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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
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
triple_m's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I was hooked the first 100 pages. I loved how we jumped right into the story and Persephone and Hades meet very early on. Then we enter this really repetitive cycle of her disliking him, him angering her, them lusting after one another and something minority sexual happens until something splashes cold water on the situation.
It picked up whenever they finally had sex but I was too checked out and annoyed with the characters by then. The problem is that Persephone really is immature and childish.
Also, I hate these stories of “female empowerment” and how “badass women are” when men are the entire catalyst for the charge. In this story Hades is right about nearly everything and literally forces Persephone into growth, taking away nearly all of her agency. It just doesn’t sit right with me.
TW:Revenge porn plot line towards the end (not by Hades)
It picked up whenever they finally had sex but I was too checked out and annoyed with the characters by then. The problem is that Persephone really is immature and childish.
Also, I hate these stories of “female empowerment” and how “badass women are” when men are the entire catalyst for the charge. In this story Hades is right about nearly everything and literally forces Persephone into growth, taking away nearly all of her agency. It just doesn’t sit right with me.
TW:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny, Blood, and Alcohol
Minor: Confinement
anneenichole's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
relaxing
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing
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
hevlav's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Idk I’m just not a fan of eternally old being and young girl being in love.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
aseel_reads's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
The .25 is because I liked this Hades, but otherwise this was so boring and very obvious from the get go. Persephone was very annoying to have as the only perspective but I also can't believe book 2 is the whole story just from Hades pov...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Bullying, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
megmei's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
cringe
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
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
whatkatyread87's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, and Alcohol