“Respect could build an empire. Trust could make it unbreakable. Love could make it last forever.”
(64%, ebook)
A Touch of Darkness
(Hades x Persephone #1)
Scarlett St Clair
It’s rare that I find a romance novel I want to reread after first devouring it, much less need to own for my shelves after reading as well. I’m already planning a trip to my local book store to order myself the rest of this series.
I have always loved the myth of Hades and Persephone, and my beloved Lore Olympus is returning later this month from its hiatus. Did I also read Neon Gods earlier this year? Also yes, though I managed to not review it here and will remedy that shortly.
It did take a few cycles of borrowing and not reading before finally starting and finishing it. The thought of investing time into a longer series following one couple with an untested author was a little daunting, and thankfully King of Battle and Blood got me hooked on St Clair’s writing.
If you’re familiar with the myth, this offers a quite refreshing take on the traditional story while also having an engaging world built to hold these stories.
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.
Goodreads
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.
There is more to this story than Hades and Persephone falling in love, and those are the parts of the story outside the bedroom that made this shine. I am absolutely not knocking the steam factor though. It excels quite a lot there. St Clair has this amazing ability to craft fantasy setting romances that manage to build a unique world with nuance, as well as characters that live in said world. Some were familiar to me, like Minthe, and while those plot lines are also well trod ground, I loved the way St Clair was able to get into Persephone’s head in an original way.
There is nuance and depth to all the characters with little exception, and I look forward immensely to seeing how companion story lines pan out with Lexa and Demeter. St Clair makes all her characters feel fresh and real, something that often in fantasy romance is hard to achieve, largely because in A Touch of Darkness there are consequences and pain for them to experience. Simply being in love does not solve all of the problems characters have, and I commend St Clair for showing that kind of authenticity.
The romance between Hades and Persephone comes to fruition through a combination of choice and fate, and I hope to see those themes explored more in the next book of the series, especially as Persephone’s growth as a character independent of her relationship with Hades continues. While their romance is certainly heated, there is little spice to it and I’m not sure if those things will be explored in future novels.
Hades doesn’t get a lot of development in this first novel, though there is certainly a lot of depth afforded to him. I have hopes to see more character growth for him in future novels, and was not disappointed to have him remain solid. The fluidity of growth Persephone experiences is definitely partially from Hades’ unwavering, though sometimes poorly communicated, support. He always has his reasoning though, and while not swoon-worthy all the time, does have his moments of that too.
There are fleeting times where St Clair’s catalog runs a little dry, especially regarding use of the word “darkness,” but it doesn’t detract from the whole of the story too much. She does a good job at using a varied vocabulary during steamier scenes, and none of the words shy from what they’re describing either despite being a little flowery at times.
Ultimately, a reader might feel comfortable leaving this series after this novel. There is the Happily Ever After implication, though of course some unresolved questions. It would make an enticing pick for a romance book club, though I’d hesitate to bring it forward to a book club looking for a romance title to read. In my reading experience, it’s rare to have a romance with this much heat in it extended over multiple novels and I do fear becoming bored with that element–however, the plot and the characters are where St Clair shines.
The Little Book Witch 