Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - A Touch of Darkness

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

For a long time, I wanted to read more retellings or inspired Greek mythology books, especially from the myth of Hades and Persephone (one of my favorite myths). So, when this book started to make the rounds on social media, I was interested. However, hyped books are very 50/50 with me.

When I started to read this book, for a time, I was considering DNF because, in the beginning, there are some parts a bit boring to me. However, when the story starts to gain some speed, the story became really interesting and entertaining. So, this is a 3.75 read for me. It was good, but not enough for a 4 stars book to me. Even so, I plan to read the next book.

I would recommend this to people who want to read a romance and a modern retelling of the myth of Hades and Persephone. It has well-developed characters, however, in the beginning, the slower pace can be a problem.

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moonchild_cos's review against another edition

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dark 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? It's complicated

3.25

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cdobbertin's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.25

I liked the plot line, but the ending wasn’t my favorite. I felt the book ended about 50 pages earlier

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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-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? No

4.0

This cold dark winter, heavy interact-with-other-people, Holiday time of year always makes me want to pick up this sort of book: a quick, fast, steamy, magical romance. This is around when I started the “Psy-Changeling” series last year, and I wanted something like that again (though potentially much less of a commitment than that 15-book series). I’ve had this one on my radar for a while, waiting for just that mood-reading-vibe.

A Touch of Darkness is set in a magical alternate world in which the Greek gods of mythology are real, and live on earth among the people. Persephone is the daughter of Demeter, but Goddess of Spring only in name really, since not only does she have no magic of her own, just touching anything alive (flowers, etc.) causes it to wither and die. Hades is…Hades, God of the Dead/Underworld. One of the most powerful gods, owner of a chain of exclusive clubs and gambling halls, known for making impossible deals with anyone daring enough to challenge him to a game of poker. Not much is known about him other than that, but when a chance outing brings Persephone and Hades together, Persephone finds herself facing an impossible contract: create life in the Underworld, or be trapped there forever. Though as she spends more time around Hades and in his Underworld, she realizes that perhaps that wouldn’t be as bad as it sounds…but her freedom is important to her and she is done with everyone playing around with her.

Well this retelling of Hades and Persephone’s famous story is not literary fiction in the vein of Miller’s Circe or Gornichec’s The Witch’s Heart, but it was never advertised as such. This fairly smutty retelling leans heavily into the smoldering lust and fiery sex vibes, and in that way, it was everything I wanted. The pull between Hades and Persephone is strong from their very first looks at each other and only gets more intense from there. The build in their interactions is steady but consistent, paced out well. I enjoyed (and I get that there’s unhealthy aspects to this, but I can’t help what gets me excited reading a romance novel), the dark and kinda-bad/secretly-better-than-people-think vibes Hades gives off. And I was thrilled with the way that Persephone was able to enjoy his controlling-ness when it worked for her (*cough*cough*) and stood up to him when she felt like it crossed a line IRL (and how it pretty much brought him to a halt/reset every time). Though I felt like some things could have been explained clearer/sooner to Persephone (and Hades would have made his life a lot easier by doing that), it did give them some time to grow together at the more reasonable, if not slow, pace…and I see the argument that Hades has a lot of previous years of habit to overcome too. Overall, for a timeless being/young female relationship – that most classic of fantasy romance tropes – I thought it was well done.

There were some very cool aspects to the world-building too. I mean, it was nothing too complex, but the concept that the gods live among people on Earth, integrating into contemporary life, but without losing their powers. Like, Hades and Aphrodite owning exclusive (if very different in atmosphere) clubs, Dionysus owning a major wine business, Zeus leading a marketing conglomerate, etc. was a creative spin. And all the magic and cameos from different gods and famous historical places/figures/names, from Hermes to gorgons to Adonis to satyrs to Hecate to Tartarus, it was fun trying to spot all the easter eggs. Similarly, the parallels to the original Hades and Persephone myth that created the framework for this retelling were good – clear and present, but adapted as necessary and not so overbearing as to intrude on the “believability” of this version. There were some more serious topics that are introduced (parental manipulation/gaslighting, sexual harassment/violence against women), they were mostly smaller side-aspects of the story, to provide some dimension and other focal points.

I enjoyed that part of this story was not just Persephone coming of age as a person and sexually, but into her power as well. I thought it was lovely that her sexual awakening was part of what set her magic free (I am here for a woman claiming her own sexuality as a very real taking back of power; it’s a metaphor I can get behind). I very much sped through this, basically in one sitting, and I enjoyed every steamy and cheesy and mythological second of it.

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

“People found love in all sorts of ways.”

Content Warnings