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A review by jholt2899
A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
[TL;DR]
Persephone is attempting to live a normal life, glamoured as a mortal as she pursues work in journalism. After a night out with her best friend ends with Persephone forced into a bargain with Hades, she will have to dig deep to understand who Hades truly is behind his reputation of darkness and destruction.
I love a modern day retelling and especially if it's a little steamy romance as well, but I didn't connect to A Touch of Darkness like my TikTok peers did. Personally, I found the writing to be plain and very "tell rather than show." I liked the mama drama between Persephone and Demeter and the sexual chemistry with Hades was clearly good. Unfortunately, I found there to be little to no plot. I'm not entirely sure what the next books in this series will go because everything was more or less wrapped up by the end.
St. Clair creates an alluring premise, and there was certainly enough here to want me to continue reading, but even the romantic steamy scenes were lacking. They felt rushed rather than savored. The closest we got to seeing some real character development rather than two-dimensional people was when Persephone finally takes control of her powers. Ultimately, I thought this left me wanting more and I'm still considering whether I want to continue with the series for palate cleansing reading in between heftier books.
Rating: 3/5 stars
TW/CW: sexually explicit scenes, gambling, emotional abuse by parent, sexual harassment
Persephone is attempting to live a normal life, glamoured as a mortal as she pursues work in journalism. After a night out with her best friend ends with Persephone forced into a bargain with Hades, she will have to dig deep to understand who Hades truly is behind his reputation of darkness and destruction.
I love a modern day retelling and especially if it's a little steamy romance as well, but I didn't connect to A Touch of Darkness like my TikTok peers did. Personally, I found the writing to be plain and very "tell rather than show." I liked the mama drama between Persephone and Demeter and the sexual chemistry with Hades was clearly good. Unfortunately, I found there to be little to no plot. I'm not entirely sure what the next books in this series will go because everything was more or less wrapped up by the end.
St. Clair creates an alluring premise, and there was certainly enough here to want me to continue reading, but even the romantic steamy scenes were lacking. They felt rushed rather than savored. The closest we got to seeing some real character development rather than two-dimensional people was when Persephone finally takes control of her powers. Ultimately, I thought this left me wanting more and I'm still considering whether I want to continue with the series for palate cleansing reading in between heftier books.
Rating: 3/5 stars
TW/CW: sexually explicit scenes, gambling, emotional abuse by parent, sexual harassment
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Emotional abuse