Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair

20 reviews

jujumoon333's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

What can I say, but I loved this book. I truly loved it. A Touch of Darkness opens with Persephone, a young “powerless” goddess posing as a mortal, living in the modern mortal world. Persephone has mortal friends; is in mortal college; and has a mortal job. Yet, as mythology goes, the gods and goddesses in this book LOVE to romp around the mortal world. Taking mortal lovers and, if you’re the Lord of the Underworld Hades, making bargains with mortals. Then one day, the lovely Persephone appeases her best friend Lexa, and goes to Nevernight, Hades’s nightclub. And of course Hades is in love on first sight, but handles it like a typical male, by doing some dumb shit and striking a bargain while engaging in some deceitful behavior. I’ll leave it at that as to not spoil the story too much. However,  Persephone, unwittingly probably due to being by being in love and lust at first sight with Hades, enters into a bargain with the sexy, dark god. Throughout this book, we get to meet the mythological characters from this ancient myth in a whole new light. A modern light. One that is sexy, fun, and truly was a delight to read. Hades and Persephone’s love story is just beginning in a Touch of Darkness, and my my what an intense love story it is…and this is only book one in the series. Needless to say, I can’t wait to read Hades perspective in a Game of Fate anddddd continue on with the story with a Touch of Ruin. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

julietbourke's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful lighthearted medium-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

3.5

I really enjoyed reading this modernized take on the Persephone and Hades myth. There were some points I was annoyed with Persephone where I just felt like her character needed a bit more oomph, like she needed to just be....more than what she was. I guess I think I felt she needed to have a little more depth or more of a personality outside of her shell and outside of being a hot, blonde Goddess.

From an audiobook perspective, I thought it was a relatively easy listen and I could jump back in pretty easily too. I also really liked the narrator, she took a bit of getting used to in the beginning but I loved the way she read by the end.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the characters and story develops over the rest of the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, and War

yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

3.5

Doing the tandem is so much better than reading this alone. I still fine Persephone a bit annoying sometimes but the Hades pov helps balance it out

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Mental illness

sierrabowers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I thought this was a great mix of Greek mythology and modern fiction, but at times it did get predictable and cringe. If you read Percy Jackson as a kid and now like ACOTAR… I would recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

littlered22's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

I really liked the characters and I want to see how their story develops 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

tamaraloraine89's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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

slow start but heated right up to sizzling. I wasn't sure I'd like it in the beginning but quickly became hooked and couldn't put it down

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

puck_jay's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

1.0

Not for me. Good hate-listen tho

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

rchulin1's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

abikale's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

Loved Hades. Wasn’t so sure about some of the female characters who seemed quite shallow at first but they weren’t bad and I did prefer them as we got into the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Sexual harassment

sonatica's review against another edition

I generally like the idea of reteölings of the Persephone & Hades Myth in new ways, but this just wasn't for me. It felt like reading fanfiction (which can be good, obviously!) to me. One obvious trope was chasing another and it felt so predictable.
But I could've looked past that for a casual read.
However, the way he speaks to her after one of the spicier scenes around the halfway point of the book completely threw me off.
I like dark romance and I can look past toxic behaviour in fantasy if it's not glorified too much, but him saying

"I have been inside you, and you will never be able to forget that." or something along those lines

after she made clear that she didn't want to continue and felt conflicted, felt so wrong and disgusting that I just can't go on.

Mind-reading or lies-tasting or whatever doesn't save that for me either.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Terminal illness, and Medical content

I feel like it's worth mentioning that this book features a scene in which two characters' drinks get drugged in a party-setting, for those who may want to avoid that sort of content.