A review by sbar713
A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Scarlett St. Clair invites us into a modern world of Greek mythology to relive the classic myth of the love story of Hades and Persephone. But instead of an ancient world, we see the story through the lens of nightclubs, internship deadlines, college, and slinky pink dresses. It’s familiar, but different, and it’s definitely sexy.

But unfortunately for me, it was just okay. The sex scenes jarringly bounced between innuendo and explicit, and the story thread itself felt like a bit of an afterthought. At the end of the book, there’s a preview of A Game of Fate, the same story from Hades’ point of view, and there’s already so much more interesting plot. Maybe it’s because Persephone spends so much of A Touch of Darkness where the plot happens to her, but I feel a little bit of envy that Hades’ POV of the story is just already so much more interesting and the stakes are much wider. That said, she’s a young goddess only entering the world of the Divine, so it’s not terribly unexpected for the first book in this series.

Overall, I’m not sure I understand the massive hype this book has gained in reading circles, but it was a fun and sexy foray into a Greek mythology retelling.
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