Reviews tagging 'Torture'

A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair

21 reviews

shannonvonpesach's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Stalking and War

valley_of_ash's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Drug abuse, Torture, Stalking, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

book_s1ut's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Minor: Torture

diana_raquel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.75

“Respect could build an empire. Trust could make it unbreakable. Love could make it last forever.”

For a long time, I wanted to read more retellings or inspired Greek mythology books, especially from the myth of Hades and Persephone (one of my favorite myths). So, when this book started to make the rounds on social media, I was interested. However, hyped books are very 50/50 with me. 

When I started to read this book, for a time, I was considering DNF because, in the beginning, there are some parts a bit boring to me. However, when the story starts to gain some speed, the story became really interesting and entertaining. So, this is a 3.75 read for me. It was good, but not enough for a 4 stars book to me. Even so, I plan to read the next book. 

I would recommend this to people who want to read a romance and a modern retelling of the myth of Hades and Persephone. It has well-developed characters, however, in the beginning, the slower pace can be a problem. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Torture, Violence, and Stalking

flaminghotchertos's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Torture, Vomit, Sexual harassment, and War

74laura74's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Torture and Toxic relationship

karambit's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Torture, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Terminal illness, and War

mariamlyxoxo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

stoplickingmeodin's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

3.0

Miscommunication trope that went to far. The entire book would have no plot if they had had the ability to work through one conversation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Sexual harassment

ashlightgrayson's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

This is probably the best published Hades/Persephone retellings I have read. Hades is modernized to be a god with an intimidating reputation in charge of a night club. Persephone is a goddess passing as a journalism student enrolled in an internship. On a night out, she accidentally ends up meeting Hades and inadvertently entering a 6-month contract with him. There is attraction between both of them from the beginning, but they have a series of encounters that allows them to build a relationship. They do not like each other at first which makes for a lot of arguing and banter to comedic effect. A lot of the side characters also see the mutual attraction before Persephone does which adds to the humor of it all. 

I appreciated that Persephone had a lot of bite to Hades' bark. She is one of the few people who despite being aware of his reputation, is not afraid to argue with him. They both are also able to implement each other's advice into their lives once they learn to see value in the other's perspective. Persephone visits Hades in his realm and gets to see aspects of him that she wouldn't have otherwise. They also both establish boundaries for their arguments even before they are together and respect those boundaries. They also consistently respect each other's autonomy. Hades also uses his power to protect Persephone as needed, not because of who she is to him, but because he feels that women should be respected.

As an example, Hades disciplines one of his henchmen for physically handling Persephone in a manner that is deemed inappropriate before he really knows her. He also comes to her rescue when she is harassed and drugged by Adonis.

.

I think this is definitely worth picking up if you want a more modern urban fantasy take on Hades/Persephone. I would warn that there are a lot of sex scenes, so if that isn't something you are into, I would probably skip it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Cursing