Reviews tagging 'Murder'

A Game of Gods by Scarlett St. Clair

9 reviews

avaholic29's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

I spent the whole time trying to figure out who was who. Obviously this book is part of a series where stuff is explained. Very little plot. No conclusion to anything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Toxic relationship

thethirtiethofjanuary's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Death, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Blood, Kidnapping, Infertility, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Minor: Child death, Alcohol, and Animal death

angelofthetardis's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book has confirmed my feelings that I prefer the story told from Hades' point of view. The story feels like it has so much more depth and scope than in Persephone's novels; his solo trips and the bits that Persephone doesn't see are far more engaging and add to the levels of intrigue, threat and mystery perfectly. From a practical perspective, without these books I think the upcoming finale would be missing a lot of background information that I suspect will become important.

Getting to understand and appreciate Hades' internal struggles is also a massive bonus of these books. He's a great characters through Persephone's eyes, but seeing his world-weariness, the depth of his love for Persephone and his darker impulses rounds him out so well. In some ways, it also gives the spice a bit more of a reason for being; he readily admits he's insatiable! 

Similarly, the pacing of Persephone's trauma and recovery seems to be reflected better through Hades' eyes. His determination to take things at her pace, his fear of inflicting further hurt and his genuine horror when things go awry feel more true-to-life and more deeply considered here. There are still moments that don't sit quite right with me, but it's certainly better. 

I also loved the insight into the Dionysius and Ariadne relationship and the twists introduced to that part of the mythology. Likewise, I'm really enjoying the twist of making Greek heroes into anti-heros or outright villains, and there is a big part of me that hopes the author rips up the rule book in the finale and Hades and Persephone end up as King and Queen of Olympus as well as the Underworld...

My biggest criticism is that it appears the author got slightly lazy towards the end of the book. The closer to the end you get, the more errors there are in the text - definitely needs another going over by an editor. And then to find that the last chapter is just cut, copied and pasted from Malice is quite disappointing - I was hoping for a little extra to bridge the gap between this and the finale. 

So glad I don't have to wait very long for the next book in the series to come out!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Death, Sexual assault, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Alcoholism, Murder, Infertility, Alcohol, Sexual violence, War, Rape, Domestic abuse, Animal death, and Cursing

Minor: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Vomit, Stalking, Child death, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders

alexjoneswrites's review

adventurous dark funny tense 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

5.0

I have long been obsessed with this series and this one was one of my favourites so far! I love the additions of Dionysus’ chapters - it made for an interesting stitch up 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Death

Moderate: War, Rape, and Misogyny

Minor: Murder

Also a brief mention of beastality but it’s a blink and you miss it

javisbookshelf's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Of all the books of the saga, this is my least favourite one. I am so sad because I have always enjoyed Hades's POV a tiny bit more than Sephy, and I felt underwhelmed with this book. Probably it was the Dionysius and Theseus. With D, it happened to me that I couldn't connect with them, his POV was all about how horny he was for Ari. I simply didn't care about them. I needed more background, I guess. With Theseus, it was simply what a villain would do, I didn't need a whole ass explanation why he was the villain. It felt just gross. Hermes, as always, has my favourite lines and I want to be his friend. 
I have more to say, probably I'll update this review

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Torture

brichneyfloss's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Murder, and Sexual violence

beckyremillard's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

3.75

I’ve been reading this series in tandem and loved the first books but this one didn’t hold my interest as much. It dragged on a bit and I had no interest in the perspectives other than Hades. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Blood, and War

nice_and_cosy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

5.0

Basically Hades is a simp, Hermes is hilarious, and Dionysus is clueless. Amazing book, great spice, will totally read again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Gore, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Trafficking, Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Rape, Murder, Vomit, War, Torture, Child death, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

apender's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

Scarlett does it again! Another amazing read! This whole series has become a comfort series for me and has been helping me heal from someone who was my Lexa. I loved the addition of  Ariadne and  Dionysus was chefs kiss! They have easily become a new favorite couple along with Hades and Persephone. Also Hermes is still up to his antics and many times I was doubled over laughing. This series just keeps getting better and better. Cannot wait for Chaos! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, Murder, and Death