Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

A Touch of Ruin by Scarlett St. Clair

26 reviews

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

tiffanne11's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

You know the part in romance books where something happens and the couple breaks up but you know they just need to work it out and communicate? That is this whole book.
The on again off again saga of Hades and Persephone. While there are compelling elements, too much of it was surrounding the volatile nature of their relationship. 

Someone please tell me why Hades dogs keep leading persephone into dangerous situations. Because it's happened twice now and no one is mentioning it. 
Also the entire random stalker plot that really didn't get any attention and felt like it could've been cut out. 
Also, while we can all understand the pain that comes with death and the desire to avoid that, it is clear that the queen of the underworld should've been a bit more at peace with the whole thing. 
The most compelling thing was the end when Demeter declared war with snow.

Overall, everyone in this book was a lot more irritating with the exceptions of Hermes and Hecate. They remain perfect in every way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Vomit

Moderate: Suicide, Murder, Torture, and Stalking

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

lethridge's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

synopsis: Persephone’s relationship with Hades has gone public and the resulting media storm disrupts her normal life and threatens to expose her as the Goddess of Spring.

I cannot get enough of Hades & Persephone! 

Tropes- Fated Mates, Fantasy, Possessive MMC, Alpha male, Praise k1nk, Grumpy/Sunshine, Independent Heroine, Hate to Love, Romantacy

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Grief

Minor: Self harm

rchulin1's review against another edition

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

mmontemurro's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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

3.75

A great continuation of the series. This one focuses heavily on the death of Persephone’s best friend Lexa. Lexa chooses to die, and with Hades unable to help Persephone bring Lexa back to life, Persephone resorts to other, darker means, including going to Apollo and the Magi for help. Persephone continues to learn about Hades’ business dealings, forms a deeper bond with Hades by the end of the book, and they finally become engaged. Persephone learns that her relationship with Hades is solid, and she learns to let go of her fears of loss in the mortal world.  I will say that Persephone’s attitude did annoy me in this book. She knows that Hades is God of the Dead and that he cannot change what the Fates desire. She also knows that she can see Lexa in the underworld, but yet continues to berate Hades for not being able to do anything. She resorts to means that have consequences for other characters. She does not listen to Hades tell her that Lexa has chosen to die, and does not consider the consequences of changing her choice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Suicide, and Death

Minor: Alcohol

nitecrtlvr's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Suicide, Alcohol, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Grief

farfromsarah's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I enjoyed this a lot less than the first book, the characters are so whiney and repeat their mistakes too many times for my liking, and some of the plot beats towards the end of the book were way too serious to only be tackled so briefly and then moved on from, it felt like they were only thrown in for dramatic effect and I was not a fan.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide, Alcohol, and Sexual content

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Medical content, Vomit, Sexual assault, and Torture

Minor: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Infidelity, 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

arbramirez's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful fast-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Alcohol