Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

32 reviews

sierrabowers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I loved this book. The only reason I didn’t give it a 5 star rating is because of some of the random things put in that didn’t make sense or they were cringe. But otherwise, great plot and a great morally grey main character !! I liked the dual plot with the great grandmother’s murder and the infiltration of a trafficking ring. An amazing independent author! Support independent authors!!!!!
PSA PLEASE check triggers before reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lochnessvhs's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, Kidnapping, and Classism

rensmagiclibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This book dives heavily into intense and dark themes, so please take extreme notice of the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. However, if you're drawn to sinister storytelling, the dual perspectives of the Manipulator and the Shadow offer a gripping narrative. The ending left me eager to download Hunting Adeline. 

For fans of dark 'romance,' this is worth exploring. But, if you're sensitive to these themes or not a fan of dark romance, skipping it won't be a huge loss. Personally, while well-written, it wasn't a must-read for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bashsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

0.25

I've read 137 books this year, and this one stands out as the worst. It's not due to the sex, which is desperately trying to be edgy but is actually quite boring, nor is it due to the darker themes - I start my review by saying this because undoubtedly this author and fans of this work likely think that criticisms of it come from that angle.

My biggest issues with Haunting Adeline are as follows:

1) Its writing style is bad. This author cannot write for shit. This book is extremely vague and noncommittal in its descriptions, frustratingly unwilling to give much specific information about the world, and unbelievably cringe-worthy in its dialogue. 

2) It promotes a pretty fucked up view of gender - the world of Haunting Adeline implies that even the best of men are predators and even the most strong-willed of women are victims/prey. I could go on about this point with a few dozen examples, but I will boil it down to the most galling one: at one point, there are two victims of human trafficking being discussed - one an adult woman described as a "twenty-four year old girl" and one a child, a little boy. And there is more time and focus put on how this poor "girl" than the actual child. It goes without saying that it's normal to feel for any victims of trafficking, but I find it suspicious that in a book that pulls out pedophilia and child abuse as an excuse for every other crime committed, more focus is given to the female victim, who is an adult, than the literal child - and of course, she's infantilized.

3) Putting a warning that says "this isn't antisemitic" at the beginning of a book is not sufficient. You have to actually not perpetuate antisemitic propaganda in the book. Saying "oh I just like conspiracy theories and it's just my twisted mind" and then vomitting the contents of right-wing Facebook memes onto the page is an act of both idiocy and hubris. God, the ego on this Carlton.

There is a lot more I could gripe about - like how the male lead Z justifies his murders in the most annoying and unconvincing ways or how the titular Adeline just takes him at his word about everything despite him stalking and raping her or the super pervasive ableism or the absolutely weaksauce attempt at class analysis or how this is absolutely catnip for white women who believe they're going to be kidnapped at Target - but I'll just save us both some time and sanity and tell you not to bother with this dumpster fire of a book. If you're looking for a dark bit of smut, just pull up AO3. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Racism and Torture

Minor: Death of parent

krosebooks's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.5

I like that the book is so graphic and Carlton wasn’t afraid to go too far with the book. I was worried about the sexual content warnings but once you read it, it’s different. I don’t think anything is super triggering in this book but everyone is different. It is GRAPHIC though so be prepared. 

The actual book was nice easy to read and kept me intrigued. I wouldn’t give it 5 stars because I didn’t think the ending was as shocking as I thought. Great book though, loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

riella_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 

Really liked this at first but it got so boring towards the end.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

gravelhayley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

0.25

READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS AND REVIEWS.  If you don’t want to feel disgusted reading this book, skip it entirely or at least until a little over half the book. The plot (minus the stalking, and everything attached to it) would’ve made an interesting read, but I just cant get past the beginning. I had to skip many pages reading this. The ending of the book was good and I probably will read the second book but definitely am glad I did not purchase this book with my own money. Only read if you are willing to audibly say “what the actual f**k is going on, this is disgusting”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Classism

sleepyochre's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cait's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism