Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Credence by Penelope Douglas

54 reviews

miss_anonymous's review against another edition

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Honestly, I didn’t think I’d get that far, and I wish I didn’t. I’m not even sympathetic to tiernan….i blame her. Her parents die and she has no reaction, but when she sees her uncle or step-cousins, she full on changes her personality and mood. Penelope should get jail time for even thinking about this. I think she may have something for someone in her family…. Anyway, whatever money she got from writing this book should atleast be enough for a therapist(both me and her), if none of us get funded, I would personally pay for hers. I pray everyday for Penelope and you should too.
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vbarker91'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? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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katepalmer's review against another edition

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0.5

What the fuck. 
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sierrajhansen's review against another edition

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

3.75

so... yeah. this book.

i'm divided here.
fucking ALL 3 relatives that you live with during a long, frigid winter seems sorta cozy and cunty if you forget the relative part, but then fully having a child with your previously-nonverbal, brooding, abusive, weird, blood-drinking, feral step-cousin, is really cringe. just think of the family tree assignment this kid is gonna have to do eventually. (my grandpa is also my great-step-uncle and my mom is also my step-aunt? try explaining that to literally anyone without intense confusion and also judgement) this kid is gonna be at a family gathering and ONE DAY he will find out that she fucked multiple of his relatives. while step-family in this scenario and in this context (i.e., they're estranged, purely non-biological relations that reside in a completely different area and were never really thought of as family before tiernan's parents' deaths) really gets into the nitty gritty of "but didn't we just make this 'step-family' shit up? and isn't our 'family status' simply contingent on a marriage that is no longer relevant? what does a 'step-family' even mean when the family relation that put it in place is no longer intact?", it's still suuuper cringe. mostly, i'm secondhand embarrassed for tiernan. sure, let's fuck in a cabin all winter and ignore our responsibilities and the moral expectations of society. that's fine and dandy. but damn, the tabloids are gonna meme the fuck out of this and you'll never sleep again probably.


i enjoyed the sideplots, although they were super pick-me (i'M nOt LiKe OtHeR gIrLs, AfTeR a CoLd, HaRd WiNtEr, I dOn'T nEeD mAkEuP aNyMoRe, AnD i WeAr JeAnS aNd FlAnNeLs) and weirdly misogynistic and gross (omg beware of the townie guy with a SEX TORTURE DEN??? we will defend you with RIFLES and also DRIVING OVER A TON OF SICK MOTORBIKES??? okay... sure. i guess), they were at least interesting and kept the plot moving (and saved it from being straight-up porn).

additionally, don't tell me this man with selective mutism for like 15 years is gonna suddenly start talking. PLEEEEASE fuck off. as a psychologist-in-training, this feels messy and not actually how any of this would work in real life. and also, selective mutism after being left in a car for 4 days at the age of 4? maybe. possibly. but... idk. why didn't we get this kid a therapist? maybe that would have been good? idk though, who am i to say.


and why are we not only writing in books (which is fine but still suspect if we're not even writing book-relevant things and just writing diary entries) but specifically writing on the endpapers??? have you heard of a journal or a notebook bro? it's like $3 at the store. let me put you on.

see all those complaints and issues? despite them all (or because of them, who's really to say), I WAS ENTERTAINED. OKAY? i wanted to know what happened next, and the smut was slowburn enough to be semi-believable and gripping, and the details of the smut itself were not as cringey as the actual relationships between the characters (and that's a feat). while the premise of this was super sus, i had hoped to be entertained, surprised, shocked, enthralled, and this book was a straight shot of escapism to the veins. so thankful for my normal, not semi-incest relationship now. if you want a "what the fuck did i just read lol," and you're able to suspend your disbelief, this was pretty good. read at your own risk.
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kenedydaija14's review against another edition

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

2.0

Bordering on incestual and kinda weird. All smut scenes are angsty and rough- some a little triggering. The men in this book and humongous egos and think they can control the main character just because she lives with them. 
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karouty's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

1.0

Justice for Noah wth was even this book istg I can't... if your looking for dark romance STAY AWAY. This is just a poor excuse to write about rape and grooming of a 17 later 18 yo.
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haleydeppert's review against another edition

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

3.0

This is a hard book to review. This book has been all the rage on BookTok right now, so I wanted to give it a try. It definitely pushed my boundaries of comfortability. Although I did thoroughly enjoy the writing of the spicy scenes, it remained hard to get past the familial relations in this book. I did not feel much romance or true love at all—more possessiveness, jealousy, and abuse—but as a book should, it kept me entertained. Three stars because it kept my attention and my eyes were glued to the page. However, character development fell extremely flat and storylines felt quite rushed. Not to mention the familial relations… weird.
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sandse2's review against another edition

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

4.0

Very taboo, sexually explicit and dark. 
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edietz22's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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mproper1's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

I have never felt compelled to leave a review for a book until now. I was nervous to read this book after seeing such mixed reviews about its content. I recently discovered Penelope Douglas and made quick work of both Punk 57 (which I liked) and Birthday Girl (which I loved). Credence was definitely not an easy read due to the heavy topics and taboo relationships, but I couldn’t put this book down!! It was emotional and dark and intense and quite honestly one of the most heartfelt and genuine romances I’ve ever read. This story provides an emotionally raw visual of loving fiercely and unapologetically.

I would not recommend someone read this without reading the content warnings first!
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