Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Spectacular

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Spectacular by Stephanie Garber

47 reviews

sarahklovesbooks's review against another edition

1.0

At the end of the last book it seemed obvious to me that she didn’t want to be violently kidnapped and assaulted. I’m not here for dubious consent. This was wildly uncomfortable to read. The 2nd half of the book shows Tella scared and questioning who this is that’s taken her. Then at the end of the book history is rewritten and suddenly she knew right off the bat?? Not for me.

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ashleyhoj's review against another edition

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1.0

The art was nice.

•••MILD SPOILER WARNING•••

I’ll be honest, this was not the vibe. “Merry Christmas Donatella, you get to be kidnapped and assaulted!” There has to have been a better way to handle the whole kidnapping thing, but this was definitely not it, VERY dubious, and it did not actually do anything to resolve or even acknowledge their actual relationship problems (which were briefly alluded to in the beginning) in any way. Make-out sessions do not solve problems guys.
Also, this is definitely not appropriate for YA, which I’m pretty sure the whole Caraval series is categorized as. It also did not feel like a Caraval book except maybe in the very beginning and kinda in the bonus epilogue; this had a completely different tone and was not at all what I was expecting to get for a holiday novella set in a magical/whimiscal land. I thinking more along the lines of like cozy Christmas celebration with the family, or Tella trying to help Legend enjoy the holiday and not be so grumpy all the time. I know there were a few almost steamy moments lightly sprinkled in the series but I don’t think anyone was expecting it to jump straight into dark romance territory. While it didn't get explicit, it was very icky, and the themes are in no way appropriate for 12-18 year olds.
I also was hoping for more Scarlett and Julian, they’re my favorite. And something mysterious was going on in the first chapter and it just never got brought up again; seems really weird to leave that unresolved.
Anyway, very disappointed by this and a little disturbed that anyone thought this would be okay.

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anndreya's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.5

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bmclark12's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I thought the holiday vibe was super cute, but there were times the book, at least from the reader’s pov, bordered on SA. The book made me uncomfortable and not in a good way.

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multifandom13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

What the actual hell was this?
I've always enjoyed Scarlett and Julian more than Tella and Legend, but this is on another level.
Just because it's your boyfriend doesn't mean that the whole

"you said that you didn't give permission for him to touch you and he says you don't have the right to say that and kept touching you"

okay. It was goddamn SA and it disgustes me that few people are seeing these.
Anyways the reason I put so many stars are for the illustrations and the like two chapters that had Scarlett and Julian.

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browniel14's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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seregelda's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

CW: kidnapping, non-consensual touching and kissing

I do not like this, there are MAJOR issues of consent being broken here and it is not sexy, it's creepy as hell. Shame on the author, I don't remember if the original books were this bad, but I'm definitely not going to go back to read them and find out.

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