Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Still Beating

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann

34 reviews

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I heard about this book from Booktube and was intrigued.
"Still Beating" is a dark romance that follows Cora and Dean. Cora has known Dean since High school, and she has loathed every minute she has to spend with him. Unfortunately for her, he is her sister's fiancé, and it looks like she is stuck with him in her life. After a night out, Cora calls Dean for a ride home from the bar, but they never make it home. Cora and Dean wake up chained in a stranger's basement, and they will have to learn to get along if they want to make it out alive.
Warning: this book is VERY dark and tackles some very challenging issues.
I devoured this book. I was so captivated by Cora's and Dean's story, and I was entirely enamored with watching their relationship evolve. I am normally not a huge fan of enemies to lovers, but this felt so believable and not like true hate, and they were not "enemies" for too much of the story. Their chemistry was undeniable, and I loved that they have known each other for so long. Their history, despite the constant teasing and pranks, really made their connection all the more believable.

Spoiler

Something I loved more than their raw chemistry was how Dean knew how to take care of Cora afterwards. They went through an unimaginable experience and Cora especially had a really difficult time dealing with it. Even though Dean wanted nothing more than to be with Cora, he knew what she really needed was to find herself again, and he stepped away. This selfless act was so beautiful and really proves how much Dean adores Cora.

Spoiler

I 1000% will read from Jennifer Hartmann in the future and I will recommend this book to a very niche audience.

Content Warnings

alliereadsabook's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

p1nklaydie's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

Please read the trigger warnings, this book is insanely dark.

Content Warnings

marlene_suntie_helton's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

bookwxrmvictoria's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I could not put this book down but I did want to at times, and not because of the dark elements (CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS) but because I found 99% of the characters unlikable (including Cora) 😬Overall, i did enjoy this and was moved to tears. This was not really a dark romance to me. I loved the writing, Dean (not a bad boy), Tabitha, and Lily. My favorite line from the book is…

Spoiler

It’s still beating.
You’re still okay.
And I still love you.
— Dean

Content Warnings

bookish_leigh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

This book missed several rounds of editing because HOW on God's green earth did this get picked up by a publishing house.

If I was reading this on fanfiction.net in 2016 this would get 5 stars.

The start of this book was ok. But in hind sight, I must have been swindled by the suspense and trauma to miss how mediocre the writing is and how annoying Cora is.

For the writing, it's good quantity fanfiction AT BEST. So juvenile that, at times, I completely forgot that the characters are touching 30. And Miss Corabelle is no better than the next 17 year old. The only silver lining is that the dialogue and emotions flowed clearly and seamlessly.

For the plot, I really like the kidnapping concept and everything that came with it, but everything that came after was a mess. I wish the psychology of Earl (The Matchmaker) and his victims were expanded upon but no such luck.

For the characters, everyone outside of Dean and Cora were an after thought. The parents were TOO hands off after their daughter and future son-in-law was just kidnapped and brutalized for weeks. At some point, after Cora tried to unalive herself, the mother mentioned wanting to give her space....seriously😑. The lack of attention on Cora's mental health is CRIMINAL. This book could have been a medium to create a dialogue around mental health but failed miserably.
Mandy is a victim of biased writing. She was made to seem like the mean girl of Cora's life from the beginning with out any standing. Only to paint Cora with the "not like other girls" persona...she likes books and pranking Dean...it was never that deep.

Y'all on Book Tok stay exaggerating.

Plot: 2.5/5
Writing: 2.5/5
Characters: 2.5/5
Spice🌶:2 out of 5 forgettable, and hard to rate given how much I disliked this book
Overall: 2.5/5⭐

Content Warnings

abookarmoire's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This was hard to read… a dark romance? The story was a bit beyond the scope of dark.

Perhaps it was a study of how post traumatic stress affects the chemistry between two characters.

Cora and Dean have survived being abducted and forced to do messed up things. After escaping the clutches of a madman, these two struggle to resume their normal, separate lives, and fail miserably. They are bonded and only they can understand one another.

Still Beating has a good ending, after all they have been through, wouldn’t we want them to end up together?

Content Warnings