Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair

76 reviews

unwise_samwise's review

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

3.5

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isotope_s's review

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I mean, it was fun—but the world and plot didn’t make much sense. Everything is kind of abrupt. But as a fun story it was very entertaining. 
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charlieiniso's review

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dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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direraven's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny 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? Yes

4.0

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thereadinghammock's review against another edition

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

3.75

So this wasn't a case of will they/won't they; it was a case of when will they?? I enjoyed the characterization of the Gods and Goddesses of the Greek pantheon. I liked the unique feature of the various antlers Scarlett gave them in their divine forms, but honestly my brain kept switching between my favorite web comic versions of the characters (Rachel Smythe's Lore Olympus and Linda  Sejic's Punderworld versions). I'm excited that this is a series because I'm definitely not done with these characters, and I'm excited to see more of the rest of the deities as I make my way through the rest of the books (eventually!).
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jholt2899's review

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

3.0

[TL;DR]
Persephone is attempting to live a normal life, glamoured as a mortal as she pursues work in journalism. After a night out with her best friend ends with Persephone forced into a bargain with Hades, she will have to dig deep to understand who Hades truly is behind his reputation of darkness and destruction.

I love a modern day retelling and especially if it's a little steamy romance as well, but I didn't connect to A Touch of Darkness like my TikTok peers did. Personally, I found the writing to be plain and very "tell rather than show." I liked the mama drama between Persephone and Demeter and the sexual chemistry with Hades was clearly good. Unfortunately, I found there to be little to no plot. I'm not entirely sure what the next books in this series will go because everything was more or less wrapped up by the end.

St. Clair creates an alluring premise, and there was certainly enough here to want me to continue reading, but even the romantic steamy scenes were lacking. They felt rushed rather than savored. The closest we got to seeing some real character development rather than two-dimensional people was when Persephone finally takes control of her powers. Ultimately, I thought this left me wanting more and I'm still considering whether I want to continue with the series for palate cleansing reading in between heftier books.

Rating: 3/5 stars
TW/CW: sexually explicit scenes, gambling, emotional abuse by parent, sexual harassment

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alyciamck's review against another edition

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

2.5

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quaint_reader's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

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litokeland's review

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adventurous dark funny fast-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

3.0

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cepbreed's review

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dark 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? No

3.5

Coming into this book I didn't really know much about it but once I learned it was a myth adaptation I had such high expectations. Madeleine Miller has set every other author who wants to write something based on a myth to unattainable standards. Unfortunately it didn't meet these. However, I still enjoyed this book because it serves its purpose as a fan service novel for women so I can't really complain.

Songs:
  • Wanna Be Yours - Artic Monkeys
  • Flawless - The Neighborhood
  • Chuch - Chase Atlantic
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