Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Whiskey & Sin by Emily Rath

9 reviews

piperclover's review against another edition

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

4.0

I am absolutely shocked that I enjoyed this. I have hated every alpha omega book I have ever read, even though I love it in fan fiction, so I was certain I was going to dnf this one too but I was hooked pretty quickly. 

I did almost DNF early on because it was really graphic from the start and I was afraid it would get worse because I'm very squeamish and easily frightened. And there were definitely parts that I skipped over or didn't listen to because they were a bit too graphic for me.  That being said though the rest of the story and the rest of the characterization kept me going so it never got too bad that I needed to quit. 

 There were definitely things that made me cringe like the constant use of "alphahole" instead of "asshole". It feels so Sarah J Maas (derogatory). There's a sex scene that is in possibly the most absolutely absurd and stupid times for a sex scene to be happening. The scene itself should have been hot and I should have enjoyed it,  but I was so jarred by the timing of it and the context of it that I skipped through the entire thing because I could not believe it was happening. 

This is high energy, high emotion, and high tension for the entire book. It gave me anxiety 🙃. I out it down for days because it was so high stakes at some points. Silas and Bear make such a wonderful pair, I truly believe they have a happy ever after. 

A note: the narrator for Silas has a speech impediment so he pronounces "th" as an "f" and a "v"  so "bathroom" became "baffroom" and "brother" became "bruver".  If you are someone who cannot handle listening to that repeatedly, you shouldn't even bother trying this audio book. He ACTS incredibly in this book though. He acted out every gasp, wheeze, cry, and even made kissing sounds (like he was kissing his own hand) during one particular sex scene and it worked so well. 

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op3's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

4.0


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bethybook's review

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense fast-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


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wildatheart1339's review against another edition

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3.75


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abookwormspov's review against another edition

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emotional 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


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joxeia's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

one of the best captivating books ive read. the romance was not only there, i could feel it; it was a wholesome experience bc its not always that something I read gives me butterflies and twinges my heart like these words between Bear and Silas. 

Their dynamic.. 💯 im so serious, if men were like bear… wowowowowow world domination, we would be SALIVATING lmao, and the way he begs??? Bear, you have won my heart ❤️ they way he cares for Silas, the way he protects him, the way he puts his needs before his own… 😳 

this book was perfection, the spicy scenes were giving spice, and, i repeat, the begging?!!! I LOVE WHEN ALPHA MALES BEG? LIKE YES, SAY PLEASE AND BEG ME TO KISS U IDC 😂

i liked that they didnt go the typical “bad guy kidnaps omega and alpha needs to go rescue him” so it was a refresher to see a third act where the villains DONT kidnap, they always seem to kidnap 💀

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goldensisyphus's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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aelin_morgenstern's review

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emotional hopeful 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

4.75


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zabeishumanish's review

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dark emotional inspiring 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

4.5

Trigger Warnings!! Please check them before you decide to read this book, there is a lot and they are intense. The author has a very comprehensive list of warnings at the front of the book so they are easy to check. All that said I do think that the blurb for this book is a touch misleading. While the blurb does allude to the danger and violence that Silas has faced, it in no way communicates the brand or intensity of that violence. In the content warnings, the author says "A character [the omega, Silas] suffers from PTSD and experiences several active symptoms including heightened startle response, fear of physical touch, nightmares, depression/numbness, suicidal thoughts, and memory loss/confusion." All of that is accurate, but I would go so far as to say that the majority of the plot and drama of this book is about Silas's PTSD and the violence he faced as a human trafficking victim. That is not an exaggeration, this book is at least 50/50 romance to trauma survival, leaning more towards surviving the trauma. Despite the heavy topics, I found the book incredibly satisfying and the romance HEA a hard-won delight.

Silas frowned again. He didn't know why it bothered him, but it did. He wasn't used to people doing things for him. At least, never anything he wanted them to do. Since meeting Bear, it was like the alpha couldn't stop doing things for him. Getting him out of the road, taking him to the vet, bringing him home, leaving him water and pills. If he expected anything from Silas in return, his alpha ass would be disappointed. (Slias's POV, 56)

One of my favorite elements of this book is that the HEA is not solely related to romance. On all fronts, this book has an incredibly fulfilling ending. In the world of this book omegas are rare, and becoming rarer, as such they are valuable, almost commodified, and face violence and abuse because of their status. While the ending to this book doesn't fall into the plot hole of magically solving everything, it realistically takes steps towards remedying omega abuse in ways that not only personally improve the characters' lives but also improve omega lives in general. This ending SATISFIES, both personal HEA and positive political change.

Bear made good on his promise. When he returned from his furniture delivery in town, he made Silas an amazing dinner of pistachio-crusted halibut and roasted potatoes with a goat cheese and arugula salad. Silas had never tasted a halibut in his life, and he had no idea pistachios could be used to 'crust' things, but it was amazing. (Silas's POV, 273)

The only reason I'm marking this book down from 5-stars is that I found the blurb misleading, so I didn't fully go into the book knowing what to expect. Had the blurb talked about the human trafficking and PTSD being central to the story this would have easily been a 5-star read. As it is I found elements of the book jarring because I wasn't prepared for the intensity. These characters deserve their happy ending and I'm so glad they found it.

I received an ARC copy of this book, and this is a book I will be rereading at release! 
Holds up to a second read-through, a fully enjoyable reading experience!

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