Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

A Game of Retribution by Scarlett St. Clair

5 reviews

rchulin1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mmontemurro's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.75

This book was "A Touch of Ruin" from Hades' POV. It was interesting to see the other side of Persephone's struggles with losing Lexa. We get more of an understanding of why Hades cannot help her with bringing Lexa back to the mortal world. Not only does Hades have to bargain with the Fates to save a person, but another life will be lost to replace the one saved. Hades bears the scars for these bargains. He bears the grief he has for these decisions, therefore they must be made sparingly and only when a person WANTS to be saved. I believe the character development in this part of the story is for Persephone alone (other than Hades learning to trust Persephone a *little bit* more). Persephone must learn to let go of Lexa and also learn to trust Hades in return. This story in particular dove into Hera's labours for Hades, which he must complete to receive Hera's favour for marriage to Persephone. There are some very good scenes (namely Hades killing some deities, participating in a battle arena, etc.)  allowing Hera to continue her pursuit of Zeus' throne and challenging Hades in new ways. Persephone starts to gain and learn about her powers, understanding her role as eventual Queen of the Underworld, and dealing with grief and loss. Hades responds the best way he knows how, but by intentionally keeping information from Persephone, clearly not trusting her, and not being physically present for events, and during Lexa's death, she feels a gap in their relationship which must be rectified. In the future, Hades will have to start trusting Persephone fully (and not treating her like a fragile object) and Persephone will have to trust Hades and have faith in their relationship.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Death, Suicide, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

lovetlr's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

2.0

Hermes is the best.
Too much sex in this one, more smut than plot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic relationship

Minor: Trafficking and War

bryelle's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

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

3.0

Second book in the Touch of Darkness series from Hades perspective. I wish this had given some type of recap at the beginning of the book. I read the other books before this one came out so it took a minute for my brain to catch up to the plot since it seems to just resume from where the last book left off. 

It’s really cool to see what happens in this series from Hades point of view. Though he is very brooding and bad at communication. Hades grows in this book while he fights challenges from Hera to get her approval of his marriage to Persephone one day. In the mess of the challenges, Hades at time is hard to communicate with. In the end we find there is someone trying to hurt gods and goddesses. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Moderate: Trafficking

raiderqueen23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Rape, Vomit, and War

It only mentions rape.