Reviews

A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair

kaash's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.0

rosa_r3ads's review

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

thornyrosebryar's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

It was a fun romance, but it had it's flaws especially with character development. If I didn't already have an understanding of these characters before going into this they would seem flat. I also get a strong sense of Lore Olympus from this story, not a direct copy but very close in themes and concepts.

kparish's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.0

slocum1991's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

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

2.0

paisleydaisley96's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-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

4.0

rballenger's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.5

Type of read: Commuter Read.

What made me pick it up: The story of Hades and Persophone is one of my absolute favorites and I love it when stories are rethought and retold.

Overall rating: "Are you well?" No, Hades, I am not well. I don't know what I think of 'A Touch of Darkness' and it's about as frustrating as that sexual tension between you and Persophone. Here's the thing, I absolutely love the story of Hades and Persophone - like the actual Greek myth of the two gods and how they became, quite literally, one of mythology's power couples. And I think that is absolutely why I have a love/hate relationship with 'A Touch of Darkness.' I LOVED how Hades was portrayed and the layers and complexity we saw within him; however, Persophone was nauseating and lackluster. She was a whiny child that needed to grow a pair of pomegranates

(which she does at the end of the book, but damn...that was a painful journey to get there)

. 

I think one of the things I also struggled with in 'A Touch of Darkness' was the human/god dichotomy and how they lived together but separately. I didn't feel like that was fully fleshed out. There were parts where it was normal to see a god on the street or in a bar, but then there were other parts where it was like they were held to this crazy celebrity status and the informality didn't make sense. I'm not rushing to pick up the second book in the series anytime soon. 

Reader's Note:  'A Touch of Darkness' includes themes of consensual sex, consensual first-time sex, brief instances of sexual assault, torture, and death. Also, fair warning, after you get about 1/3 of the way through the book, until a few chapters from the end, there are some <i> detailed </i> spicy scenes. Although, I did think they were tasteful...for being straight-up smut.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Death and Sexual assault

Minor: Torture

heyitsmetris13's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

a_whitti's review against another edition

4.0

I love a Hades and Persephone retelling. I’m obsessed with Lore Olympus (comic), so I have this one a go. Happy I did. The only thing that keeps it a four instead of a five is that there are some writing choices I didn’t like. But the story and the characters and a bit of romance *chef’s kiss*

I picked this one up after I had read Neon Gods (because I love a Hades Persephone retelling) and was surprised by the spicy contents of that book.

This version has some spicy scenes, but the story doesn’t revolve around the sex. The plot and world building take center stage while the spicy scenes are just like the B story almost. Which I liked a lot.

laurenmcl94's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Main female character is a hot mess and I was more frustrated with her 80% of the time that I couldn’t enjoy the book