Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

14 reviews

dja's review

emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

5.0

LOVED this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Racial slurs

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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? No

5.0

It's hard to capture how remarkable this is, both as a stand-alone and as a series start, and for historical romance readers who have read *any* Civil-War-era romance by white authors, this is a must-read series that reflects authentic people and stories (Alyssa Cole truly lights a match to the lost cause narrative that underlies the majority of books in this corner of historical romance). This installment centers the story of Union operative Elle Burns (inspired by the real-life spy story of Mary Bowser). Elle is a free Black woman working undercover as an enslaved woman in a Confederate officer's home. She meets Malcom McCall, a white Union operative, while he is working undercover as a Confederate officer visiting the region. The progression of their relationship centers honest communication around the stark power imbalance between them, and Cole deftly used open-door scenes to further deepen their communication. I would consider this a blend of historical romance and romantic suspense, with clear and historically accurate world building that is driven by Cole's obvious commitment to thorough research. Moreover, the writing is beautiful. I highly recommend this book and this series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, War, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Slavery

Moderate: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Alcohol, Confinement, Blood, Alcoholism, and Sexual assault

meganbyrd77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Slavery

traceyanderson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Sexism

beccaand's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

the yearning? ugh i die for it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Blood

Moderate: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Rape, and Sexual assault

bergamot_breeze's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring 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? No

3.75

Really enjoyed this! I LOVED Elle and I was so invested in her day to day life. If this had just been about her I think this would have been a new fave. Despite going into it knowing it was a romance, the romance became my least favorite part. It felt as if it detracted from the rest of the story. Overall, though this was very good and I’ll keep reading the series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexual content, and Slavery

Moderate: War, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Suicide, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexism

mandi4886's review

adventurous 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Classism, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Rape, Violence, Confinement, Death, Murder, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Racism, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racial slurs, Blood, Grief, Sexism, Slavery, and War

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Body horror, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Abandonment, Ableism, Cursing, Gore, and Gun violence

Minor: Xenophobia, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Stalking, Torture, and Vomit

nausicaa's review

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

emfass's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I really wanted to like this book. I'm updating my review a week after finishing it--the more I think back to this book, the more I think it just overall didn't work for me. Both the romance and the spy plot weren't compelling to me; I was SO STRESSED for the two main characters at all times, and I didn't find the development of their relationship very convincing.

I did appreciate how Malcolm was maybe the first person to make Elle feel really seen, but otherwise I just was not impressed with where he sat in his privilege, and didn't think he grew enough to deserve to be with Elle. 

Also, for being a spy plot romance, I found things moved pretty slowly. The switching back and forth between trying to further the romance and trying to further the action felt choppy throughout. There was also so much redundancy in their inner monologues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Racial slurs

Minor: Death and Suicide

memoriast's review

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Violence, and Racial slurs

Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Infidelity