a touch of darkness by scarlett st. clair | book review

A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair

Series: Hades and Persephone #1

Published on May 23, 2019 by Scarlett St. Clair

Genres: Mythology, Fantasy, Romantasy

Pages: 438

Format: Kindle

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★★★☆☆

From bestselling author Scarlett St. Clair comes a dark and enthralling reimagining of the Hades and Persephone Greek myth.

"Let me worship you," he said.

She remembered the words she had whispered to him in the back of the limo after La Rose. "You will worship me, and I won't even have to order you." His request felt sinful and devious, and she reveled in it.

She answered, "Yes."

Persephone is the Goddess of Spring in title only. Since she was a little girl, flowers have only shriveled at her touch. After moving to New Athens, she hoped to lead an unassuming life disguised as a mortal journalist. All of that changes when she sits down in a forbidden nightclub to play a hand of cards with a hypnotic and mysterious stranger.

Hades, God of the Dead, has built a gambling empire in the mortal world and his favorite bets are rumored to be impossible. But nothing has ever intrigued him as much as the goddess offering him a bargain he can't resist.

After her encounter with Hades, Persephone finds herself in a contract with the God of the Dead, and his 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―a love that is both captivating and forbidden.

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Fifty Shades of Grey meets After meets Hades x Persephone fanfiction…

I’ll be honest, I was torn between giving this book 3 or 4 stars. My rating system is already extremely jacked up because my ratings are completely based on vibes and my own personal enjoyment of the book.

So, regarding my enjoyment of the book, I’d give it 4 stars. I did enjoy reading this book, which surprised me, but I wouldn’t geek about it or recommend it to a lot of people unless this kind of book was what they were looking for.

In terms of the actual quality of the book and writing, I’d give this either 2-3 stars.

So, what exactly is in “A Touch of Darkness”?

The summary sounds very promising, making this book seem like a modern retelling of Hades and Persephone. Now, I’ll be the first to say that I am not well-versed in Greek mythology, so I wasn’t scrutinizing all the references to mythology. But this book is essentially a Hades x Persephone cliché fanfiction-esque steamy billionaire romance. My first impression of these characters, as well as the entire set-up of the plot, is that it’s a Fifty Shades of Grey copy-and-paste.

I should have realized that, after seeing what the original cover of the book looks like. It gives me complete Wattpad vibes.

Hades is a rich and successful god who, surprise surprise, owns one of the most prestigious and coveted nightclubs in New Athens and has a habit of smirking and charming the panties off any woman he meets. (I internally cringe because I absolutely HATE the word panties.) Persephone is a college student who interns as a journalist for a news organization. While she’s a goddess, she hasn’t been able to get her powers to work; whatever plants she touches end up wilting.

He was beautiful in a dark way—in a way that promised heartbreak. His eyes were the color of obsidian and framed by thick lashes, his hair pulled into a bun at the back of his head. She had been right that he was tall; she had to tip her head back just to meet his gaze.

When the two meet, the sexual tension is undeniable and forbidden, as Persephone has been warned by her mother Demeter to stay away from Hades. However, Persephone goes against her mother’s wishes and visits Hades’ club with her best friend. Once there, she accidentally gets herself into a contract with Hades that states that she has six months to create life in the underworld. If she fails, then she’ll be bound to stay in the underworld permanently. (Why does this make any sense at all? Book logic of course! How else can these two characters interact with each other if it weren't for some inane, plot-driving contract?)

The catch? Persephone has only ever managed to make plants wilt. She doesn’t know how to harness her powers as the Goddess of Spring because her overprotective mother has prevented her from growing and learning.

Persephone is also a journalist and is tasked by her news organization to write a series of articles on the mysterious God of the Dead, which forces her to spend more time with Hades. (Being an ex-wannabee journalist myself, I found myself critiquing the journalistic writing in the fake news stories in this book. Since I now know how to write a proper news story and headline, whenever I see those in movies and books, I'm always yelling at the screen or page, "No, no, no! They've got it all wrong!"

Unsurprisingly, they eventually have sex. A lot and a lot of sex. Obviously, there needs to be some kind of release after so much tension and build up. The sex scenes aren’t badly written, but they’re also not the panty-melting, I-need-Jesus kind either (if you know you know…). It saddens me that I read this book now, after finding myself gravitating away from romance books because they don't do it for me the same way they did it for me in middle and high school. I know younger me would have eaten this book up, giggling and kicking her feet at every interaction. But now, I just found myself rolling my eyes and skipping through the smutty parts.

“Drop your glamour.”

He looked at her curiously.

She shrugged a shoulder. “You want to fuck me with this crown. I want to fuck a god.”

His smirk was devilish, and he answered, “As you wish.”

I liked Hades, though I thought his character was very cliché, predictable, and reminiscent of literally any sexy billionaire hero. I think the reason I liked him was because he wasn’t a complete and utter asshole. Many romance authors write abusive heroes, and it’s such a turn-off for me. Hades’ biggest flaw was that he’s cliché, and honestly, I’d rather have that than some dick. I can fall for someone who's cliché, but a man who treats the heroine like dogshit under the guise that he's a cocky, arrogant asshole with a secret heart of gold? No, absolutely not. He's just a cocky, arrogant asshole, point blank, end of story.

Now, how is Hades cliché, you might ask? He’s this misunderstood and mysterious Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome. Naturally, as the God of the Dead, people assume he’s this evil and twisted dude. But the minute Persephone struts into his life, he’s willing to change himself for her.

While I do love me a tall, dark, and handsome hero, I think romance authors need to add more memorable traits to their characters. Admittedly, I am writing this review a bit after I actually read the book, and I'm only going off the notes I had taken while currently reading it. As I'm wracking my brain for things I want to say, I find myself coming up short because, quite frankly, I can't remember Hades or Persephone all that much. In my mind, they're blurring together with all the other romance protagonists out there.

In fact, this book was not so great that it left a lasting impact on my brain, nor was it so terrible that those strong negative feelings also left me with some residual fire. It was solidly in the middle.

“Tell me you lied,” he said.

“I thought words meant nothing.”

He gave her a bruising kiss, and his touch lifted heat from her skin, searing a path everywhere he went. “Your words matter,” he said. “Only yours.”

I thought Persephone was annoying at times because, honestly, she was doing too much. She was too jealous, asking Hades things like, “Who was that woman with you earlier?” I was just sitting here thinking, “Girl chill.” One of my pet peeves about some women in romance novels is that the authors try to make them quirky and fiery, thinking that adding a green eye and jealousy to their list of character traits would achieve this. But I just find it downright annoying when female characters are overly jealous and tear down other women because of a man.

There were many decisions that Persephone made that I just didn’t agree with, and I didn’t think she developed much as a character throughout the story.

Eventually, she ends up falling in love with Hades, which I didn’t find very realistic or believable. Especially considering that this is the first book in a 4-book series. If I'm reading a 4-book-long, essentially erotic romance (because, let's face it here, this book is more erotica/romance than it is a fantasy), then I want the characters to have a slow-burn relationship that leaves me longing and yearning throughout those four books. If they get together at the end of the first book, then what encourages me, as a reader to continue with the series if I've already been satisfied?

I’m always a bit skeptical of relationships that are built on the foundation of sex and physical chemistry. Really, that’s all we see between Hades and Persephone, besides the formulaic opening up and baring of each other’s souls. I know that physical intimacy can make you feel closer with someone, but I don't think that this is enough for people to fall in love.

Without spoiling the book, I’ll say that I felt that the ending was rushed. A majority of the book just builds up the tension and relationship between Persephone and Hades. There are mini-conflicts throughout the book, but they’re so small that I wouldn’t even consider them “conflicts.” Those conflicts also aren’t between the main characters, and naturally, I feel that the conflict in romance books should be between, I don’t know, the romance main characters, no?

We don’t actually get the relationship conflict until like chapter 24, and this book has 26 chapters. I was thinking, “Oh, is this book going to end on a cliffhanger?” NO!! It does not. The supposedly dramatic conflict of this book resolves itself in only the next two chapters.

I won’t mention what the conflict was right here, but it was cliché, to say the least. Just think “After” by Anna Todd (again, if you know, you know). If you’re interested to know what it is, scroll to the bottom of this review for the spoiler.

Respect could build an empire. Trust could make it unbreakable. Love could make it last forever.

So, this is my review. I think this book can be entertaining, but in the same way that I sometimes find The Bachelor and The Bachelorette interesting. I don't think that this book is great or a literary masterpiece, but if you're in the mood for a fast-paced, easy to read erotic romance and have an interest in mythological retellings, this book is for you.

[SPOILER BELOW]

The conflict was, turns out Hades made a bet with Aphrodite. She challenged him to a game of cards, but he lost. Aphrodite’s wager was that he had to make someone fall in love with him within six months.

And because Aphrodite is depicted as competition for Persephone, she ends up telling her all about the bet and implying that Hades love for Persephone was never real.

And obviously, to advance the plot, Persephone just takes Aphrodite's word for it and immediately turns on Hades. Except, not entirely, because you'd think, "Oh, if this is the climax, the stakes should be high and there should be tons of drama," right? Wrong. She f*cks him out of anger, and eventually, he talks her out of her anger by confessing that he's loved her all this time. And they make up and live happily ever after.