Reviews

A Touch of Malice by Scarlett St. Clair

starrynews's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

After the ominous ending of book 2, I was curious to see what would happen next, so here I am. The last maybe 1/3 of the book was exciting - a lot of action and movement in the plot took place, and there's quite a cliffhanger which might pull me in again for book 4. Unfortunately, the number of spicy/steamy scenes overwhelms the actual story in most of the book. The big proclamation from the end of book 2 kept getting repeated too, but nothing was actually happening besides the steamy scenes. Was no one concerned with resolving what sounded like a pretty serious issue (probably understating it, but I'm trying not to spoil it)?!

santisteph3's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark hopeful mysterious 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

3.75

reaganbee's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

i almost didn’t read this because of how i felt about the sequel, but this felt like a bit of a turn around for me and i could definitely stomach this one. i’m not sure if i necessarily enjoyed it, but i was satisfied more from this read than the last. …apart from the cliff hanger we’ve been left with. i wish i could at least give this review another half star, but alas i cannot so three stars it is.

kayess3's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

Oh. My. God.

I’m convinced Scarlett St. Clair had a page quota, ran out of story ideas and jammed as much smut into this one as possible. I like a good smut book as much as the next one but it was a lot. Seriously. Usually, I feel like sex scenes assist the story/connection between the characters and, in this case, I felt like it did the complete opposite and watered the entire story down.

There were so few scenes where Hades and Persephone had their cute little moments (although I suppose this was lacking a bit in a Touch of Ruin, too…) and I miss them severely. Why call it a Hades x Persephone book when the only time Hades is really seen is when he and Persephone can’t keep it in their pants? He appeared almost exclusively when a sex scene was happening.

I really liked A Touch of Darkness. A Touch of Ruin I liked a little bit less and now this one… I wanted it to end somewhere between pages 200-250. While the cliffhanger is interesting, I’m honestly not sure whether or not I’ll read A Touch of Chaos when it comes out.

** NOW WE’RE GETTING INTO SPOILERS. SHIELD YOUR EYES!! **

Helen could’ve been dealt with by the end of this book and no one can change my mind.

I’m at a total loss why Persephone didn’t lock Theseus in Hades’ Arsenal vault while she dealt with Demeter. I mean puh-lease she could’ve just kicked the door shut or, I don’t know, used her magic abilities. (By the time I’d reached this part of the book, I was wishing it was over so… maybe I’ll rethink this at a later time.)

And who tf was Theo? A typo methinks. He was only mentioned once while in the doomed hotel room 505. (Did anyone else sing the Arctic Monkeys song when they read this?)

entangledinthepages's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I didn’t hate Persephone in this book. I need to know what happens, so I will indeed read the last book when it comes out. I think this book was the best of the three so far, but I’m not crazy about to 180 Persephone did. But glad she did for Hades’ sake.

amanda_livingston's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I loved the ending! Can’t wait for a touch of chaos!

mendomama's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

Some of the spicy scenes gave me the ick, Persephone is the worst protagonist in this

imakatt's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

If I had to take a shot every time Hades asked "Are you well?" I would be dead of alcohol poisoning.

While this book was a slight improvement over the last one, it's still terrible. It's also boring. How can a book be so bad and so boring at the same exact time. Where do I even being. Let's start off with the way Scarlett St. Clair butchered Hermes. I really liked him in the first and second book, he was the only redeeming quality. Then she made him weird by constantly making him mention Persephone and Hades having sex. Every time he was in the chapter it was always, "Sephy, I can smell sex on you, "Sephy, I know you and hades had sex." It got old very fast and it was stupid.

Persephone has no back bone at all and is just as one dimensional as she was in the second book. She's been yelled at, had hot coffee thrown at her, and slapped. But she doesn't do anything about it, she just takes it and does nothing. I know the author wrote her like this to make her seem like this holier than thou, self righteous twat who always takes the high ground, but that's not the impression I got. All those little encounters make her weak and unlikeable. Why would I route for a main character who can't even stand up for herself. Hades does more protecting her than she does for herself.

Hades is an asshole, and Persephone does nothing but bend to his will whenever he snaps his fingers because she's an obedient little twit who can't think for herself. He doesn't trust her to be alone, doesn't trust her to get anything done, doesn't trust her period.

I love sex, I love smut. There was too much sex and too much smut in this book. I can't believe I have to write that, but there is. Again, it got old and boring very fast. Why did every other paragraph had to be of them having sex? I actually really wanted to read about the war between the gods, instead everything was super rushed towards the end where we have to wait for ANOTHER book to come out. That's ridiculous, this is just over blown at this point. Nothing happens for the first 300 pages of the book except everything saying "war is coming." Well, it didn't. Nothing happened.

makcougs's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

This 3rd book was a strugglllleeee to finish.

bubblemonster's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Part 3 was the most thrilling park for me!
The smut was pretty good.

Also Not a big fan of cliffhangers!