ale (semi hiatus) ‧ ₊˚୨ ♡ ୧ ₊˚'s Reviews > A Touch of Darkness

2.5 stars.

my review on tumblr.

"You wish to fuck me with this crown, I wish to fuck a god."

Welcome once more to my favorite and most hated section: BIG HYPE, BIG LIE. In this episode, we will discuss the book "A Touch of Darkness" and how disappointing it was. Please, take a seat and remember: my review contains spoilers, so watch ahead! You've been warned!



Said that, let's start.

Y'all probably know that I love Hades and Persephone retelling, so, I was excited for read this book. Also, the hype on bookstagram and booktok was really big, so I said "why not, Ale? You love this retelling with your life, so, let's give it a try." .... Huge mistake from me trust in the hype over a book, as if I have never been in this place before (if you want references here is my shelf big hype, big lie so you can have an idea of a few of my big disappointing and regrets in this life, lol.

You could say that I've learnt my lesson, but I guess we'll never know. I should know better to not to listen the hype for a book (From Blood and Ash, ACOTAR, ToG and more, lol); maybe the next time will be different.

*Narrator voice*: It wasn't. In fact, Ale never learnt the lesson.

So, Persephone is this not-like-the-other-girls girl, who's unique, different and speshul. She and her friend Lexa go to the Nevernight, a cassino owned by Hades and that is popular bc he makes bargains with mortals and according to the rumors, he takes away their souls and is a ruthless god.

Persephone finds herself playing cards with the God of the Underworld instead of actually looking for her best friend, and after that, she leaves her, lol. Hades touches Persephone and leaves a dark mark on her skin, so, she goes back to Nevernight and as she lost playing cards with him, they have a bargain: she has to create life in the Underworld in six months or she will live there forever.

There was no plot. The "plot twists" were stupid and you can easily know what's gonna happen. The fact that the author included here the "I made you fall in love with me because of a bet" was SO SO SO FUNNY, because that happens in the last 2 or 3 chapters I guess and it comes really out of the blue. Aphrodite just appears like 2 times and that's it.

Also, when hades took off the sheets over Persephone's naked body WITHOUT HER FUCKING CONSENT was awful. I wanted to kick and scream so fucking loud. It was disgusting. But of course, it's excused because "there's attraction between them". NO, NO, NO.



The characters were dull, stupid and acted like 17 y/o in your typical and average YA story. Persephone couldn't make a decision for herself and it seemed like she was waiting for others to solve all of her problems, like magic. She has no braincells and the way she was portrayed was weird and ??? It made no sense.

I mean, she's a virgin and it's like she thinks she's better than the others just because of that. AND ALSO IT SEEMS LIKE HADES VALUES MORE A VIRGIN!?!?!?!?!?

Here:

“Tell me you have never been naked with a man,” he said. “Tell me I am the only one.”
She cupped his face, searching his eyes, and answered, “You are.”

Don't get me wrong: I have nothing against girls being virgins and being inexperienced, but the way that's portrayed here made me cringe. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH GIRLS NOT BEING VIRGIN AND HAVING A HEALTHY AND ACTIVE SEXUAL LIFE, PLEASE, FUCKING GET THAT.

Persephone has no personality, beside "being" a journalist (btw, the way she wrote all of her articles being subjective didn't appeal to me like that's the way a journalist would act, but since I don't know a lot about journalism, I won't talk about it), being horny and don't use her braincells at all.

The only thing to which I can relate with Persephone is her relation with her mother, Demeter. I for sure know how's the life with a strict mother trying to decide for you and that stuff. Don't get me wrong again: I love my mum with my entire life, I just wish she had given me more freedom to discover the world by my own long time ago, lol. So, yes, I know how that works.

The girl on girl hate was awful and childish. FUCKING UNNECESSARY. I get that Minthe was jealous of Persephone, but that Persephone wished (since the exact moment she met Hades) that she wasn't there, and basically made her see like "the other woman" made me sick. Please, let's stop this.

I guess the author had a good plot, but didn't know how to develop it, or the characters. In ao3 or even wattpad there are good Hades and Persephone retellings.

Hades was like "yeah, you have power and I will make it surge and shape it because you know, we're predestinated you're mine". Yeah, I'm tired of toxic males.

pLEASE DON'T MAKE ME TALK ABOUT THE FUCKING GRAMMAR. There were SEVERAL mistakes.... I mean, yeah, I don't speak English like a pro, but EVEN I know that this book lacked of edition.

The smut was fine??? It wasn't bad, but it was the only trait that Hades and Persephone had. They had a lot of sexual tension, but I didn't see the romance there so, this book goes to the "this shit has no romance" shelf.

I loved Hecate, Thanatos, Hermes and Ares (even if I just got one poorly description of him). I WANT MORE OF MY KING ARES, ISTG I'LL RIOT. The other characters had no personality (Hades' personality was whisky and Persephone's was being horny)

After what happened in La Rose with Adonis, Lexa and Jaison were dating too quickly, but not for the reasons y'all think, but because he appears out of nowhere. This book made no sense to me, it lacked of sense, plot, personality for the characters and many more things.

Unfortunately I won't continue this series. It was a waste of time and emotions.

If you followed me through my updates, you could see that this was a rollercoaster.

Not worth the hype tbh.