Reviews - A Touch of Darkness

A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair

22.4k reviews for:

I am not going to lie, before I started this book, I thought "do I really need another Hades and Persephone love story book after reading Neon Gods" - which I enjoyed by the way. I also unfortunately made the mistake of reading other reviews which cast this book in a bit of a negative light. Well, I found the answer to my original question within the first chapter of the book, and it is resoundingly - yes, I definitely now and always will crave another Greek mythology love stories. I found the other reviews of this book to harshly judge Persephone's portrayal in this book - stating she is annoying and constantly questioning her judgement. Guys, c'mon, what were you expecting? Her character is young - still in college, still questioning her identity, and a virgin that has been locked in a glass cage by her ruthless mother for most of her life. Of course, she is going to be annoying and constantly questioning her judgement - who the hell knew their full and identity while still in college? Hats off if it was you - but that seems less realistic than this searching portrayal. Negative reviews annoyed but a Greek Mythology set in modern-day times, why? If you want a traditional telling of Greek Mythology - which will likely be boring and pedantic - remove yourself from this genre and crack open the Iliad or the Odyssey to set your soul afire. In other words, leave this book alone. Persephone is young, naive and soul-searching, but not outside of should be expected in her life stage and circumstances. If you still cannot get over her character, then move on to this book's portrayal of the other characters which you cannot and should not overlook. Hades is the embodiment of seduction, and it is to lose yourself in the hope to one day have someone so self-aware, confident, and sexy to exist in reality. Persephone might not be deserving of Hades' pursuit, but the intrigue of the development of their relationship is rapturous and had me addicted. If you are opposed to racy themes, this book is probably not for you, but then again - why are you even picking up this genre if that's the case? Perhaps, you need to do your own soul-searching - what are you looking for? Hades and Persephone's characters are enhanced further by the endearing side characters - Hecate, Hermes, Thanatos which are juxtaposed to spiteful characters of Adonis, Minthe, Demeter, and Aphrodite. The only character that I found mildly annoying in this book was Lexa, but it could be because of the narrator's voice characterization - meaning her purpose and placement are well-meaning with good intent but the vocalization is cringy. There are some similarities to Neon Gods which is to be expected, but in my opinion this book contains a more in depth to the character's personalities, depth, and holds more balance in the mythical development. There are steamy interludes, but I felt they were not as littered with gratuity or repetition much like what Neon Gods delivered. Neon Gods was good if you want in your face steaminess and the feel of flushed skin while reading it. A Touch of Darkness is good is you want mythology and lust with some decorum while reading about a love story with character development. With that said, I highly recommend this book and I look forward to delving into the rest of the series.

madradstarchild's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

skadi2806's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

taylormorgz's review against another edition

4.0

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

alaidbackreader's review against another edition

4.0

not quite a 5 star read

only because of the obscene amount of times the author referred to a vagina as an “entrance”

abyssalpeach's review against another edition

1.0

if you thought this was good, you should see what’s on ao3. they’re doing things you wouldn’t even believe over there. if this is on your tbr, skip it. nothing of substance to be found here.

this… sucked. a bunch of trite nonsense. i kept waiting for it to surprise me but it only surprised me with how flimsy and thin a plot and main characters could be.