A Touch of Darkness by Scarlet St. Clair the first book in the Hades x Persephone series

 

Genius in its simplicity.

““Create life in the Underworld,” he said again. “You have six months—and if you fail or refuse, then you will become a permanent resident of the Underworld.””

Persephone the Goddess of spring and rebirth, lives in new Athens and attends university under a human disguise, not that its hard for her since she has no power of her own, she managed to secure an internship, that might offer her a steady job as a journalist after she finishes collage. To celebrate, her and her roommate sneaks out to one of the numerous clubs owned by Gods, breaking the most important of her mothers rules, Persephone must NEVER interact with other gods, and to make matters worse, the desicide to visit the club owned by Hades, the God Demeter hates more than any other.

Disgusted by the idea that Hades lures humans into impossible games to win their souls, she decides to expose him, and its only partly because he managed to lure her into a contract as well, she might have exchanged one prison for another.

““Don’t request things of me you cannot deliver yourself, Hades.””

Persephone is one of those types of girls, that long for adventure, having been shoved into a mold they would never fit into, by others, she had decided to go along with it because she didn’t want to disappoint anyone, only to end up disappointing herself. The way Persephone starts out in the book, is hesitant, and on the outside, she seems meek, but when provoked she is a force to be reckoned with. Not that her mother would ever allow her to be anything other than meek in her presence, I mean Demeter still calls her little virgin or something like that, you get the feeling Demeter isn’t really all that happy that Persephone grew up. The relationship is definitely toxic and Persephone fears what her mother would doo the her when she finds out about the bargain.

“Despite her mother’s nurturing ways, she was a vengeful punisher. In fact, Demeter had a whole plot in the greenhouse dedicated to punishment—every flower that grew there had been a nymph, a king, a creature that had incurred her wrath.”

Persephone is I would argue a little woke in her behavior toward Hades in the beginning, I’m not saying that that is necessarily a bad thing, but the tension is there, and Hades is not exactly helping the matter by not explaining fully. In the beginning Persephone believes Hades is a bad guy because he sets “impossible” tasks to the people he makes contracts with, that means that he makes addicts go Cold Turkey or he takes their souls. She believes he should put them into Rehab and pay for it to. The problem is however that it is so easy to judge before you know a situation, an whilst I agree with her assessment of addickts in general if they don’t want to quit, they’ll complete rehab and be right back at it again. It’s a process and rehab is only the first step.

““Apparently he can see vices or whatever. So he’ll ask the addict to remain sober and the sex addict to be chaste. If they’re meet the terms, they get to live. If they fail, he gets their soul. It’s like he wants them to lose.””

I think Persephone is a little to self-righteous in the beginning, as if she knows everything, and nothing can change her mind about it. it irritated me to no end in the beginning but as she got to know Hades, she began to se the reality of the man and not the rumor. Persephone the thing is, that what she is saying isn’t in itself bad ideas, but the way she promotes them is a little insulting. She also spends a little too much time feeling sorry for herself about the contract, I get it but, it’s a little to much in the grand scheme of things, but stick it out a promise she gets better.

““So, you agree that Hades has wrong me?”

“No,” he said. “I’m saying you’re attracted to Hades.””

After the initial getting on your feet part of the book Persephone becomes a really awesome character, not only because she lets go of her preconceived notions and start to listen to what Hades is saying, but she can admit that she was wrong, and also say it out loud.

“She had never felt so many emotions about a single person before. She was angry with him, and curious, caught between surprise and disgust at the things he had created and the things he said. At war with both of those was the extreme attraction she felt when she was with him. 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.”

All in all I feel like they are the couple who has the worst communication skills I have ever read about, but the way they feel unworthy of each other is so completely adorable that you can’t help but melt a little.

““How?” she demanded. “What did you do to help me?”

“I worshipped you!” he yelled. “I gave you what your mother withheld—worshippers.””

The story is well thought out and executed. There is planning, and you know that a LOT of research went in to writing this book, making it all the more impressive that the story is so seamlessly set in a modern setting.

I really liked the entire story and Hades being the biggest contrast to what you were expecting from the God of the Dead.