Today’s book review is for A Touch of Darkness (Hades X Persephone Saga, Book 1) by Scarlett St. Clair, a fantasy romance novel loosely retelling the love story of Hades and Persephone.
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Book Synopsis
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. From Goodreads.
“What possessed people to bargain their souls? Was it a desire for money or love or wealth? And what did it say about Hades?”
The Basics
Category: Fantasy Romance
Tags: Fantasy, Romance, Greek Mythology, Retelling, Fiction
Author: Scarlett St. Clair
Publisher: Bloom Books, May 2019
Where to Find: Amazon, Target, Walmart
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
**Spoilers Ahead**
Persephone’s life is anything but ordinary. As the daughter of Demeter, Goddess of Harvest, she has impossible standards to live up to especially considering Persephone lacks power. As the Goddess of Spring, Persephone should be able to create life, however, any living plant she touches shrivels and dies. Unknowingly, Persephone enters a deal with Hades that risks freedom if she does not manage to fulfill the terms of the bargain.
“Persephone might be the daughter of Demeter and the Goddess of Spring, but she couldn’t grow a damn thing.”
So Let’s Get Into it…
First, I went into this book knowing next to nothing about Greek Mythology. Before reading this book I knew that Persephone was Queen of the Underworld alongside Hades, but I never knew her backstory. Also, I had a hard time thinking of Hades as the extremely handsome and powerful God as he was portrayed as in the book because I just kept picturing him with gray skin and blue flaming hair (Disney’s Hercules is my favorite Disney animated movie).
Now let’s move on to the actual book. In this urban-contemporary setting, Gods are present in the everyday lives of mortals. They take lovers, own restaurants, own clubs, and are essentially celebrities. Persephone’s identity has been hidden since birth from the Gods, so no one she encounters (God or mortal) knows she is a Goddess. Persephone is able to live out a “normal” life masquerading as a mortal with her mother’s blessing and glamour magic. Persephone knows her mother can take away her independence in an instant, so she is extremely careful to follow all Demeter’s rules – which includes staying away from all the Gods but especially Hades.
“Well, they knew Demeter had a daughter, but she had never been introduced at court in Olympia. They definitely didn’t know she was masquerading as a mortal.”
Pretending to be mortal means Persephone must engage in mortal activities that a girl in their early twenties would typically do like going to college, getting an internship, and living with a roommate. These things may not sound fun to a normal human, but Persephone craves independence and a life separate from her mother. Persephone is set on making a name for herself without the help of her mother and lands a highly coveted journalism internship at New Athens News. She is still careful to follow her mother’s rules, but having a mortal best friend as a roommate proves to be challenging. Lexa, Persephone’s roommate, doesn’t understand why Persephone never wants to go out and have fun!
Like most Gods, Hades owns an exclusive nightclub, Nevernight, that is famously hard to get into. People wait months to get on the list for for Nevernight, so when Lexa informs Persephone that she was able to get them on the list, Persephone feels stuck between obeying her mother and a night out with her best friend. Reluctantly, Persephone agrees because what are the chances that Hades, who is rarely seen in public, will make an appearance at his nightclub and if he did, Hades certainly wouldn’t notice her, right? That night, Persephone’s life is forever changed when she unknowingly enters a deal with Hades. How did this happen? Due to her sheltered life, Persephone did not know the rules of Nevernight or what Hades even looked like!
The bargain Persephone made with Hades is simple: she must create life in the Underworld. For the Goddess of Spring, the task shouldn’t be that hard – except Persephone still shows no sign of having any godly powers. However, if she does not fulfill the terms of the contract, Persephone will be forced to live in the Underworld. This puts Persephone into an impossible situation because she is no longer able to follow her mother’s orders to stay far away from Hades.
“If she didn’t fulfill the terms of her contract with Hades, she would be stuck in the Underworld forever. If she managed to create life, then she would become a prisoner in her mother’s greenhouse.”
Upon learning the terms of the bargain, Persephone is angry with Hades and herself. Enraged, she reveals that she is a the Goddess of Spring and daughter of Demeter. Unsurprisingly, Hades does not fear Demeter and says he cannot reverse a bargain once it is made. Undeterred by this, Persephone decides if she is going to be forced to spend time with Hades in the Underworld, she might as well use this as a journalism opportunity. Knowing that Hades is a highly private God, Persephone thinks that by her prying into Hades’ life this will make him terminate the bargain.
The more time that Persephone spends with Hades, the more finds herself enjoying his company to the point that she beings romanticizing him. She struggles with her feelings towards Hades because the version of Hades she has grown to love is vastly different from the tarnished and feared public image and perception of him. He is feared by many to the point where mortals don’t even say his name in public. Hades tricks people into bargaining with him to take their souls, and he only bargains with extremely desperate people.
“Respect could build an empire. Trust could make it unbreakable. Love could make it last forever. And she would know Hades respected her when he removed this stupid mark on her skin.”
Still saddled with the task of creating life in the Underworld, Persephone is granted access to come and go from the Underworld whenever she wants. During her time in the Underworld, she meets the Goddess Hectate. The friendship between Hectate and Persephone is a highlight of the book to me. Hectate shows Persephone the all the good that Hades has done in the Underworld proving to Persephone that Hades has a good heart.
“How could she want him? He represented the opposite of everything she’d dreamed of in her whole life. He was her jailer when all she’d wanted was freedom.”
In the end, Persephone discovers that not only does she have powers, but she is extremely powerful. Persephone fulfills her contract with Hades and creates life in the Underworld. During all this, Persephone and Hades fall for each other, and they live happily ever! Well at least this book ends happily, there are three more books in the series, so I’ll have to keep reading to find out with other conflicts the couples will face!
“You fulfilled the contract because you created life within Hades. Because you brought life to the Underworld.” – Hecate to Persephone
So Bookmark or Bin it?
Conclusion: Bookmark it
This was a fun and quick read. If you like Greek Mythology mixed with romance, I recommend this book! Persephone is a likeable character, and it was nice to see Hades painted in a good light. I’ve always felt bad for Hades because he didn’t want to be the God of the Underworld, and his job is depressing. The side conflicts and characters were entertaining enough even though the book was a bit predictable.
Fun Extra Tidbit
In ancient Greek mythology, Persephone was abducted by Hades and forced to live in the Underworld. In the spring she would return to the upper world and then return to the Underworld when the crops were harvested.
Thanks so much for reading my book review for A Touch of Darkness, (Hades x Persephone Saga, Book 1) by Scarlett St. Clair! Now it’s your turn! Have you read this novel or any others by St. Clair and if so, what are your thoughts? Please feel free to share in the comments below!
Happy reading 😊
