Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Heavy Crown by Sophie Lark

10 reviews

spatterson7's review

emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

bellebookcorner's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

It pains me to say this but I felt quite disappointed with the final book of this series.
I had such high hopes after reading the previous book about Raylan and Riona, unfortunately this one left me wanting for so much more.

I was really curious about Seb’s story right from the beginning when his dream as a basketball player was crushed early on because of that incident.
It’s pretty interesting to see another side of Sebastian since he was always portrayed as the kind-hearted boy.

Sebastian meet Yelena, they do have some sweet and tender moments with each other but I think it wasn’t really enough to get me thoroughly invested with the couple. I wish there’s more interaction between them throughout the story.

Another thing I didn’t like in this book is how the characters from the previous books seems to changed. I felt really disappointed with how Dante reacted with the whole thing as well as the Griffin family. I get that the Griffin is trying to clean themselves up but the Gallo are their in-laws I thought they would’ve done something…..

The ending also ends rather abruptly, everything happened too fast.
Although, I was intrigued with the epilogue at the very end showing the next series is gonna be about their children.

While I didn’t really like this one, overall this whole series is a pretty enjoyable read if you wanted something simple, quick, spicy dark romance.
I’m still excited to see the next spin-off series with the next generation!

I received an advanced review copy for free through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Huge thank you to the author and publisher!
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Murder

hanschub's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

i really loved this entire series and i think this book was a very bittersweet ending to everything.

the only things i wish were expanded on more were enzo’s death, specifically how his children grieved

and some aspects of yelena and seb’s relationship- it felt very bland in some places, but the story was great overall! i’m sad to be ending the series, and my emotions were all over the place during this book, but i’m glad that yelena and seb got their hea!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual assault and Torture

nineinchnails's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

i am very VERY conflicted. i was not looking forward to this book at all (i really just wanted to read so i could start kingmakers) but it took me by surprise and i was really enjoying it for the most part, despite how much i hate instalove. i still didn’t care much about their relationship but i liked the characters individually, seb more than yelena (who felt quite one dimensional). however, i think this book completely ruined

sebastian’s character after the wedding

. i would go as far as to say most of the characters from the previous books suffered a character assassination here, notably dante. 

the same dante who was

fiercely overprotective of his siblings refused to attend his brother’s wedding (but changed his mind and dropped in at the last minute) then abandoned him in his quest to avenge their father’s death

? this feels so far removed from the dante in aida’s book. aida is probably the only significant character who hasn’t changed for the worse in this book and i loved all her scenes. nero (and camille) also seemed very different, even from his own book let alone the first in the series. 

the writing did get a little repetitive when seb and yelena were thinking about each other/their relationship but i hate instalove so i don’t think i was ever gonna be obsessed with their romance. i think the worst part was how

sebastian treated her after their wedding - i love dark romance and can deal with cruelty from MCs but it just felt wildly out of character from sebastian

. it was jarring to read and honestly put me off him a little. i also felt like yelena’s characterisation was all over the place, but we only had this book to get to know her so it’s not as easy of a judgement to make as it is for seb. 

i think the part i hated most was

her and adrian becoming estranged. i get that it’s a set up for the spin off series but i really hate when close siblings have their relationship ruined. even him turning on her so fast felt strange since they seemed so close in the beginning

. i do love angst but i was really hoping it would be resolved at least in the epilogue.

all that being said, the side plot really captured my attention and i am excited for the spin off series. i do wish

enzo hadn’t been killed off though, it was nice to see a dad in a mafia series be loved so completely by his children

. i don’t usually read mafia books but i haven’t seen that much in the ones that i have read. i think the prose was improved from the older books in the series, though it was repetitive at times, and i liked the interactions with the other characters (aida the most) even if they aren’t the same as they used to be. i can understand that they all have different priorities now but just as a family unit the gallos seem so different to the way they did in the first book, a lot less united and it makes the whole book feel bleak when it’s supposed to have a (technically) happy ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Terminal illness, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

midnightrose_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Fantastic action packed ending to the Brutal Birthright series!

However…..

Dante’s character somewhat disappointed me in this book. Don’t get me wrong, he does show up for Sebastian and Yelena’s wedding, but in the heat of the battle  towards the end he’s not there. Obviously he explains to Sebastian why at one point in the narrative, but I have a hard time believing a man like Dante would not want to help get retribution for his father’s murder. Quite frankly, I never believed he would be truly happy moving somewhere like Paris, as he did in his book Bloody Heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Torture and Pregnancy

apolen's review

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault, Torture, Trafficking, and Pregnancy

ecravens's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

sdupont's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

Heavy Crown similar to Savage Lover for me in that I felt we didn’t have enough time with the couple to really feel their connection grow and build- even less so for this book as the couple dated for such a short period of time. I struggled to get into this book but the second half was interesting with all of the action between the battling mafia families. I would recommend this entire series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual assault and Pregnancy

weelasswithabook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

CW, gun violence, death of a loved one, dismemberment, torture, misogyny, abusive parental relationship, historical DV, SA

⭐ Hidden motive
⭐ Mafia romance 

Ooh this had me full of anxiety. So much happened in this book 👀 character deaths that broke my little heart, betrayal, sadness, a hero with such responsibility he didn't want nor need thrust on him, a heroine made to choose between her family (tbh they were dicks so I'd have bounced) and someone she loved. 

Uggghhhhh this was just the perfect end to the series and Kingmakers (which I read first for some reason 🤣) is such a natural progression which just flows from Heavy Crown to The Heir. 

10/10 would read again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Terminal illness

kim03's review against another edition

dark emotional

• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Body shaming and Murder