Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

A Touch of Ruin by Scarlett St. Clair

36 reviews

sioxricky's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Suicide, Violence, Grief, and Sexual content

yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.0

I struggled with this. Persephone made a lot of selfish and questionable choices and it was just difficult to get through. She was also extremely jealous to the point it was kind of annoying. I also feel like she expected all of Hades’ thousand year history but it would take time to get into all of that. The side characters are so great though I love them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Death, Alcohol, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: War, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Car accident

Minor: Stalking and Rape

ninahuynh's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

3.75

I like the dive into Apollo and his character arc, and Hermes. I like how Persephone has grown as a character and how her flaws make her that much more real. We could do with a sex scene or two less- there were times it felt like they use sex to solve their problem, never really communicating their sorrows/problem.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Alcohol, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Violence, Cursing, Body horror, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Murder, Blood, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Torture

rchulin1's review

dark emotional funny 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Stalking, Death, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexism, Grief, Car accident, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Dementia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Cursing, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Violence, War, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Torture, Classism, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, and Confinement

angelofthetardis's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Persephone and Hades' relationship is now public knowledge, but her Divine existence remains hidden. Living in a lust-fuelled haze, can the Goddess of Spring reconcile her desire for the Lord of the Underworld with her dreams of a 'normal' life? And what happens when the Gods choose not to smile upon those she loves?

While I did enjoy the story of this one, I found there to be a lot points to unpack, none of which went into sufficient depth to have a real impact on me. The strongest thread of all is clearly the relationship between Hades and Persephone, but as with the last book there is a lot of bouncing between extremes of mood, miscommunication and a whole lot of bedroom shenanigans! The trouble is, after a while this does start to detract from the story. At one point Hades compares himself to a horny teenager, and I'd have to agree; everything seems to stir his loins! It's not badly written, but equally it does get a bit gratuitous and it ends up just not being as spicy as it should be for the sheer volume that there is. 

I think it's a shame that the stories of Leuce, Lexa and Sybil were all shoehorned into one book. They all feel a bit rushed, as do other plot points. When the resolutions come, they all happen very quickly and we just move on with the story. In this format it feels quite formulaic, and I wonder whether it might have been better to extend the series and have focused on one friend per book, or stretched the tension out over multiple books so that there could be more character and story development. 

Apollo is probably the biggest let down for me - from an a-hole to an ally in essentially one conversation, I felt this completely let down the incredibly good rivalry and potential future threat that the author was building in. 

That being said, I do like Persephone's gradual acceptance of her role as Queen of the Underworld, and her slow discovery of some of Hades' secrets and his life before her. And Hades is just a babe - he might be awful at communicating and have no idea how to be in a co-dependent relationship, but it's the mix of his 'touch her and die' attitude with his 'I'm so in love I can't think straight' vulnerability that makes him the most well rounded and fleshed out character of the series. 

Looking forward to Hades' POV on this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Grief, Death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Cursing, Blood, War, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide, Murder, and Rape

diana_raquel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Cursing, Death, Stalking, Violence, Grief, Sexual content, and Medical content

Moderate: Car accident, Rape, and Torture

Minor: Vomit, Suicide, Confinement, and Self harm

alicia_joy's review

dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.5

The sheer amount of sex in this book is ridiculous. I know they are divine, but come on. No one has sex that much. Persephone's obtuseness and immaturity was pretty frustrating throughout most of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Car accident, Medical content, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide and Kidnapping

oakleys_readinglist's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Stalking, Cursing, Grief, Infertility, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Torture, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Rape

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Child death

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Torture, Alcohol, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, War, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Rape, Abandonment, Stalking, Suicide, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

scarlett_f's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad 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? Yes

3.0

<Disappointing writing. Choppy sentences. Often rushed. It quickly became boring. Persephone would screw up, get mad at Hades, distance herself, then make up with him again.  And the sex/make-up sex became boring pretty quickly. Seemed like every other page was another sex scene, overdone and typical. 
Poorly wrapped up problem with a stalker. Done in less than five minutes, then back to poorly written sex scenes. The first book in the series was better. Very disappointed in the rushed writing. Going to read book three for grins and giggles, hoping it will be better.>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Sexual violence, Slavery, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Child abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Medical trauma, Self harm, Stalking, Alcohol, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness and Drug use

Minor: Car accident