Persephone is the Goddess of Spring by title only. The truth is, since she was a little girl, flowers have shriveled at her touch. After moving to New Athens, she hopes to lead an unassuming life disguised as a mortal journalist.

Hades, God of the Dead, has built a gambling empire in the mortal world and his favorite bets are rumored to be impossible.

After a chance encounter with Hades, Persephone finds herself in a contract with the God of the Dead and the terms are impossible: Persephone must create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever.

The bet does more than expose Persephone's failure as a goddess, however. As she struggles to sow the seeds of her freedom, love for the God of the Dead grows - and it's forbidden.

Contains mature themes.

Listening Length

11 hours and 6 minutes
Author

Scarlett St. Clair
Narrator

Meg Sylvan
Audible release date

June 30, 2020
Language

English
Publisher

Tantor Audio
ASIN

B08BDH7FPQ
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	11 hours and 6 minutes
Author	Scarlett St. Clair
Narrator	Meg Sylvan
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	June 30, 2020
Publisher	Tantor Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B08BDH7FPQ
Best Sellers Rank	#1,215 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #9 in Fairy Tale Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals) #87 in Folklore (Books) #123 in Romance (Audible Books & Originals)

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Jordan Demmer

Just no.

Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

Is this the best book I've ever read? No. Did I keep reading because I love the Hades/Persephone myth a whole, whole bunch? Yes, 100%. First off, the writing in A Touch of Darkness is really, really not good. There's a lot of just...bland sentences. It reads like a first draft of something that has actual potential. The majority of the characters are mostly one-note -- Persephone's best friend has almost no personality besides excitement. Persephone herself is really irritating for a lot of the book, but I kept reading anyway.

The sex scenes are steamy, but on the shorter side. Not to mention they kind of come out of nowhere. Hades and Persephone will be fighting, and then next minute they're naked and doing it against the wall. The growth in the relationship happens fast and basically without any real build up. I would have liked to see more tension between them before jumping right into bed, but I'm not the author.

There's just a lot of questionable or weird decisions in the building of this world. The gods all have horns in their 'divine' aspect. (Just...why?) Persephone has no powers at first. No one knows she's a goddess, even though she uses her same name throughout the whole book, and it's known that Demeter's daughter is named Persephone.

I dunno -- I'll read the next book just to see if it gets any better, but really my recommendation is find another book about this myth.

217 people found this helpful

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Jethplain

♥️♥️♥️♥️

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2019

Verified Purchase

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

I'm reading this webtoon called Lore of Olympus and I like it so I decided to look up books about retellings on Persephone and Hades and that's how I stumbled on this one!

A goddess of spring who can't seem to grow anything, Persephone longs for freedom and to be able to be herself. She's in New Athens, is a graduating college student majoring in Journalism and has an internship with a news agency. Away from her mother (Who's someone that makes the word overbearing an understatement) she finally feels she's doing something she's good at. But the threat to her so-called freedom is ever looming as her mother has nymphs spy on her, waiting for her to make a grave mistake, so she can whisk Persephone to her greenhouse prison. A night out with her best friend leads her to meet Hades and struck a bargain with him. From there, it's a journey of discovering her powers, love, and place in the world of mortals and gods!

What I like about this book is that, even when Persephone didn't have powers. She wasn't a damsel in distress. When pushed, she stands up for herself and calls out people for their BS and has enough self-awareness to do the same for herself. The only hitch I have is that, to me, the ending seemed a bit too bland? Or maybe I'm just dramatic? Anyway, we have book 2 to look forward to and I hope it comes out real soon ♥️

101 people found this helpful

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Southern

Worth the Price E-book

Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2019

Verified Purchase

Written by Scarlett St. Clair, this novel is another retelling of Persephone and Hades, with a very modern twist. In this version of our wold, years before there was a large war between/amongst the gods and mortals that ended up with all of the land massing being combined into one. Now life seems to be better for mortals, but it is still life and the gods still play games with them.

In this world, Persephone’s mother has kept her as a closely guarded secret from the other gods, so she is playing mortal while going to college to become a reporter. As such, she gets drawn into attending Hades’ club where she meets him and ends up accidentally placing a bet with him.

I’ll stop there for what the story is about to avoid any spoilers. This is a novel for ADULTS because there are some scenes, okay, okay.

This novel is ONLY available in its entirety on Amazon, however you can read about 3/4 of it on Wattpad, where it seems to have started.

The plot line was an interesting take on the myth, and the world was entertaining and I want more with the two of them.

HOWEVER, this is a book that does have some grammar issues that, if that is distracting to you, could take you out of the story. The characters had a lot of depth and I really enjoyed Hades.

One of the interesting things that I kept noticing were the similarities in colors used to Lore Olympus on Webtoons. We’ll avoid those spoilers.

If you enjoy myth based romances, romances in general, and can deal with the grammar mistakes, this is a good novel that is entertaining.

65 people found this helpful

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Alli

Awful writng , bland characters and even blander 'spice'

Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2021

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This is an awful book that I couldn't even finish. I was told this book was supposednto be spicey too, for who? White people spicy you mean? The writing is so bad, the way Persephone is written is with no real personality and she's just a rude, whiny judgemental brat. Its painfully obvious this was a fanfiction to start with and it does not deserve all this hype its getting. Awful book, do not waste your money.

34 people found this helpful

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Kerry Frye

If you love Greek mythology, you need to check out this book!

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2020

Verified Purchase

I’ve always had a fascination with Greek mythology, and the myth of Hades and Persephone is one of my favorites. When I stumbled on A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair, I knew I needed to add it to my Amazon cart immediately.

A Touch of Darkness adds a modern spin to the classic myth, imagining these Greek gods in a modern society interacting with mortals. Once I was a few chapters in I was completely hooked, and it became hard to put the novel down. I loved the development of Persephone and Hades’ relationship. The chemistry and heat is there immediately, but I loved how they challenged each other as well. Their relationship is steamy, and St. Clair does not back away from the heat. She jumps right in. I really enjoyed the peppering in of different gods, and their interactions with Persephone. I also loved when Persephone came into her power. I found myself cheering in my head as she gave a couple people their comeuppance.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I’m excited that it is being continued as a series, and even a set of books from Hades point of view. If you love Greek mythology or even just the myth of Hades and Persephone I definitely recommend this series.

11 people found this helpful

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katrina ingram

Very smutty

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 27, 2021

Verified Purchase

3.5 stars
So I knew this was a hades and Persephone retelling but the modern setting threw me at first, I just wasn’t expecting it, once i got in a flow I actually quite like the way this story was told. I liked the characters and the story flowed at a good pace. The writing was ok, it didn’t blow me away but it was fairly simple and easy to read which I much prefer to convoluted.

When I was about half way through, the book was getting a solid 4 stars, but then the smut started. Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against it, i enjoy a smut scene as much as the next but it was too much. Scenes were getting steamier as the book progressed which was fine, great even, but once they crossed that line properly it was just constant, every chapter!! I grew bored and began skimming to finish the story. I will read the next one in the hope she tones it down, if it’s more if the same I won’t be continuing

12 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

DNF... I'm sorry but this book sucks

Reviewed in Australia on December 7, 2020

Verified Purchase

Heaps of people recommended this book on a book club page on FB... I'm confused, as this is definitely not the book I was expecting.

Here are a list of reasons this book was one of the worst books I've read:
1: The main character (Persephone) is the most annoying character. She's whinges about everything. I. Mean. EVERYTHING
1.1: Almost all dialogue from Persephone ends with "she demanded" "!" And it gets old real fast.
1.2: Who randomly just accepts a drink because it's "on the house" and then leaves her drugged up friend in a club to go home with a guy (Hades). Then dry humps said guy in his car, forgetting all about her drugged friend, sleeps in his bed and wakes up the following day - still not thinking of her friends wellbeing.... Yeah Persephone is kind of a dick.
1.3: She demands everything from everyone all the time. Like a spoiled brat.
1.4: She sees everything wrong with Hades but can't leave him because of how attractive he is ... I honestly wish this was a joke. But no. Seriously. He leaves bruises on her mouth from kissing her aggressively, but apparently abuse is hot? I'm sorry, wtf?
1.5: All of her dialogue is just terrible. Did anyone even edit this book?

Moving on...
2: The absolute disaster that is their 'relationship'
2.1: Hades pretty much just kisses her aggressively to shut her up - throughout the entire book.
2.2: Even though it's not stated who Persephone's father is, if you've read any Greek mythology you would know that Zeus is her father.... Which is Hades brother... Which is her uncle... Who she slept with 🙄 (yeah I know, I pretty much walked into this one when I purchased the book)
2.3: The underlying abusive nature of Hades towards Persephone is trying to be covered by his "protection of his people" B.S - there's no excuse for treating a woman (or anyone) in a controlling and manipulative manner like he does throughout the whole book.
2.4: Already mentioned above but needs to be mentioned again- STOP romanticising men who are aggressive in the bedroom or overly passionate that they leave bruises on their lovers... What kind of impression does that leave on women? That this behaviour is okay? nooo
2.5 They have the most toxic relationship, but that's apparently cool if the characters are both attractive.

Overall:
- Characters have no development
- Annoying and half assed dialogue
- Way to many explanation points
- Hyping up a toxic relationship
- Terrible grammar and too many sloppy paragraphs
- Poorly constructed storyline

The amount of "this book is everything" reviews is a complete lie. I'm not even sure half the people reviewing this have even read the same book...

Do not recommend, it was one of the most disappointing books I've read.

38 people found this helpful

purpleskye

Flawed but a great read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2020

Verified Purchase

To be honest I would have given then 3.5 stars if I could but I rounded up. Don’t get me wrong I loved reading it and really enjoyed the characters but I feel like a few plot points could have been tightened up and some characters used better.
I would have liked to see Demeter feature more prominently, especially since she’s the reason why Persephone can’t use her magic. She speaks of her mum putting her down and controlling her and making her reliant on her. Hades says to Persephone that she’s too focused on pleasing her mum that she’s too afraid to be herself. Yet I didn’t really get that through the book as Demeter pops up occasionally but there wasn’t as much interaction or back story as was probably needed to really make this point. Demeter also tells Persephone fairly early on to stay away from Hades or she’ll take her away from the mortals and back to the greenhouse, yet they see each other all the time and people know they are in a relationship yet Demeter doesn’t follow through on her threat until much, much later when Hades is conveniently there to stop her.
I also felt the character of Adonis could have been utilised far more effectively, especially with the plot reveal at the end of the book. If Aphrodite didn’t want Hades and Persephone together then she could have used Adonis to try to drive a wedge between them. Again it’s kind of attempted but not really effectively. I also didn’t really get the point of Aphrodite’s reveal at the end, especially when she tells Persephone that she does love Hades. It didn’t seem like she was trying to be spiteful so I don’t know what her character was trying to achieve, except that it was convenient to the story for Hades and Persephone to have an argument based around this. Plus with what was revealed about Hades through this conversation it just seems so obvious that Hades was indeed using Persephone despite his insistence otherwise. I think it would have been more effective to the story if he had started out using her but quickly fell in love with her, instead of denying that he has this motive when clearly he did.
I’m trying not to spoil the ending but there was information that was never given such as what Hades was getting from Aphrodite. Does she ever tell Hades about Minthe? Why did she not tell Hades that Adonis published and changed her article and that she never said such harsh things about him especially in relation to his physical appearance, something about dark chasm like eyes that would have been hurtful for Hades to read. Who drugged Persephone at the club? Was it random? Was it Adonis trying to take advantage? Was Lexa drugged too? Was it Aphrodite to drive a wedge between Persephone and Hades? Was it Aphrodite who gave Persephone the password to Hades club and if so, why when she doesn’t want Hades to fall in love so why give him the opportunity? How did Hades know she had been drugged and needed help? I had a lot of questions that went unanswered.
There were also some typos that became too frequent that it kept pulling me out of the story. It might seem like a lot of criticism but I did actually really like the story, I just think it could have been tightened up in a few areas to make it even better. I’m definitely looking forward to the next one.

12 people found this helpful

Iza

Huge yes

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 10, 2020

Verified Purchase

I've always been a fan of myths and legends, especially Greek and Norse, but it's been years since I've last fell down the rabbit hole and devoured books with said myths and legends. However, my love of retellings is strong, so imagine my happiness when I discovered A Touch of Darkness.

It was already on my kindle, but you know how sometimes you need a book friend to recommend it, in order for you to pick it up and read it. Initially, I didn't plan on reading it as the first book of July, but it was kind of out of my control, to be honest. I don't want to spoil it for you, just fair warning that if you start reading, you might not want to stop, you might finish it in one-sitting. That's what happened with me. I got curious, I started reading, Hades appeared, one thing led to another and boom, book one finished. Did I jump immediately into book two? OF COURSE. But that's another story.

It's a modern re-telling; a contemporary romance novel with all the feels my romance-loving heart desired.

The story takes place in New Athens, where Persephone is enjoying her freedom by attending university. However, she and her best friend get exclusive invitations to Hades' club - yes, my darlings, HADES - where he offers anyone and everyone a deal. He's a successful business... well, man but god too, but not many like him. Of course, most fear him because God of the dead, the Underworld. Such a misconception on their part, if you ask me. Hades' Underworld, written by Ms. St. Clair sounds intriguing.

So. Hades & Persephone re-telling done well? Check.
Stays true to the legend? Somewhat, but I love the added twists and turns; love the author's touch.
Amazing side characters you can't help but fall for, yet they do not steal the show? Check.
Should you read it? Yes.
Will it be reread?
Yes. Is it now a favorite? YES.

5 stars. But I think you already guessed that.

7 people found this helpful

Georgia Lima

Sedutor e envolvente

Reviewed in Brazil on January 24, 2020

Verified Purchase

Eu nem sei por onde começar esse review. Eu não escrevo reviews, vamos começar por aqui: eu não faço reviews, mas eu preciso fazer para este livro, porque a autora merece.

Conheci esse livro na internet e fiquei super curiosa pela sinopse. Baixei uma amostra no Kindle e depois de ler o primeiro capítulo já comprei pra ler tudo. Eu fui completamente arrebatada por Persephone e Hades. Sempre gostei do mito e das recontagens da história deles e essa é uma das melhores que já li. O livro é sensual, empoderador, divertido e romântico na medida certa. Em todas as vezes que Persephone encontrou Hades, eu me senti seduzida junto com ela. Eu me apaixonei pelos dois, torci por eles, entendi as dores e alegrias deles. Eu amei o livro como um todo! E estou muito ansiosa pela continuação: A Touch of Ruin. Parabéns, Scarlett St. Clair. Você é uma deusa!

32 people found this helpful

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