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Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'
What Lurks Between the Fates by Harper L. Woods, Adelaide Forrest
15 reviews
tired_cicada's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
2.0
I can’t with this series anymore. I just can’t. Book two and three should have been one book. It was so needlessly long. So much repetitive bullshit that amounts to nothing.
Oh and don’t even get me started on Kaldris! He’s always “if you are ever uncomfortable tell me and I’ll stop” but then when Astrea specifically tells him to stop because she is uncomfortable he literally tells her “well you’re going to have to get used to it”.
Also Rape is a CONSTANT theme in this. The mc is constantly being threatened with it. We find out Kaldris has been raped on and off for centuries. It’s not handled tastefully at all, just thrown in for shock value.I’ll give her a LITTLE grace for actually killing Kaldris’s rapist. That at least had a satisfying conclusion
You know I could get behind the “girl power, reclaiming your sexuality as a woman” movement this book has going on if the MC didn’t make the same preachy speech to herself everytime she gets. Like we GET IT! You like sex, have a voyerisum kink that you’re ashamed of, and like to kill people now. We have all accepted that. We have all moved on, can you please focus on the PLOT?!? can you maybe make ONE actual plan for how you are going to fix things?
The torture scenes were rather intense and surprisingly well written. That is apparently where all of the editing budget went.That scene where asters has a strip of her skin slowly flayed off her back was so graphic! Like where did THAT come from? That was some grade A body horror! You had THAT in you the whole time
? Where has that quality been the entire series. We get scenes like THIS and then it’s right back to shock value deaths that have no emotional impact. Like the bit where she kill some of the human mates for force someone to swear loyalty to her and then that has zero impact on the plot and because we don’t know any of the people involved it just bushed over like “oh, that’s unfortunate”.
This book has the most random mythology sprinkled in it. Like it’s Greek, but also kinda Christian and Roman, with hints of Norse and first people folklore. But they aren’t likely well done representations of the myths. Like why is the Minotaur here and why is this bit just the plot of the Labyrinth?
I might give the next book a try if I’m bored after it comes out but I really had to force myself to finish this one (I only did cause I got it from the library and they have to pay for every download of their ebooks, and I’d feel bad for wasting that). Who knows.I’ll probably give it a chance, only because the main couple is going to be separated for (hopefully) a significant amount of time so the author will be forced to focus on the plot rather than copy and paste another repetitive dub con smut scene
Edit: yall I genuinely keep forgetting that Mauve has an actual daughter. Like that plot line was so underused after so much time worrying about it in bk2. I genuinely forget she exists. Gun to my head is you asked me her name I’m dead. She is such a superfluous character at this point.
Oh and don’t even get me started on Kaldris! He’s always “if you are ever uncomfortable tell me and I’ll stop” but then when Astrea specifically tells him to stop because she is uncomfortable he literally tells her “well you’re going to have to get used to it”.
Also Rape is a CONSTANT theme in this. The mc is constantly being threatened with it. We find out Kaldris has been raped on and off for centuries. It’s not handled tastefully at all, just thrown in for shock value.
You know I could get behind the “girl power, reclaiming your sexuality as a woman” movement this book has going on if the MC didn’t make the same preachy speech to herself everytime she gets. Like we GET IT! You like sex, have a voyerisum kink that you’re ashamed of, and like to kill people now. We have all accepted that. We have all moved on, can you please focus on the PLOT?!? can you maybe make ONE actual plan for how you are going to fix things?
The torture scenes were rather intense and surprisingly well written. That is apparently where all of the editing budget went.
? Where has that quality been the entire series. We get scenes like THIS and then it’s right back to shock value deaths that have no emotional impact. Like the bit where she kill some of the human mates for force someone to swear loyalty to her and then that has zero impact on the plot and because we don’t know any of the people involved it just bushed over like “oh, that’s unfortunate”.
This book has the most random mythology sprinkled in it. Like it’s Greek, but also kinda Christian and Roman, with hints of Norse and first people folklore. But they aren’t likely well done representations of the myths. Like why is the Minotaur here and why is this bit just the plot of the Labyrinth?
I might give the next book a try if I’m bored after it comes out but I really had to force myself to finish this one (I only did cause I got it from the library and they have to pay for every download of their ebooks, and I’d feel bad for wasting that). Who knows.
Edit: yall I genuinely keep forgetting that Mauve has an actual daughter. Like that plot line was so underused after so much time worrying about it in bk2. I genuinely forget she exists. Gun to my head is you asked me her name I’m dead. She is such a superfluous character at this point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Sexual harassment
svbvge's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-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
3.0
So far this series is just okay. I like it, however I find it quite repetitive. A lot of the inner and outer dialogue of the characters is repeated time and time again. A lot of the plot feels heavily inspired by other very popular romantasy books, which although not bad, just again feels like I’ve read it before just with different characters. I will likely read the next book in the series when it is released because I am interested to see how the story finishes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
cbtobin's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence
acourtofcoffee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really liked it but I felt like it could’ve progressed more. We went through all of that in the book and it's like the ending took it back to square one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
mpickens's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
3.5
Loved the book - however, the spelling, grammar, and editing were atrocious. There were some places I had to re-read several times to figure out what was meant.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual violence
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
leila_reads_too_much's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
bookswithcee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I liked this book. Not loved it. But it was good. The spice was kicked up a notch which I did enjoy. But there was a LOT of torture and often mentions a character’s past sexual assaults.
I really feel like this could have been the end of the series but it of course had a spin and a Cliff hanger and didn’t make any progress on Estrella’s lineage or what she is. Still just very vague clues which could be literally anything and after 3 books I feel like we deserved to know by now, and not at the very end.
The cliff hanger was frustrating because it did NOT have to end that way and the other options were obvious to everyone except Estrella and Caldris apparently. The storyline did finally progress now that they’re in the Fae lands but really not a lot of new information in an entire additional book.
All in all, will still read the next one because of the questions left unanswered and I love the relationships Estrella has built.
Also, RIP to the most helpful god she’s met besides her mate. He was a real one. :(
I really feel like this could have been the end of the series but it of course had a spin and a Cliff hanger and didn’t make any progress on Estrella’s lineage or what she is. Still just very vague clues which could be literally anything and after 3 books I feel like we deserved to know by now, and not at the very end.
The cliff hanger was frustrating because it did NOT have to end that way and the other options were obvious to everyone except Estrella and Caldris apparently. The storyline did finally progress now that they’re in the Fae lands but really not a lot of new information in an entire additional book.
All in all, will still read the next one because of the questions left unanswered and I love the relationships Estrella has built.
Also, RIP to the most helpful god she’s met besides her mate. He was a real one. :(
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Confinement, Death, and Murder
kayemm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book is infinitely better than the first two. I really enjoy the series overall, but this book has a much deeper, richer plot. The sex in this book actually moves the story along (I mean ok, not all of it lol). It's not entirely salacious. The character development here is good as well, and there are some twists that you definitely don't see coming. I'm usually able to predict books, and there were some things about this that I actually didn't predict. I liked that about it.
Without giving spoilers away, there are some plot holes that are still lingering from the first and second books, as well as some that are created in this third book, but potentially those could all be tied up in the fourth book, so just keep those in mind in case plot holes aggravate you like they do me...
The violence in this book is a lot stronger and more gorey than the first two books. There were absolutely parts that made me cringe, but I felt like the author did an incredibly good job at conveying the raw, visceral feelings and scenes that she wants the reader to understand so that the scenes serve a purpose instead of just being gratuitous.
Also, I can't help but laugh at all of the people who say that there isn't a diverse cast. The author does a very good job at describing all of the different shades of skin tone of the characters in the book. They range from caramel skin, porcelain skin, practically see-through (they're technically dead lol), the skin of burnt leaves in autumn, etc. It's a unique and fantasy-based way of describing skin tones. That makes it very clear that the characters are based around multiple different ethnicities, not to mention it's literally based around various types of beings. She even refers to one of the Fae as sepia-toned. It's also fae, humans, witches, Gods, changelings, and other fantasy creatures. It's not diverse in reality, but it's definitely diverse!!
I'm dying to see where the fourth book goes. I can't believe how long we have to wait for it to come out. Ugh.
Without giving spoilers away, there are some plot holes that are still lingering from the first and second books, as well as some that are created in this third book, but potentially those could all be tied up in the fourth book, so just keep those in mind in case plot holes aggravate you like they do me...
The violence in this book is a lot stronger and more gorey than the first two books. There were absolutely parts that made me cringe, but I felt like the author did an incredibly good job at conveying the raw, visceral feelings and scenes that she wants the reader to understand so that the scenes serve a purpose instead of just being gratuitous.
Also, I can't help but laugh at all of the people who say that there isn't a diverse cast. The author does a very good job at describing all of the different shades of skin tone of the characters in the book. They range from caramel skin, porcelain skin, practically see-through (they're technically dead lol), the skin of burnt leaves in autumn, etc. It's a unique and fantasy-based way of describing skin tones. That makes it very clear that the characters are based around multiple different ethnicities, not to mention it's literally based around various types of beings. She even refers to one of the Fae as sepia-toned. It's also fae, humans, witches, Gods, changelings, and other fantasy creatures. It's not diverse in reality, but it's definitely diverse!!
I'm dying to see where the fourth book goes. I can't believe how long we have to wait for it to come out. Ugh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
brireads96's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Physical abuse