Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - A Touch of Darkness

I thought this was a great mix of Greek mythology and modern fiction, but at times it did get predictable and cringe. If you read Percy Jackson as a kid and now like ACOTAR… I would recommend!

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abbythebookfairy's review against another edition

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Quite honestly? The book is well written and doing what it’s supposed to, but I found that I’m just not the target audience. Persephone gets on my nerves a lot.
I like the plot, I think the author has a fun story to tell, but at the end of the day it’s just not my cup of tea.

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cscharfway's review against another edition

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dark hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Plot concept and love story? So good!

Writing, style, form? Needed a lot of work.

Overall, this is a retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth that I’ve always wanted since I was 10 years old and did a speech to my class on Greek mythology. I love how Hades is a misunderstood character who has so many layers of goodness under the darkness, and I love how his love for Persephone brings it out in him. At the same time, Persephone is normally considered this pure, naive girl but in the book, she discovers herself fully, including the dark power within her. She is such a stronger character than the myth portrays her as, which is empowering.

This is however more of a “guilty pleasure” type of read for those interested in fantasy smut, rather than a remarkable work on literature. But, it’s different to the Maas universe in that the world building is very rushed and takes a back seat to some very unrealistic sex scenes that sometimes aren’t needed. It’s cute, but more of a knockoff ACOTAR. Also, was this book self-published? The choice of the font is very amateurish, and there were sections that were grammatically a little awkward.

The love story is SO addictive, and it’s a story that’s hard to put down so it’s worth it to read, for sure if you like losing yourself in a cute roman-tasy book. Just don’t expect to be mindblown.

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ninahuynh's review

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emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Another Greek mythology modernization for my bucket list! I like the inclusion of other characters in Greek Mythology and not just sticking with the (main) Gods. I like the exploration of identity and self we have through Persephone. Everything is technically new to her since she was sheltered all her life. Romantic relationship, standing up for herself, understanding her powers and what it means to be a Goddess. It was done well. I like that she stands her ground on her boundaries with Hades too.

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livist's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

I’m being a bit generous, would say this is like a 2.75 or so.

I was close to just not finishing this one, but I have a hard time not completing books. I was hoping it would get better and it was just okay.

The book feels, especially at first, like a fan fiction of Lore Olympus. Some of the setting is similar: Persephone in college, Hades owns a night club. Granted the source material is the same so they’re bound to have parallels. It diverges from it, but it was hard not to compare the two.

Any semblance of plot gets thrown out the window the moment they start having sex. Persephone is worried that her mom will find out what happened and trap her but Dimeter instead waits a beat before she confronts her. She doesn’t really think about any consequences of her actions and she most often doesn’t get any. Like how are you claiming to be a journalist without acknowledging you don’t have impartial bias bc you’re sleeping with the subject??

The sex scenes were kind of repetitive and gratuitous. They were getting it on during moments where I’m like really? Right now? It kept escalating to sex randomly to the point where I was no longer convinced Persephone and Hades don’t know the difference between lust and love.

Persephone is also insufferable at the beginning. I was so annoyed by her. I guess she got better or my tolerance for her just increased after the prolonged exposure.

Some of the other part of the world I liked, I liked the whimsical descriptions of the underworld, and also the narrator did an amazing job. I enjoyed the minor characters. Overall like the setting but it just wasn’t my journey ultimately. If you really just want to read smut with the backdrop of Greek gods in a modern setting, go for it.

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