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Thursday, March 4, 2021

a Touch of Darkness - Scarlett St. Clair

Persephone is the Goddess of Spring by title only. The truth is, since she was a little girl, flowers have shriveled at her touch. After moving to New Athens, she hopes to lead an unassuming life disguised as a mortal journalist. 


Hades, God of the Dead, has built a gambling empire in the mortal world and his favorite bets are rumored to be impossible. 

After a chance encounter with Hades, Persephone finds herself in a contract with the God of the Dead and the terms are impossible: Persephone must create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever. 

The bet does more than expose Persephone’s failure as a Goddess, however. As she struggles to sow the seeds of her freedom, love for the God of the Dead grows—and it’s forbidden.


I did not intend to enjoy this story as much as I did. A Touch of Darkness is a much deeper love story than I initially thought! I heard it had great sex scenes, great tension, and overall was a hot read and while that is all true, the story of Hades and Persephone is compelling, and honestly endearing. I’m a believer of everything happens for a reason and this book plays on that and concept of fate a lot.


I didn’t love the relationships between humans and gods. I found it confusing, and maybe even a little uninteresting? I either want more of the gods or less, but this in between left me unsatisfied. I also didn’t love the horns... This is a me thing 100% but I didn’t like the visual, I didn’t like how often they were stressed, and it just wasn’t for me.


I am mixed on my feelings for Persephone. I think she was definitely a kind character with a lot of sensitivity and understanding of the mortal world. Sometimes though I was a little like “stop...” I felt like she was curious to a fault and made mistakes because of it. While this shows her humanity (I know she’s a goddess but she’s been in the moral world for so long) I find it to be a little frustrating. I really enjoyed the playfulness of Hades. I think Clair did a great job of making him humane with her, although I also didn’t find him “scary” even when he was being threatening. I think book two explores that side of him more deeply but to be honest, I liked how book one ended and I don’t feel compelled to continue reading their story. Perhaps one day I will pick it up but for now I’m happy with the ending they received.


Overall, if you’re a fan of retellings and romance I say give this book a try!


Rating: 3/5 



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