Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

A Touch of Ruin by Scarlett St. Clair

28 reviews

whatkatyread87's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This could’ve been an email

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

Minor: Suicide and War

cscharfway's review against another edition

emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, and Medical trauma

faith_mikey's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

aliyahoff's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Car accident

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

khaylaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

This book was delicious. Love, passion, betrayal, heartbreak and loss, friendship and so much more!

I loved the chemistry between Persephone and Hades.

Hermes is one of my favorite side characters, he cracks me up! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, and Medical trauma

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Medical trauma

amfrizi's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Suicide and Car accident

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: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

savage_book_review'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: Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Suicide, and Murder

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail