Reviews with content warning for Suicide - A Touch of Ruin

I liked this sequel better than the first book, and could seriously not put it down.

I feel like the character of Persephone goes through significant emotional growth throughout the book, something I found lacking before. She is just frustrating enough to make the plot interesting and gives the book some depth without making her storyline insufferable.

I still feel like there is one too many sex scenes between her and Hades (not that it’s always a bad thing!) but it is less ridiculous now, and served a purpose to emphasize how completely intertwined their souls are with each other.

The choices that Persephone has to make over her friend, Lexa, are just gut wrenching and really raise significant issues about life, death and morality. I also love seeing how her powers have manifested and grown alongside her confidence. I love the goddess and queen she is becomming.

One issue I have is about Persephone as a journalist/writer. From what little of her work we see in this text, she sounds kind of gossipy, cheesy and definitely not award-winning in her diction. I hope we see more of her abilities now that she has *spoiler* branched off from the newspaper, and I really hope her articles become more mature and less like the vindictive notebook of a spurned teenager.

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empire_of_sun_and_nightmares's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A

2.75

Listened on audiobooks so it was easy. It was ok. But nothing outstanding.

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faith_mikey's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

It would’ve been a 3.5 star, maybe even a 4, but a lot of the later “plot” elements felt unnecessary and like they were added for drama or to be edgy. I’m also disappointed in the fact that it seems like every chapter has some mention of sex or wanting it, it’s like the main character’s relationship cannot exist without it which does not build healthy foundations and ruined the book for me personally. And then the spicy chapters had less of an impact due to the over abundance of sex talk.

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lizgom's review against another edition

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I decided to stop reading this at 42%.
I adore Persephone & Hades but I can’t stand them in this retelling. Which is a shock to me because the development they got from book 1 was wiped when continuing to book 2. Persephone was just immature & her actions were always so contradictory. Hades was just *there*.

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starfire_rhexia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

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