A TOUCH OF DARKNESS

Scarlett St. Clair tries to give life to the classic Greek Myth of Persephone and Hades for a new generation in A Touch of Darkness.

Set in New Athens, Persephone, aspiring journalist and soon to be college graduate, is trying to set herself apart from her mother and lead the normal life she has always wanted to. During a night out on the town with her close friend Lexa, she finds herself in front of the god of the dead himself, Hades. She unknowingly and foolishly enters an unwanted bargain with him. Throughout the book her feelings and her powers are tested as she finds herself fighting for her new life and fighting against becoming the goddess she was meant to be.

With this fresh take on a classic tale, I think that St. Clair was really onto something in the beginning.

First I'll start with what wasn't working for me:

The relationship between Hades and Persephone did not develop naturally, which bothered me. One moment they were hating on one another (really Persephone hating on Hades) and the next they were lusting on one another and then they went right to getting physical. I didn't feel or see the emotional connection really develop. I also was having a hard time picturing how they fit as a couple.

Persephone really disappointed me. She wasn't the heroine I thought she was going to be. She was immature and a little annoying. She didn't seem to learn from any of the mistakes she was making and she lacked good judgement. What I'm hoping is that this was a choice on St. Clair's part and that in future books we will see more character development on her part.

Hades was okay. Sometimes he was a bit boring and lacked both personality and assertiveness. Though, I enjoyed him more than I enjoyed Persephone.

Honestly, there was no character in general that really stuck out to me or that I really loved. If I had to choose a favorite though it would probably have been someone like Hecate or Hermes.

I feel that St. Clair could have done more world-building. You get a little taste of New Athens and the Underworld but, I feel that she could have really hyped this up and explored it more. Again, I'm hoping for this in future books.

Some things I liked:

St. Clair gives you the slow burn romance and the spice, I liked how it was a little cliché.

The tension between Persephone and Demeter was perfect and I can see that building into a greater conflict.

I liked the taste of the other gods that we got and I hope that we see more of them in the future.

And even though there wasn't enough of it, what we did get of the world-building I enjoyed very much. I loved the whole idea of New Athens and I absolutely loved the Underworld. She could do a whole series on the Underworld and I would be here for it.

Going into this book, I wasn't looking for the finest work of literature but I did have higher expectations since I saw that this was an ongoing series and that its talked about a lot in the booktok/bookstagram world.

Keep in mind that the series is still not done, this is only the first book and it did leave me wanting to at least go on to see how these stories fan out. This series has potential and I'm not going to give up on it just yet.

I would say, If you want a mindless, fun, quick read then you've found your book.

3/5 stars