argo?? The poor baby did nothing to deserve such treatment!   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Blood, Classism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cursing, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual content, Violence, Body shaming, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Gore, Medical content, War, Medical trauma, Addiction, Drug use, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

nikitanavalkar's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

Spoiler free for this book but Beware spoilers for books 1-3 and your timely reminder to not be here if you haven’t read those first.

In the words of Michael Scott, it feels like somebody took my heart and dropped it into a bucket of boiling tears. This should tell you how I’m feeling after finishing this book. But in the best way because who doesn’t like pain? I sure do. In my fiction 😭 My soul is battered and mangled and weeping in anguish. I shall need about 8-10 business months to recover, or until the next book, whichever comes first. I knew, just knew when things were going way too smoothly and everyone was way too happy that the other mountain was about to drop. AND WAS I WRONG? NO I WAS NOT. 

As we start straight after the harrowing events of Gleam, there’s a lot of consequences and post feral Auren effects that we the reader get to see Auren and Slade go through. And if you’ve been on the journey so far, you know the gold is about to hit the fan. Apart from men with questionable to downright non existent morals, the author has a way with morally grey writing females with so much complexity that you can’t decide if you hate them and want to shake sense into them, or if you low key admire them for doing what they must to survive and grab their power in the patriarchy they’re forced to endure. Seem familiar right? But don’t worry, she still gives you enough people to loathe in the post Midas world which is also a talent because few authors have written villains who I have so much hatred for. I hope they all suffer bigly.

Auren’s journey continues to be an inspiration, because she’s no naturally gifted chosen one born to kick butt, but a hunted, haunted woman with too much trauma in her past who has to struggle at every step to work through it and own her power in a world that continues to be cruel to her. Speaking of morally grey, Auren is of course the fulcrum this series tilts on, but this is Slade’s book without question. As heart wrenching it is to learn about his past and his scars, it is also eye opening. It is rare to love a man more after you’re in his head, but that’s what romance novels were made for. Because if I liked him before, I am now hopelessly in love with Slade Ravinger aka King Rot aka Commander Rip. Slade, just Slade. No thoughts only him. I shall henceforth be insufferable about my adoration for him. You can’t stop me. Do not try. Bird lover, inveterate caretaker, fierce protector, dirty talker. Villainous on demand and not squirmy about it. Few come close in terms of acts of service, or championing his lover’s agency and growth, or filthy shenanigans. He contains multitudes. Okay, fans self and continues with review.

The writing in this series has been beautiful throughout, but this time? It’s ascended to a whole new level. Exceptionally beautiful, sharp and poignant in equal measure, it ~GLOWS~, like words spun into precious gold (sorry could not resist this one). The series only gets better with each book, which is a tough bar to sustain, and Ms Kennedy isn’t just raising it, she’s obliterating it every single time and I now have a serious contender for my top book of the year. I am equal parts excited and nervous to see where she takes us next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse