Amazon.com: Customer reviews: A Touch of Darkness: Hades & Persephone Series, Book 1

Top positive review

♥️♥️♥️♥️

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2019

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 ♥️

97 people found this helpful

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Jordan Demmer

Just no.

Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2021

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.

193 people found this helpful

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From the United States

Jordan Demmer

Just no.

Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2021

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193 people found this helpful

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Jethplain

♥️♥️♥️♥️

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2019

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97 people found this helpful

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Southern

Worth the Price E-book

Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2019

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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.

61 people found this helpful

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Leigha

Thrilling modern take on and already fascinating story

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2020

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**Slight Spoilers**

Loved it. I think my eyes literally devoured this book. This Greek myth has been my favorite since I was 13. It always intrigued me and left me wishing for all the details. This book left me wanting more...and more. I read it way too fast and now I'm just sitting here refusing to try and read another author's P+H story that could take away how much I loved A Touch of Darkness.
I really want to give this 5 stars but the only issue I have is a big one for me. Although I loved the characters and will probably dream about Hades for the foreseeable future, the heroine of many of the popular easy reading books series (Sookie Stackhouse, Anastasia Steele) are always these 20something virgins who have never even thought about sex until this dark, brooding man with a ton of money comes along, "claims" her virginity, and takes some sort of ownership over her. She's always mouthy and does practically the opposite of what he *tells* her to do constantly. There were many times during this book that reminded me of those stories, however AToD was richer and well written.
Luckily, Persephone was more likable and not nearly as stubborn as the previously mentioned women. As soon as she realizes she was wrong or being cruel, she does what she can to fix it and she doesn't need Hades to fix all of her problems. Nor does she want him to. Bitch can take care of herself, with or without powers.
The world the author created is one that I'm eager to explore further. I will continue loving this series in the hopes that it doesn't turn into another (albeit, better written) 50 Shades

34 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.

28 people found this helpful

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Kate-L-B

Hades and Persephone Perfection Retelling

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2019

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I found out about this book by accident browsing Pinterest and early versions of Scarlett's writing style were there. I'm a sucker for a good Greek story, and Hades and Persephone have always fascinated me. I am so glad I decided to try this book. Other than a few typos, this book was so much fun to read. I downloaded the Kindle version and I had it read within two days, staying up way too late at night to get to the next chapter!
Hades is this fascinating, brooding casino owning god, and Persephone, a college goddess, unknown to a modern Athens enter into a contract that leaves them both reeling with the lust for each other, and Persephone's hate that she's in a contract with the one man/god her mother has told her to avoid.
The plot was fast, seductive, erotic, and left me dying for the next installment. Hopefully Scarlett will clear up a few plot point questions I had, like was that really Hades visiting Persephone late at night, and not a vision? I can't say any more without giving it all away, but if you are looking for a delightful modern twist on a classic story, read this book. I dare you to put it down.

39 people found this helpful

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Cyn

New Standard of Reading for Adult Romance

Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2021

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This book (and series/compliment series) are absolutely fantastic! I love that I've found an adult romance that gives me everything I didn't know I was looking for in adult romance. Yes there's romance and passion but the writing is well done, the layout is thought through, and characters have multidimensional development. I wouldn't say fantasy is a top genre for me, but this book did it beautifully and it did a great job of piquing my interest in the genre moving forward. I love reading and these books offered me a chance to read a story and then have it develop even more with the compliment series. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!

20 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

It's the chemistry. *fans self*

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2021

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I finished this book four days ago, but I wanted to wait to write my review, to make sure that when I came down off of that book hangover, I still felt the same way...

And yes, I still do.

Now, this book isn't perfect. The beginning was a little hard to get into--a tad slow. I actually put it off for a while because it felt very New Adult (which is hit or miss for me in general). But as soon as Persephone met Hades, I was all in. My interest rapidly increased, because Hades was so well done. I also thought the ending was a little rushed; without going into spoilers, there was a lot of stuff that was happening, and then suddenly, BAM! Everything was okay. That felt... Off.

Despite those two hangups, this is still a five-star book for me because I'm still thinking about it days later. It's not forgettable. The last two books that shocked me like this are Ward (Zoe Blake) and Comfort Food (Kitty Thomas). I mention the authors to tell you that those are the kinds of books I like to read--I like my romance dark, and while A Touch of Darkness is dark in some aspects, it's not as dark as you'd think. There's tension so hot it could burn you, and plenty of dark themes, but I am also comfortable recommending this to my sister, who does not care for dark romances.

I don't get book hangovers easily, so yeah. This book is my jam. I loved it so much I bought a gift copy for my friend. I think it's the chemistry between Hades/Persephone, and how well-crafted each of the characters are... Persephone has flaws, but she's real, and I'm rooting for her. And Hades is pretty much my favorite kind of antihero to fall in love with, but he's not generic. He's magical and seductive and powerful and scary, and I want to curl up in his arms and fall asleep.

Well, that's enough for now. I'm off to buy the next book in the series.

17 people found this helpful

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lexi :)

WOWWWWW. Forbidden Love that held me on the edge of my seat!

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2021

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Hey all! This book was immaculate. I really appreciated the story line and the greek mythology mix. I typically do not like romance that is predictable. This wasn't. I was constantly wondering... what next? what will she do? what does he think? what does that smirk mean?! ALL the questions were answered. When I finished the book I was not confused or had any holes that needed to be filled. She covered all and yet left me wanting more.
Truly a work of art. The spicy scenes did NOT disappoint. They felt rushed at some points but not the scene itself. I appreciated the length and detail Scarlett gave us. But the storyline maintained it beautifully. It reminded me of how it first felt like to take a leap of faith and let a man hold your heart in his hands. You're scared but that fuels some of the fire and tests your own inner goddess.
Trust. Deception. Diabolical. I immediately ordered the whole trilogy and Hades Sage Book 1 right after the end. I'm not sure how I am going to cope when this story ends... perhaps Netflix will produce a tv series that won't die out on the first season. It's modern and Urban. It has enemies to lovers. What more could the audience that attracts this type of book want?!? Amazing. Thank you Scareltt. From one fellow Librarian to another. We certainly know how to get creative!

5 people found this helpful

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Rachel R

Scarlett you are a genius

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2021

Verified Purchase

I would like to take a second to thank BookTok for introducing me to this series because they did not lead me astray. I'm not a greek mythology stan and don't like most retellings but apparently all I was missing was an enemies to lovers trope and some SPICE.

This book reminded me of the show Lucifer, Hades is portrayed to the public as something he is not and he does nothing to change it. He owns an exclusive night club where he is rumored to make bets with mortals for their soul. He lets people think he is a horrible Greek God with little regard to human life besides playing games with them.

Persephone (a Goddess in disguise as a mortal) ends up in this club when her best friend drags her out and the second she sees Hades you pretty much never stop rooting for them. But Persephone was raised by her Mother, Greek Goddess Demeter, to believe Hades is the worst of the worst and it takes a lot for her to realize there is more to him. Their relationship felt like Lucifer and Chloe Decker but the unrated version instead of PG 13 (lol).

The world building in this book was not over-bearing and I think it is really approachable for low fantasy readers. The Greek Gods have combined all the land on the world and have come down from the sky to rule over them and are basically the celebrities of this world. Reading about the underworld, where Hades reigns as God of the Underworld, was one of my favorite parts. I loved the souls and how death was approached differently than many stories from Greek Mythology.

All in all I've never ordered the next books in a series so fast, so go ahead and judge me for loving this book, but I'm hooked and don't care.

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A Touch of Darkness: Hades & Persephone Series, Book 1

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