Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Umbra King by Jamie Applegate Hunter

8 reviews

gblaze's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

5.0

šŸŒ¶ļøšŸŒ¶ļø


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beckyremillard's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-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

5.0


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kyras_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? N/A

4.5

So, this one really took me by surprise. It was odd how much I enjoyed something I expected to dislike. The serial unaliver being the female protagonist is one of my favorite things but for some reason the setup of this universe felt off. But pretty quickly after we got to Vincula, I started to enjoy it.

The Umbra King, the ruler of the Vincula prison realm, is exactly what youā€™d expect - broody, powerful and has a good sense of humor (heā€™s blonde thoughā€¦ so that was unexpected). Ohā€¦ and did I mention heā€™s a shadow daddy? And he uses themā€¦ VERY well. Ugh šŸ¤¤ 

Aurora is strong and feisty, sheā€™s not one to back down from a fight or not stay true to herself. I enjoyed her personality and her empathetic heart was clear from the start. She may have been a ruthless killer (of those who deserved it, of course), but she was selfless and would do anything she could for those she loved. 

The relationship between Caius and Rory is great because we first see it through her ā€œenemies to loversā€ lens before seeing it through his ā€œfated matesā€ lens.  
There was so much tension and angst between them and it was truly a great execution of enemies to lovers. Even the other characters were all fantastic, like Sam and Lauren (but not Ninaā€¦ we hate Nina).

Iā€™m happy I finally gave this one a chance. It was so worth the read! I donā€™t know what I wouldā€™ve done if I couldnā€™t dive straight in to book two! 

Tropes: 
Enemies to Lovers
Serial Unaliver
Found Family
Fated Mates
Forced Proximity 
Touch Her and Die

Spice: 2.5 šŸŒ¶ļø

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daisycantread24's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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samskiejo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75


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katherineguild35's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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


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koistyfishy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

4.5 Diamond Nipple Starsā­
Spicy Level: šŸŒ¶ļøšŸŒ¶ļøšŸŒ¶ļø/5

I basically inhaled this book at the fastest speed my brain could comprehend the words my eyes were seeing. I practically read this in one sitting (probably would have definitely if I didn't start the book at midnight last night), which is quite an achievement for me at the moment since I have been going through quite a little bit of a slump and slowly getting out of it.

This was the first book since my slump started that I felt completely enraptured, enamoured and thrilled by what I was reading, that I just kept devouring it and wanting to read.

This is a third-person paranormal fantasy with a main focus on Aurora (Rory), who is a fae and also happens to be a little bit of a vigilante murderer. She is caught and instead of being sent to hell, she is sentenced to Vincula the prison realm for committing 13 brutal murders. When she gets to this realm, she's literally plonked at the feet of King, Caius and from very early on is barraged by the consequences of her perceived actions as a Butcher by many of the inmates.

I really liked Rory. It's not every day you see a book with a sassy strong female FMC who is a beautiful shade of morally grey. I like that she was not a perfect little angel. She had killed people by her own moral code and this made her a great complex character, especially given how she developed and progressed through the story. She's gone through some trauma and has made some bad decisions and has to deal with the repercussions of her trauma. I also like the fact that she still managed to find a family, grow into herself, and stand up for herself. Maybe not all the time, but she wanted to do it for her, so she wouldn't feel weak

Caius was broody, grumpy, powerful, and I'm just weak at my knees because he's a FUCKING SHADOW DADDY and he uses those shadows so spectacularly well. I would not have complained if there was a little bit more usage of those shadows. But I mean...who knew shadows could vibrate and be that enticing??????

The side characters in this were also fantastic and the found family element leaves a smile on your face. All the characters that are close to Rory (irrespective of the realm) feel like they really cared about her. It was awesome to see how much care, compassion and thought were taken into formulating these relationships and these friendships. I just wanna HUG SAM!!!!!

The thing that really stood out for me is that in the beginning, you were given a guide on the realms, races and magic. I loved this as this is normally included at the end and by that part it's ALWAYS TOO LATE. I was a little bit scared going into this after reading the guide but throughout the story, Jamie Applegate Hunter did such a good job of explaining the world-building. It felt rich, and unique that I had never actually seen something like this (this might be because I don't read A LOT of PNR but I still found it fantastic). It was very structurally formulated and convoluted, but pretty simple to understand and grasp.

The one thing that kept this book from being utterly spectacular is that even though the characters were slightly older, there were aspects of this that felt very juvenile. Our main character goes through a period of being a little bit (read a lot) jealous and almost has a temper tantrum because she thinks he hooks up with somebody. That just feels like a little bit of high school drama! BUT I do appreciate that they do seem to talk out their differences.

Basically, I had a great time! It was a FANTASTIC book that I would recommend.

The Trope In This:
ā–¶ Enemies to Lovers
ā–¶ SUPER SEXY SHADOW DADDY
ā–¶ Who did this to you
ā–¶ One Bed
ā–¶ Bath and Shower Scenes
ā–¶ Fated Mates
ā–¶ Found Family
ā–¶ Paranormal Characters (Fae, Angels, Shifters etc)
ā–¶ Morally Grey FMC and MMC 

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hannahlee98's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0


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