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A review by icarusandthesun
A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
i mean, what can i say?
it's your average hades x persephone fanfiction—smutty, something that could be found on wattpad, feels like reading an animal documentary based on the amount of 'growls' the reader has to sit through.
the writing style was simple, wattpad-esque. and with that i mean very little sentences of description (except of course when it's about a dress, looks or beautiful black modern-victorian rooms) and lots of action in the simple noun-verb-object structure. a little boring, nothing special, but it gets you through the 400 pages all right.
what i had quite a problem with were the characters. i disliked most of them and that might be rooted in the fact that the author and i definitely have different headcanons when it comes to the gods/other ancient greek figures and their personalities and behavior.
i do personally believe that hades as a character was handled way better in the lore olympus webtoon for example—a little shy, still powerful but more in a lowkey nerd/constantly annoyed/grumpy kinda way, rather than this buff f-boy typa character. but then again, that's just personal.
i disliked persephone, because of her naïvité and there i say it, stupidity.first she decided to take a swim in the INFAMOUS RIVER OF STYX, then she thought it was a good idea to drink a drink she didn't order and had the audacity to be surprised to find it was spiked.
she was portrayed as this smart goddess, gifted writer, university graduate but her behavior mirrored none of that. and yet she was still portrayed as a kind of mary sue.
i wasn't a fan of adonis and minthe either.gonna be honest here, adonis' villain arc, i just didn't buy it. he didn't have a motive or a goal. every story needs a villain and i feel like the author just picked him at random because "well, someone has to do it."
same with minthe. like yeah, she was annoying as shit but i don't think she deserved to die like that.
there were some minor things about the gods/goddesses and how they were portrayed that i hated, too. for example that aphrodite, the goddess of love and passion, was put into this stereotypical (and sort of slut-shaming) role of "she sleeps with everyone but she's very lonely deep down inside". that just felt wrong and out of place because, well, she is the goddess of love. the whole "she's lonely" thing, idk, it felt pseudo-deep.
also the fact persephone put every god and goddess into a sort of "good" or "bad" drawer. ares was bad for starting wars. athena was good for making strategic war. aphrodite was kinda bad. hades was bad but turned out to be good. hermes was good. zeus and poseidon were not.
it was so silly, because the gods and goddesses were literally written to be morally gray. that's the thing about greek mythology. the divine are beautiful, ethereal, but they are also deeply flawed like mortals. that's what made them so realistic and so easy to cherish. they were relatable.
acting like one god is better than another is just hypocritical and boring, because literally every deity has done some sort of horrible and unjust thing in their life.
most of the characters also just acted like teenagers in general, even the gods, which is very suspicious, considering they've lived for like ... an eternity right. how giddy everyone acted when it came to hades' and persephone's relationship was goofy. "he's in love with you!" - "omg *blush* no he's not."
urgh.
the plot was relatively interesting at the beginning, but the closer persephone and hades got and the more the book started focusing on their relationship, the more boring it turned. going to clubs, and galas and events, baking cookies at home, fucking in a pool, it was all just a little ... too little, you know. if actual plot was sustenance, this book would be malnourished.
i thought the ending was boring, too. not because the ideas were lacking, but simply because i didn't likethe whole deus ex machina thing persephone's got going on with her powers. it was lame .
yeah, personally just didn't like that one. i'm starting to doubt booktok and its recommendations and favorites (only now, yes i know), but it is what it is.
it's your average hades x persephone fanfiction—smutty, something that could be found on wattpad, feels like reading an animal documentary based on the amount of 'growls' the reader has to sit through.
the writing style was simple, wattpad-esque. and with that i mean very little sentences of description (except of course when it's about a dress, looks or beautiful black modern-victorian rooms) and lots of action in the simple noun-verb-object structure. a little boring, nothing special, but it gets you through the 400 pages all right.
what i had quite a problem with were the characters. i disliked most of them and that might be rooted in the fact that the author and i definitely have different headcanons when it comes to the gods/other ancient greek figures and their personalities and behavior.
i do personally believe that hades as a character was handled way better in the lore olympus webtoon for example—a little shy, still powerful but more in a lowkey nerd/constantly annoyed/grumpy kinda way, rather than this buff f-boy typa character. but then again, that's just personal.
i disliked persephone, because of her naïvité and there i say it, stupidity.
she was portrayed as this smart goddess, gifted writer, university graduate but her behavior mirrored none of that. and yet she was still portrayed as a kind of mary sue.
i wasn't a fan of adonis and minthe either.
same with minthe. like yeah, she was annoying as shit but i don't think she deserved to die like that.
there were some minor things about the gods/goddesses and how they were portrayed that i hated, too. for example that aphrodite, the goddess of love and passion, was put into this stereotypical (and sort of slut-shaming) role of "she sleeps with everyone but she's very lonely deep down inside". that just felt wrong and out of place because, well, she is the goddess of love. the whole "she's lonely" thing, idk, it felt pseudo-deep.
also the fact persephone put every god and goddess into a sort of "good" or "bad" drawer. ares was bad for starting wars. athena was good for making strategic war. aphrodite was kinda bad. hades was bad but turned out to be good. hermes was good. zeus and poseidon were not.
it was so silly, because the gods and goddesses were literally written to be morally gray. that's the thing about greek mythology. the divine are beautiful, ethereal, but they are also deeply flawed like mortals. that's what made them so realistic and so easy to cherish. they were relatable.
acting like one god is better than another is just hypocritical and boring, because literally every deity has done some sort of horrible and unjust thing in their life.
most of the characters also just acted like teenagers in general, even the gods, which is very suspicious, considering they've lived for like ... an eternity right. how giddy everyone acted when it came to hades' and persephone's relationship was goofy. "he's in love with you!" - "omg *blush* no he's not."
urgh.
the plot was relatively interesting at the beginning, but the closer persephone and hades got and the more the book started focusing on their relationship, the more boring it turned. going to clubs, and galas and events, baking cookies at home, fucking in a pool, it was all just a little ... too little, you know. if actual plot was sustenance, this book would be malnourished.
i thought the ending was boring, too. not because the ideas were lacking, but simply because i didn't like
yeah, personally just didn't like that one. i'm starting to doubt booktok and its recommendations and favorites (only now, yes i know), but it is what it is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Sexual content
Minor: Blood, Sexual harassment, Confinement, and Violence