Representation: Polyamorous main character, Partially deaf main character, Main character with social anxiety
Overall: 4-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Representation: Polyamorous main character, Partially deaf main character, Main character with social anxiety
Overall: 4-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • Does have OW drama (kinda) - Hunter, Enzo and Theo were in a poly relationship ~5 years ago; their partner died on mission. There's a lot of angst + drama around the fracturing of their friendship and being in another poly relationship again. Plus a lot of reminiscing about their past relationship. • No OM drama • Does have Theo and Hunter pushing the Heroine away • No separation (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Physical abuse • Psychological abuse • Torture • Sexual assault, including the Heroine witnessing side character's being r@ped recounted • Imprisonment • Graphic violence (e.g., whipping, mutilation, dismemberment of dead body) • Serial murder • PTSD • Self-harm (i.e., trichotillomania, the compulsive need to pull out your hair) • Panic attacks • Suicide of a pregnant woman (hide spoiler)]
Representation: Polyamorous main character, deaf main character, Main character with social anxiety
Overall: 2.25-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with ExceptiRepresentation: Polyamorous main character, deaf main character, Main character with social anxiety
Overall: 2.25-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OW/OM drama - There are still a few scenes where Theo, Enzo and Hunter reminiscence about their dead lover, but they are not as bad as in Book 1 • No pushing the Heroine away • No separation (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Physical abuse • Psychological abuse • Torture • Imprisonment • Graphic violence and gore • Serial murder • PTSD • Self-harm • Panic attacks • Suicidal ideation • Kidnapping • Gun violence • Medical trauma from gunshot and addiction (hide spoiler)]
Representation: Gay supporting character, Lesbian side character, Gay side character, Achillean side relationship
Overall: 4.5-stars
Safety Rating: SafeRepresentation: Gay supporting character, Lesbian side character, Gay side character, Achillean side relationship
Overall: 4.5-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • Does have OW drama - The heroine has been unrequitedly (she believes) in love with her best friend, whom she met in one of her first foster care homes. But as they grew up, she saw him dating other girls. She reaches a breaking point just before this book, seeing him disappear with OW for what she assumes is an ONS, and determines she needs space. This need for space worsens once she learns he has a "girlfriend" (who also lives in the small town the Heroine just moved to). Note: this friend of her will definitely be in the harem eventually. -- "Girlfriend" is in quotes cuz we learn that he's never slept with the OW - just chaste kisses I think (but maybe not even that) - cuz this OW gives him access to info he needs to protect the Heroine - the Heroes (we get their POVs) are betrothed to the town's Queen Bee as a political match. Essentially, her father is very powerful yet she failed to materialize a mating mark which would signify what group of people she'd be the anchor for. As a result, her very powerful father assigned her to Heroes' group cuz they landed in hot water a few years ago and needed help out of it (this was the price). -- It is important to know that the Queen Bee is very much so not interested in the Heroes, and she, in fact, genuinely befriends the Heroine and encourages the Heroine to get closer to the Heroines. Also, the Heroes absolutely disdain the Queen Bee. • Does have the Heroine and Grayson pushing each other away. Reid and Ashton also push the Heroine away. • No separation (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Stalking • Murder • Sexual assault • Description of a dead body • Imprisonment • Physical violence • Allsuion to past abuse • Threat of knife violence • Medical trauma • Panic attacks (hide spoiler)]
Note: No MM in theRepresentation: Polyamorous Heroine, Polyamorous bisexual supporting character, Polyamorous bisexual side characters
Overall: 5-stars
Note: No MM in the series.
Safety Rating: Safe(view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OW drama • Does have OM drama - After being hurt by the Heroes (she finds out about their sex bet), she purposefully flits with an OM to hurt them. It works, but they quickly nip it in the bud. • Does have the Heroine pushing the Heroes away (+ • No separation (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Murder • Attempted murder • Sexual harassment • Child abuse • Gore • Classism • Body horror • Bullying • Stalking • Gaslighting • Murder of parents • Intrusive thoughts (held by Silas) • Mental illness • Everett is a virgin • Confinement • R@pe of Crypt's birth mom recounted (his birth father has a proclivity towards necrophilia) • Torture • Mutilation (hide spoiler)]
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • Does have OW drama - Riven's faRepresentation: Polyamorous Heroine
Overall: 3.75-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • Does have OW drama - Riven's fake gf still causing problems cuz Riven considers her his bff and feels bad that he's putting their friendship 2nd. But as I said in the spoiler of my Book 1 review, it's hard to be friends with someone (man or woman) who is actively undermining your romantic relationship. Alas, Riven doesn't call his fake gf/bff out ... instead, the Heroine takes charge, sets boundaries and is committed to Riven reconciling with his bff (even tho the Heroine doesn't like nor trust her). Smh. • No OM drama • Does have some of the guys pushing the Heroine away cuz they feel guilty their siblings/parents are trying to kill her. But it doesn't last long and doesn't compare to Riven's bs from the previous books. • No separation (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Violence • Medical trauma • Sexual harassment • Kidnapping • Emotional abuse • Torture • Death of a parent (hide spoiler)]
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • Does have OW drama - Riven is stRepresentation: Polyamorous Heroine
Overall: 3.5-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • Does have OW drama - Riven is still with his gf, but in the latter half of this book, we find out that the relationship is fake. Riven is in a fake relationship, humour his father, and also protect the Heroine from his father's attention. But, as I mentioned in a spoiler in my Book 1 review, the fake gf/Riven's bff is actually romantically interested in Riven and is therefore trying to sabotage his relationship with the Heroine. Alsooo, Riven continues to act like he's still dating the fake gf for the rest of the book despite the Heroine asking him to stop cuz it hurts her. • Does have Riven pushing the Heroine away • No separation (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Violence • Bullying • PTSD from fire injury when the Heroine was a child • Murder of Heroine's parents recounted • Kidnapping • Panic attacks • Attempted murder • Child abuse recounted (hide spoiler)]
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions/Not Safe* (view spoiler)[ • No cheating* - Alludes to emotional cRepresentation: Polyamorous Heroine
Overall: 4-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions/Not Safe* (view spoiler)[ • No cheating* - Alludes to emotional cheating. Riven has a girlfriend (see below) yet acts in a proprietary way with the Heroine. • Does have OW drama* - Riven has a girlfriend to whom he is betrothed. This whole book, the Heroine witnesses how Riven and his gf seem to be perfect together and she feels bad for messing up their relationship by being his fated mate. - SPOILER FOR BOOK 2: (view spoiler)[Turns out that Riven and his gf never had a romantic relationship - they were essentially fake dating. But, to the surprise of ONLY Riven, the fake gf actually does have feelings for him. Also, Riven continues to consider the fake gf his best friend and refuses to choose between the Heroine and her, even though it's the fake gf who is treating the Heroine like shit. Eventually, the Heroine feels so guilty for "causing" the strife between Riven and his bff that she decides to be the bigger person and encourages Riven to hang out with her separately (i.e., to ensure his bff doesn't feel like she's being ditched). What pissed me off here was that there would be a lot of distrust from the Heroine concerning Riven and his bff since they both went out of their way to convince the HEROINE that they were dating. Riven never acknowledges that. Also, after the Heroine decides to trust Riven, he further doesn't acknowledge that being bffs with someone who is actively trying to undermine your romantic relationship is unhealthy for everyone involved. At some point, you need to set boundaries, and he never did. Instead, the HEROINE is the women are the ones who randomly come to a truce - it's a complete 180, and I'm assuming the author had written herself into a corner and didn't know how to make the readers believe that they could actually ever be friends after all that water under the bridge so just decided to tell us rather than show us. (hide spoiler)] - Essentially, this makes the Heroine the OW. - There's also another OW who is • No OM drama • Does have Riven pushing the Heroine away • No separation (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Bullying • Panic attacks (on-page) • Injury from house fire recounted • Gun violence • Classism • Violence • Grief • Kidnapping • Death of parents (hide spoiler)]
Note: No MM in Representation: Polyamorous Heroine, Polyamorous bisexual supporting character, Polyamorous bisexual side characters
Overall: 4.25-stars
Note: No MM in the series.
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • Does have OW drama - OW (who has slept with both Baelfire and Silas - on separate occasions) hits on Baelfire and tries to get with him again. Baelfire immediately and rudely (lmao, it's awesome) shuts her down. • No OM drama • Does have the Heroine pushing the Heroes away • No separation (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Murder • Sexual harassment • Child abuse • Gore • Classism • Body horror • Bullying • Stalking • Gaslighting • Murder of parents • Intrusive thoughts (held by Silas) • Mental illness (hide spoiler)]
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • Does have OW drama - Heroine's rooRepresentation: Polyamorous Heroine
Overall: 4-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • Does have OW drama - Heroine's roommate is thirsting after one of the Heroes - and is aggressive in her pursuit. It takes a minute for the Hero to bluntly say he's not interested (which he never was). - Heroine is told to stay away from the basement section of the club Cillian owns by Easton, the guy who is determined to reject the Heroine as his mate. She defies him, and discovers the sex club. It's insinuated all the men (probably besides Cáel cuz he can't stand to be touched) were active members. The way Easton goes about rejecting her in the sex club causes the Heroine to lash out saying that he can sleep with whoever he wants in the club (which he doesn't do). • No OM drama • Does have (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Murder of Heroine's parents recounted • Parental neglect (from Heroine's foster parents) • Attempted murder • Attempted kidnapping • Sexual harassment • Voyeurism • Bullying • Age gap between Heroine and eldest two Heroes (she's 19 and they're mid-30s) (hide spoiler)]
Representation: Hero with prosthetic leg, Gay side character
Overall: 4.5-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OW Representation: Hero with prosthetic leg, Gay side character
Overall: 4.5-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OW drama - BUT, North's deceased wife is haunting their son. - Nash flirts with an OW at a party but is called out by the Heroine. Nash and the Heroine sleep together that night. • No OM drama - All the brothers are interested in the Heroine but not considered OM cuz they're all part of the eventual harem • Does have the MCs pushing the Heroine away • Does have a separation (at the end of the book, all celibate, though) (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Suicide of side character (North's wife) discussed, which occurred ~6 years before • Grief - Heroine's grandmother recently passed away (she was diagnosed with c@ncer and refused treatment) - Heroes family life is a mess - they lost North's wife and also one of their brothers in a series of events around 7 years ago • Forced institutionalization of the Heroine • PTSD (see above) • Ableist language • Medical trauma - North's son has an undiagnosed chronic illness that results in hospitalizations throughout the book • Sexism (hide spoiler)]
Representation: POC supporting character, wlw supporting character, wlw side character, sapphic side relationship
Overall: 3.75-stars
Safety Rating: SafRepresentation: POC supporting character, wlw supporting character, wlw side character, sapphic side relationship
Overall: 3.75-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OM drama • Does have OW drama - Hero is betrothed to OW - neither wants to marry the other, but commits to doing so "for the good of their families" (Heroine is aware of the betrothal immediately & Hero is quick to break off the betrothal once he realizes his feelings for the Heroine) • Does have the Heroine pushing the Hero away (nonsensically, I might add) • Does have a few months of separation (when they send each other letters) (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Both MCs are virgins • Alcoholism • Death of Heroine's mom • Grief • PTSD • Heroine's brother is MIA • War (including bombings, grenade assaults, gun violence, and discussion of wounded soldiers) • Gore, blood, dismemberment, death (see above) (hide spoiler)]
Ending: (view spoiler)[Cliffhanger: (view spoiler)[Iris's brother has saved her from a mustard gas assault. We find out that while fighting for Enva, Forest was mortally wounded. Dacre saved Forest's life - magically - and bound him with a life debt to serve in Dacre's military. Forest was only able to break the hold Dacre held over him by finding a reminder of Iris in battle. Iris and Kitt are separated - Forest only saved her. We discover in the epilogue that Kitt was soon to die from his injuries incurred in the mustard gas assault, but Dacre "saves" him in the same way he saved Forest. The book ends with Kitt being taken below ground. (hide spoiler)](hide spoiler)]...more
Safety Rating: Safe (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OW drama • Does have (brief) OM drama - Hero is pretty much jealous of anyone that smiles at the Heroine • Does have the Hero pushing the Heroine away • No separation (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Murder • Attempted murder • Confinement • Torture • Death of a parent • Grief • Toxic parent-child relationship • Mutilation, including beheading (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Slavery • Murder (including of protagonist's family) • Gore • Blackmail • Genocide • Colonialism • Amputation of the protagonist's arm • Grief • Xenophobia • Torture • Recounting and discussion of suicide • Classism • Knife violence • Mutilation • Description of dead bodies • Child death • Child abuse (including abuse of the protagonist) • Forced institutionalization • Medical trauma • Homophobia - State-enforced compulsory heterosexuality (i.e., there's a heavy tax for those who remain unmarried and monetary incentives to have children) to build up the population. Consequently, same-sex relationships are considered a crime. • Animal harm (hide spoiler)]
Ending: (view spoiler)[Vis survives the Labyrinth but, as a consequence, loses his harm. We discover that Obiteum and Luceum are two other worlds that used to be synchronized with Vis's world (Res), but this stopped after the Cataclysm 300 years ago. Vis cloned himself by making it through the Labyrinth (and paying the price with his arm), allowing him entry into both Obiteum and Luceum. In the last chapter, we follow the cloned Vis in Obiteum, where he discovers a very much alive Caeror who warns of danger ahead for Vis in Res and in Obiteum. This suggests that the mysterious person who helped Vis escape the Labyrinth alive (after being cloned) was actually Vis and Caeror in Obiteum. (hide spoiler)]...more
Representation: Bisexual supporting character, wlw supporting character, Black side character, Asian biracial side character
Overall: 5-stars
Safety RaRepresentation: Bisexual supporting character, wlw supporting character, Black side character, Asian biracial side character
Overall: 5-stars
Safety Rating: Safe (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OM drama • Does have OW drama – The Hero's ex-gf and coworker attempts to cause problems by reminding the Heroine of their sexual history. • Does have the Hero pushing the Heroine away • No separation (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • PTSD • Murder via chainsaw (hacking someone to death with one) • Murder via torture (non descriptive but inferred) • Description of a dead body • Recounting of Heroine and her brother's assault from a third party • Flashback of Heroine and her brother's r@pe (on-page, detailed) • Recounting of Heroine's father's torture and r@pe in jail • Torture • Castration • Physical assault • Attempted murder • Threat of gun violence • Knife violence (hide spoiler)]
Representation: Bisexual side character, wlw side character
Overall: 5-stars
Safety Rating: Safe (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OM drama – although HerRepresentation: Bisexual side character, wlw side character
Overall: 5-stars
Safety Rating: Safe (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OM drama – although Hero is jealous of the hot detective on the Heroine's protection detail • Does have OW drama – Hero's ex-girlfriend (they broke up a year ago) is on his FBI team (they're coworkers, but also, he's her boss). The ex-gf is jealous of the Heroine and tries to stake a claim on the Hero. • Does have the Heroine pushing the Hero away • No separation (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Threat of gun violence • Murder • Torture • R@pe • Discussion of pedophile's crimes and the murder of said pedophile (including mutilation to his genitals • Captivity • Discussion of molestation • Flashbacks to Heroine's assault • PTSD • Heroine exhibits psychopathy (hide spoiler)]
Safety Rating: Not Safe* (view spoiler)[ *the Heroine is in a committed relationship wiRepresentation: Bisexual supporting characters
Overall: 2.5-stars
Safety Rating: Not Safe* (view spoiler)[ *the Heroine is in a committed relationship with her four wolves, but she has sex dreams – which are real – with her ex-harem, who're gods. Also, there's a discussion of her having another harem with Light Wolves. • No cheating (but see above for why some might find it unsafe) • No OW drama • Does have OM drama (however, I think he'll join the harem in book two) – both the Heroine's ex-harem and current harem are jealous and unsure of the new Hero • Does have the Heroine pushing her ex-harem away (who she might reconcile within book 2, but I'm unsure) (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Gore • Murder • Attempted murder • Slavery/indentured servitude • Heroine was raised in a cult to be a sacrifice (sex slave) to their gods (her ex-harem) (hide spoiler)]
No strong representation of diverse characters or minority identities.
Overall: 3.5-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheatiNo strong representation of diverse characters or minority identities.
Overall: 3.5-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OW/OM drama • Does have the MCs pushing each other away • Does have the Heroine separated from some of the Heroes (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Slavery • Abduction • Cannibalism • Mentions of r@pe • Physical assault • Mentions of humans as food (for monsters) (hide spoiler)]
Representation: mlm supporting characters, MM side romance
Overall: 3.75-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OW/ORepresentation: mlm supporting characters, MM side romance
Overall: 3.75-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OW/OM drama – Note that the MCs have sex in front of the Night Court and watch the Heroine's guardians have sex • Does have the Heroine pushing the Hero away • Does have a brief separation (both celibate) (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Gore • Knife violence • Murder and attempted murder • Voyeurism and exhibitionism (hide spoiler)]