Reviews tagging 'Torture'

A Touch of Chaos by Scarlett St. Clair

16 reviews

sillyhumantricks's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

1.0

I hate that this is where the series went. The first three books were so good and this one shifted to so much trauma and violence. in the audiobook a male narrator was added in addition to the female narrator from the earlier books and I did not like his voice or the shift to add another person. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Rape, Domestic abuse, War, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Death, Murder, Mental illness, and Emotional abuse

megthecatlady's review

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

I am so sad that this series is over, but it is probably one of the best series I've read. The effort that the author put into these always amazes me when I read the author notes at the end to learn about the myths incorporated. 

I loved the character development for Hades and Persephone throughout the series and the development of their relationship as well. I felt like Persephone had a decent amount of growth in the last two or three books especially. I also loved her relationship development with all the side characters as well. This book definitely screams "found family trope" louder than the others in this series, however, I think it's a present theme throughout. 

I would have liked to learn more about Medusa, but I am thinking/hopeful the author is saving that for another series. I cannot wait to read about Aphrodite and Hephaestus.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, War, and Death

Moderate: Rape, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Pregnancy and Suicide

nitecrtlvr's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

Overall wasn’t a huge fan of the series, think this book was one of the better ones, definitely the best one with Persephone’s point of view.
The POVs of Hades were the better books in my opinion and same with the chapters in here.
Also there is a lot of smut, which I don’t normally mind. But in this case and for much of the series it’s like every other chapter and its pages of it. Felt like it took you out of the story and didn’t add anything to the characters growth or the storyline. Felt more like “oh don’t know what to put here so let’s let them go have sex.” 
Putting those aside this version of Persephone and Hades story is pretty good, it’s interesting and you get to really enjoy the other gods and really enjoyed their personalities; would’ve liked more of them. Thinking the ending could’ve been a lot stronger but of course had to have a smut scene instead of showing the aftermath and where the character end up…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Torture, War, Death, Rape, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Self harm, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

kristinareadz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, War, Suicide, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Physical abuse, Confinement, Sexual assault, Blood, Rape, Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Murder

Minor: Death, Alcohol, and Kidnapping

thetaoakdown's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Infertility, Torture, Grief, Vomit, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Stalking, Suicide, War, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Death

ninahuynh's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Again, I think some of the sex scenes could be faded out or cut out and replaced with more soul-intimate scenes, if that makes sense. Some of the occurances just don't make sense holistically and I don't see Hades or Persephone going that route either. Like they just teleport from a horrid fight scene and then suddenly coitus 🤨😑  I skipped the Hades series as of this review, so it was my first encounter with the different povs and from characters other than Persephone and Hades. I enjoyed that. I think it was also a good way to transition out of this series to the next one!! I love the ending- it was sweet. I am excited to read more on Aphrodite and Hephaestus, and Dionysus and Ariadne.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual violence, War, Cursing, Physical abuse, Death, Body horror, Confinement, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Animal death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Suicide, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Chronic illness, Rape, and Sexism

mary_catherine's review

dark tense medium-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

1.0

This book was unnecessary graphic and delved into issues such as trauma, sexual assault, explicit rape, suicide, and more without true reason. None of this furthered the plot or was critical to character development. It was done without grace or tact. To add insult to injury, the plot was disappointing and slow. It didn’t feel like it was well thought out and didn’t really align with vibe from the previous books. Overall many aspects of this book felt forced. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Rape, Domestic abuse, Torture, War, and Toxic relationship

lethridge's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

5.0

synopsis: A fight for humanity and battles between gods, it's a world Persephone never thought she would see. To end the chaos, she must draw upon her darkness and embrace who she's become—Goddess, Wife, Queen of the Underworld. Once, Persephone made bargains to save those she loves, now she will go to war for them.

This series is a MUST read! 

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: Grief and Sexual content

Minor: Torture

l4urenf13's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Torture

Moderate: Suicide, Confinement, Rape, Physical abuse, and War

amandascozycorner's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

2.0

Somehow there both too much and not enough going on in this book. I feel like there was enough material to cover two more books had it been given some proper due. Every challenge thrown at our darlings was horrible, the end of the world… until the solution was served up on a silver platter.  There seemed to be no consequences for serious actions, and it always worked out in the best possible way. Ugh. 

The series as a whole was lovely - I enjoyed watching the romance develop and deepen between Persephone and Hades. Watching a couple not only decide to be together but also work through differences to stay committed was refreshing and felt real. Unfortunately it seems that that level of story telling was left out of this book in favor of nonstop action that didn’t allow enough time between events to do anything other than the obligatory spicy scene. Speaking of spice - the scenes were definitely steamy but I just didn’t feel the same level of intensity that earlier books had, for all the reasons I’ve already mentioned. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, Torture, and Suicide

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Torture, Pregnancy, and Kidnapping