Reviews tagging 'Gore'

A Touch of Chaos by Scarlett St. Clair

17 reviews

renee_fae's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, and Death

Minor: War, Kidnapping, Gore, Grief, and Blood

frantically's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.5

Sadly, not nearly as strong as the previous books and really disappointing in some aspects. 

I still love Hades and Persephone and they were definitely the highlight in this book for me but it didn't even feel like a Hades and Persephone a book at some point, just...a war book. I also feel like we've lost any aspect of a "modern" retelling – Persephone's media job seems non-existent and all the time is spent in the underworld anyway.

Hermes is reduced to nothing more than comic relief (and bad one at that) and Apollo doesn't appear until like 80% in.

Sooo many people and gods died in this and it all felt so inconsequential and basically noone mourned?? There's horrid things happening and we just don't get any satisfying conclusions.

Definitely my least favourite of the series 🥲 Still love the rest of them though 🫶🏻

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Sexual violence, Medical content, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, War, Murder, Body horror, Gore, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Grief, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Death of parent

alysonramey's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Murder, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Sexual content, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and War

mmontemurro's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This final book captivated me immediately. The previous book leaves us with Hades trapped in the maze that Theseus has created. He is unable to escape with his magic being stunted using the chain device created using a relic. The Titans were being released as well from Tartarus. We jump right in and Persephone is working with the others to prevent too much damage to the underworld. Some titans are able to escape, including Cronos, the God of Time. Persephone is able to close Tartarus with her magic and prevent anyone else from escaping. Persephone finds out that her mother is in Elysium, unable to cope with the crimes she has committed. Her guilt was insurmountable. Hades is ordered by Theseus to work on the prison he is entrapped in, by hand with no magic, and constantly without stopping. Zeus strips Apollo, Hermes, and Aphrodite of their powers for standing against him in battle. Zeus orders them to also retrieve Persephone in chains. Theseus eats Hera's golden apple to gain invincibility, but he will lose his immortality as a cost. The group is able to locate Hades eventually in the maze, and need to come up with a plan to retrieve him.  In the maze, their magic will not be available and they will be unable to teleport out. Because Ariadne knows about the maze from Theseus, she decides to go with Persephone. The maze is able to show you visions which will make you want to stay - offer what you want the most. Hecate also gives them a cat (actually a eudaimon, a guiding spirit) to take into the maze. Because Theseus will almost certainly watch them in the maze, the others have a plan to retrieve Phaedra and her child from the hospital. Hades is saved from the maze in a gripping mission where Persephone and Ariadne are almost lost to the maze's tricks and monsters. Harmonia is not healing, and Persephone decides to go to Ares' island with Hermes (who is owed a favour) and get his golden fleece. Hades is nearly killed by Ares and the golden fleece saves him. Harmonia is also saved. Hera seduces Zeus and he licks a potion from her body to put him to sleep. Theseus is now in possession of Zeus' lightning bolt and Hades' Helm of Darkness. Dionysus has to go back and bury the ophiotaurus on Thrinacia, and rescue Medusa from pirates. Apollo is killed by Theseus with Zeus' lightning bolt, and he is reunited with his lover in the underworld. Cronos grants a favour to Theseus and kills Hera. Dionysus' tunnels are flooded, and Ariadne and Phaedra are kidnapped by Theseus. Ariadne is bound in restraints in her room by Theseus, and she is raped by him. Phaedra commits suicide. Cronos tortures Persephone with the nightmare of losing Hades, and Prometheus helps to stop him. Zeus is killed by Hecate and Theseus is no longer able to use the bolt. Ariadne is raped beside her sister's corpse, under threat of the killing of his son. Hades notes that the ophiotaurus has not returned to the sky. The prophecy has not been fulfilled. The group suggests that Hades can fulfill the prophecy by losing a game to Theseus, instead of the entire war. Theseus does defeat Hades at dominos, and thus fulfills the prophecy. Hades also doses Theseus' drink with another golden apple of Hera's, which causes Theseus to die (you cannot eat an apple twice). Still having to defeat Cronos, Hecate takes a bad hit, and Persephone is able to harness Cronos' power and use it against him. She transforms him into a magnificient tree. Hades crowns Persephone as his Queen, and the many dead are welcomed into the underworld.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Violence, Sexual assault, War, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Gore

I really enjoyed this book, and honestly gave it the best rating out of all of the books in the series. The only thing I would have liked is to have closure on a few relationships that are featured throughout the series. Dionysus and Ariadne likely live happily ever after, but it is unclear. Thanatos and Lexa - they kissed in Elysium, and they both likely fell in love, but it was never resolved. Maybe there will be some kind of spin-off? Additionally, Haephestus and Aphrodite seemed to have been reconnecting as a couple, especially in the final book. I wonder how their relationship will fare after the war? Some things that developed throughout the series were never resolved, and these are just a few of the items I was disappointed about!

literaryjada's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Animal death, Rape, Death of parent, Blood, Cursing, Gore, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and War

apender's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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 brought this series full circle perfectly. I so badly never wanted this series to end since it has become a comfort series for me but she gave this series the ending it deserves. Hades and Persephone and all the characters will always have a special place in my heart. This series has helped me so much with my own healing and brought my love for reading back. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give anything away but it was the perfect ending

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood, Sexual content, Violence, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Death, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, War, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

rainmonto's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

ugh this series was great until i found the bonus chapter 🤦🏻‍♀️ i’m tired of the persephone X hades novels being great until the end. why can’t they just leave the ending alone?  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Suicide