A Touch of Darkness
SCARLETT ST. CLAIR
(Book 1 of Hades x Persephone)
Synopsis:
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.
Content:
Language: uses of minor swear words in the beginning, but the last third uses a few "f"s.
Violence: discussions of death, souls, and torture for the wicked souls in Tartarus. There are some instances of misdeeds and cruelty, especially on the part of the gods. A near drowning incident leaves the a woman with some injuries. A man assaults a woman by kissing her. There is an abusive and manipulative relationship between a mother and daughter, and the main relationship also seems a bit unhealthy at times.
Sex: allusions to sex, passionate kisses, sexual remarks, descriptions of revealing clothing, a woman wakes up naked in a man's bed, etc. For the last third of the book, there are a few explicit sex scenes. I skipped those, having no interest in reading them. As far as I could tell, they don't contribute anything to the larger story. The sudden change of directions was extremely odd, and it kind of felt like another author was writing it.
LGBTQ: Not present
My Review: This is a retelling of Hades and Persephone, a myth that has long been a love of mine. Goodreads has two stars marked as an "okay" rating, and that applies here too. It was just okay. My favorite part was the world. It had so much potential, but I feel like it was pushed aside for the insta-lovey relationship between Hades and Persephone. The writing was also jarring, and the characters moods were erratic. I also noticed several grammatical and spelling errors, which tends to take me out of the reading.
I had heard almost nothing about this series before receiving a request to review it, so I was not prepared for sexual content. Definitely too much, and pretty much pointless.