This book was "A Touch of Ruin" from Hades' POV. It was interesting to see the other side of Persephone's struggles with losing Lexa. We get more of an understanding of why Hades cannot help her with bringing Lexa back to the mortal world. Not only does Hades have to bargain with the Fates to save a person, but another life will be lost to replace the one saved. Hades bears the scars for these bargains. He bears the grief he has for these decisions, therefore they must be made sparingly and only when a person WANTS to be saved. I believe the character development in this part of the story is for Persephone alone (other than Hades learning to trust Persephone a *little bit* more). Persephone must learn to let go of Lexa and also learn to trust Hades in return. This story in particular dove into Hera's labours for Hades, which he must complete to receive Hera's favour for marriage to Persephone. There are some very good scenes (namely Hades killing some deities, participating in a battle arena, etc.) allowing Hera to continue her pursuit of Zeus' throne and challenging Hades in new ways. Persephone starts to gain and learn about her powers, understanding her role as eventual Queen of the Underworld, and dealing with grief and loss. Hades responds the best way he knows how, but by intentionally keeping information from Persephone, clearly not trusting her, and not being physically present for events, and during Lexa's death, she feels a gap in their relationship which must be rectified. In the future, Hades will have to start trusting Persephone fully (and not treating her like a fragile object) and Persephone will have to trust Hades and have faith in their relationship.
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Death, Suicide, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail