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razalicious's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
melinette7's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
It was a very enjoyable read, the plot was not complicated, it was nice reading a book focusing on the lovestory. It is quite spicy, though not as much as people might describe it?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
shellballenger's review against another edition
slow-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
2.5
Type of read: Commuter Read.
What made me pick it up: The story of Hades and Persophone is one of my absolute favorites and I love it when stories are rethought and retold.
Overall rating: "Are you well?" No, Hades, I am not well. I don't know what I think of 'A Touch of Darkness' and it's about as frustrating as that sexual tension between you and Persophone. Here's the thing, I absolutely love the story of Hades and Persophone - like the actual Greek myth of the two gods and how they became, quite literally, one of mythology's power couples. And I think that is absolutely why I have a love/hate relationship with 'A Touch of Darkness.' I LOVED how Hades was portrayed and the layers and complexity we saw within him; however, Persophone was nauseating and lackluster. She was a whiny child that needed to grow a pair of pomegranates (which she does at the end of the book, but damn...that was a painful journey to get there) .
I think one of the things I also struggled with in 'A Touch of Darkness' was the human/god dichotomy and how they lived together but separately. I didn't feel like that was fully fleshed out. There were parts where it was normal to see a god on the street or in a bar, but then there were other parts where it was like they were held to this crazy celebrity status and the informality didn't make sense. I'm not rushing to pick up the second book in the series anytime soon.
Reader's Note: 'A Touch of Darkness' includes themes of consensual sex, consensual first-time sex, brief instances of sexual assault, torture, and death. Also, fair warning, after you get about 1/3 of the way through the book, until a few chapters from the end, there are some <i> detailed </i> spicy scenes. Although, I did think they were tasteful...for being straight-up smut.
What made me pick it up: The story of Hades and Persophone is one of my absolute favorites and I love it when stories are rethought and retold.
Overall rating: "Are you well?" No, Hades, I am not well. I don't know what I think of 'A Touch of Darkness' and it's about as frustrating as that sexual tension between you and Persophone. Here's the thing, I absolutely love the story of Hades and Persophone - like the actual Greek myth of the two gods and how they became, quite literally, one of mythology's power couples. And I think that is absolutely why I have a love/hate relationship with 'A Touch of Darkness.' I LOVED how Hades was portrayed and the layers and complexity we saw within him; however, Persophone was nauseating and lackluster. She was a whiny child that needed to grow a pair of pomegranates
I think one of the things I also struggled with in 'A Touch of Darkness' was the human/god dichotomy and how they lived together but separately. I didn't feel like that was fully fleshed out. There were parts where it was normal to see a god on the street or in a bar, but then there were other parts where it was like they were held to this crazy celebrity status and the informality didn't make sense. I'm not rushing to pick up the second book in the series anytime soon.
Reader's Note: 'A Touch of Darkness' includes themes of consensual sex, consensual first-time sex, brief instances of sexual assault, torture, and death. Also, fair warning, after you get about 1/3 of the way through the book, until a few chapters from the end, there are some <i> detailed </i> spicy scenes. Although, I did think they were tasteful...for being straight-up smut.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death and Sexual assault
Minor: Torture
megan_ruppert's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol
dogoodwithbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-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
5.0
Closed Door Mod: Chapter 14, Chapters 16-19, Chapters 22-24, Chapter 27
I don’t know what Scarlett St. Clair put in this book because I simply could not get enough of it.
From the very first page, I was drawn into the modern retelling of Hades x Persephone and the intricately created world St. Clair designed. St. Clair’s writing captivated me, drawing me in deeper and deeper as Hades and Persephone’s relationship developed. A Touch of Darkness made it so easy or me to get invested in this story, from Persephone’s desires to become her own person to the growing and complex relationship between Persephone and Hades, I had such a hard time putting this book down. Both charming and dark at the same time, this is the kind of book that will leave you thinking about it for a long time.
I read this book as an immersion read and I think this is the best way to go since I didn’t have to spend five minutes internally debating how to pronounce a character’s name as well as the fact that it made the book come to life in this way. Sylvan did a good with the narration, keeping a consistent pace and matching their voice to the emotions conveyed in the text. While some of the characters (specifically with the side characters) had similar sounding voices, it wasn’t so bad to the point where I couldn’t tell which character was which.
This is definitely a series I will be continuing and it’ll be interesting to read the books from Hades’ POV to see how things compare from the books featuring Perspephone’s POV. If you’re looking for a dark romantasy with a writing style you cannot get enough of and you’re a fan of the “who did this to you?” trope, I feel like you would enjoy reading A Touch of Darkness.
I don’t know what Scarlett St. Clair put in this book because I simply could not get enough of it.
From the very first page, I was drawn into the modern retelling of Hades x Persephone and the intricately created world St. Clair designed. St. Clair’s writing captivated me, drawing me in deeper and deeper as Hades and Persephone’s relationship developed. A Touch of Darkness made it so easy or me to get invested in this story, from Persephone’s desires to become her own person to the growing and complex relationship between Persephone and Hades, I had such a hard time putting this book down. Both charming and dark at the same time, this is the kind of book that will leave you thinking about it for a long time.
I read this book as an immersion read and I think this is the best way to go since I didn’t have to spend five minutes internally debating how to pronounce a character’s name as well as the fact that it made the book come to life in this way. Sylvan did a good with the narration, keeping a consistent pace and matching their voice to the emotions conveyed in the text. While some of the characters (specifically with the side characters) had similar sounding voices, it wasn’t so bad to the point where I couldn’t tell which character was which.
This is definitely a series I will be continuing and it’ll be interesting to read the books from Hades’ POV to see how things compare from the books featuring Perspephone’s POV. If you’re looking for a dark romantasy with a writing style you cannot get enough of and you’re a fan of the “who did this to you?” trope, I feel like you would enjoy reading A Touch of Darkness.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Sexual harassment
Minor: Addiction, Death, and Violence
neekoshimmer32's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
It was a very frustrating read. While it was occasionally funny and romantic, the fmc was very naive and childlike. The writing style was mostly short quick sentences and many words were repeated several times in the book. There were several sentences, especially dialogue which I found hard to read one after the other - it didn’t flow seamlessly and took some brainwork to understand how they related. It was true to be a retelling of the story of Hades and Persephone, but I didn’t feel the chemistry between the characters develop. Persephone’s dialogue was difficult to read and I enjoyed her conversations with Hades at the start compared to her lines otherwise. She also makes several poor choices throughout the book. Her character development wasn’t seamless either, as she mostly comes to many realizations by the end chapters of the book and seemed to stand up for herself then, but otherwise she remained mostly naive.
The lines from the book on the back cover is an example of dialogue I didn’t think was seamless. (Persephone simply saying “yes” as hades says he wants to worship her). This is a trend throughout he book. ‘Worship’ is an example of word that was repeated maybe three or four times in this book. It’s hard to see it used unironically/taken seriously and it also felt like it came out of nowhere sometimes. As for slightly triggering words (as up to personal preference), I disliked some words that were used, like ‘flesh” was used maybe three times in one scene. Some more variety would’ve been nice. After the pair end up together near the end of the book, they seemed to end up together in nearly every chapter. Of course, this is just up to personal preference but maybe that’s not for me.
The book also had very fast pacing, so fast that I couldn’t place which moment we were in sometimes. Moments pass by in a sentence, or maybe even hours. It was hard to read romance in third person as well. I’d prefer first person and a dual POV, and slightly slower pacing.
The lines from the book on the back cover is an example of dialogue I didn’t think was seamless. (Persephone simply saying “yes” as hades says he wants to worship her). This is a trend throughout he book. ‘Worship’ is an example of word that was repeated maybe three or four times in this book. It’s hard to see it used unironically/taken seriously and it also felt like it came out of nowhere sometimes. As for slightly triggering words (as up to personal preference), I disliked some words that were used, like ‘flesh” was used maybe three times in one scene. Some more variety would’ve been nice. After the pair end up together near the end of the book, they seemed to end up together in nearly every chapter. Of course, this is just up to personal preference but maybe that’s not for me.
The book also had very fast pacing, so fast that I couldn’t place which moment we were in sometimes. Moments pass by in a sentence, or maybe even hours. It was hard to read romance in third person as well. I’d prefer first person and a dual POV, and slightly slower pacing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Vomit
shinyfox's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Infidelity, and War
literarymary95's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
3.0
Persephone's character is a bit annoying and immature, but I guess that's normal for a girl in her early 20's. I really enjoyed Hades character though.
If you're interested in a Hades-Persephone retelling, I recommend Neon Gods by Katee Robert. It's a bit better.
If you're interested in a Hades-Persephone retelling, I recommend Neon Gods by Katee Robert. It's a bit better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Addiction, Death, and Violence
brooke_w's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault
lizgom's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I read another retelling of Hades & Persephone and as much as I love the story, I’m not sure if it was the writing that lacked or the narrator. I can’t be sure. But I found myself skimming a lot and that was disappointing considering I love retellings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Addiction, Death, and Violence