A Touch of Darkness (Hades x Persephone Saga, 1) Paperback – September 1, 2021

4,5 starsThis trilogy has been on my TBR pile for a while and like other books from the past, I’m wondering why I waited so long to read this story. It was a very good story and I look forward to reading the next book in this trilogy.This story is a retelling of a well-known Greek myth about the Greek gods Persephone and Hades. I was very curious to see how the modern retelling would play out and I have to say that the writer Scarlett St. Clair did a great job. The writer created a wonderful world in which humans, orcs, nymphs and Gods lived together. There was also magic. The gods in this story were based on the Greek myth, they are powerful beings and you recognized them because they are beautiful, the colors of their eyes are special and they have horns on their heads (yes, you read that right, horns). But they have also special powers, they can use magic and hide their horns and change their appearance. This way they can hide their divinity and look like an ‘ordinary’ human.Persephone is doing it. Persephone is 24 years old and studies journalism at university. She lives with Lexa, a human friend. No one knows that Persephone is a goddess. Persephone spent her first 18 years on the estate of her mother Demeter, goddess of Harvest, hidden from everyone. Her mother was (and still is) very protective of Persephone, she will do anything she can to protect her daughter, even to the point of smothering her. Persephone wants to be free to live her own life without her mother’s rules or restrictions. Unfortunately, she needs her mother’s magic to live anonymously among people. Because she can’t make magic herself. Everything goes well until one night Persephone meets Hades, the god of the underworld, of the dead. He’s wealthy, mysterious (he avoids publicity) and owns many companies, including the famous nightclub ‘Nevernight’. Hades is one of the ‘older’ gods, one of the most dangerous with lots of power. One of the things he’s infamous for is his love of games. Dangerous games with humans. The evening they meet, everything changes for both Persephone and Hades and a dangerous game starts.I really liked the interaction between Persephone and Hades. Persephone had a very protective upbringing, it was lovely to see her change from a timid girl to a more confident woman. To see how she discovered her own powers. She was very curious, which was a good talent for journalists, but it also caused problems from time to time. Hades was very mysterious and at first sight ruthless and cold, but the more we learned about him, the more it became clear that he also hid a softer side from the world and that he was lonely. He listened to Persephone’s opinions on certain matters and was willing to change things. He also challenged her to do more, to live her own life. They were both good for each other.The story was told from Persephone’s POV. There were steamy sex scenes in the story, they were good but for me personally, the description was a bit short at times. Some sex scenes could have been a bit longer (that’s also the reason for my 4,5 stars). The secondary characters were very interesting. Lexa, Persephone’s best friend and roommate was kind, loyal and a great friend. Persephone’s mother was cold and very controlling. Hades’s friends were all gods, each loyal and amusing in their own way. There were also a few secondary characters with bad motives but they made the story more interesting.I look forward to reading the second book in this trilogy.(Some additional information: ‘A touch of Darkness’ is the first story of the ‘Hades & Persephone trilogy’. The story of Hades & Persephone consists of two trilogies (yes two!). In this trilogy (Hades & Persephone saga) you get the story told from Persephone’s POV and in the trilogy ‘Hades saga’ the story is told from Hades’s POV. Will reading this story I discovered that there are two ways to read this story. You can read this trilogy with Persephone’s POV first and the trilogy with Hades’s POV later or some readers read both trilogies at the same time. There is a reading list that tells you which chapter in which book to read first . I decided to keep it simple and read this book from Persephone’s POV first.)

I really liked *A Touch of Darkness* by Scarlett St. Clair. It’s a modern take on Hades and Persephone with great chemistry between the two leads, and I thought the characters were well-written and easy to root for. The romance was steamy, and the world kept me interested the whole way through.My only complaint is that the ending felt a little rushed—I wanted more payoff after everything that built up. But overall, it was a solid read, and I’m planning to check out the rest of the series because I enjoyed the world and characters so much. If you like mythology retellings with romance and drama, you’ll probably have a good time with this one!

This book blew my doors off. I couldn’t put it down. I haven’t had two characters in a book sway me like this since I was a teen reading the hunger games. Onto book 2 I go!

The pacing divine, the illustration precise, the plot all consuming. find yourself opening this book and you will fall for the lord of the dead and the goddess of spring without ever looking back.

I always love Hades and Persephone love stories. I was super excited to pick this one up.The plot was good. Even though the pacing was off in certain sections, there was a lot of good tension, and I really enjoyed how things played out.There were some things that took me out of the story though. First of all, I thought it was super weird that Hades had a man bun. I was supposed to be drawn to this sexy male love interest, but I laughed for a good minute. I guess the story was written when buns were en vogue, maybe? But every time I read it, I was like “bro. Just put your hair down.”Most of the romance scenes were very spicy, though I wish they didn’t seem to always have make up sex. I find it really disheartening when I read books where you have fighting between a couple, and suddenly they’re having sex and everything is OK. I also found it strange how they were constantly using teeth. Their first kiss, their teeth banged together. That sounded super painful, and took me right out of the scene. Also, not to get graphic, but… You really shouldn’t have teeth anywhere on sensitive parts during certain acts. Ask any man if you don’t believe me. That also kind of took me out of the story. It was like the writer didn’t have a lot of experience in these areas?But it was a good book. It started out kind of slow, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the Persephone character because she acted so immature, but I’m glad I stuck with it.

Excited to see where this goes. I loved his version after reading hers. Love her version of Hades. Ready to read more and hope we get more of his POV.

What a ride! The characters are lovely and contain depth that is sometimes lost in romantasy stories. I loved the story!

My absolute favorite book/series EVER! It gets better and better. You’ll be on a Touch of Darkness high for a lonnnng time before you’re able to find something that can come close to matching this series. The spice is perfect, the story line is so great. The way the characters are portrayed is top notch. Seriously read the whole series, take it from someone who is so picky about books (;