Spring is almost over, and what better way to say goodbye to our favorite season—well, this author’s favorite season—than exploring Persephone’s romance with Hades in A Touch of Darkness? The modern retelling of the love story of the Goddess of Spring with the God of the Underworld in Scarlett St. Clair’s Hades x Persephone Saga series will definitely leave you panting and giggling.
An ideal read for fans of Ancient Greek mythology retellings, coupled with a slow burn romance and off-the-charts sexual tension, Olympus lore, and interesting world-building.
And if you haven’t already, check our summary and character analysis and add Blood of Hercules to your TBR as well, another Greek Mythology retelling but with the reverse harem trope. Or if you are into awarded reads, then take a look at our review of The Song of Achilles, and its unforgettable quotes.
Let’s not waste any more time and dive straight into the summary of the first book in the saga. Beware, bookworms, there shall be spoilers ahead!
The story takes place in New Greece and, more specifically, New Athens, where Persephone is living, disguised as a mortal. Persephone is the Goddess of Spring in name only, so she has struck a deal with her mother to let her live a mortal life. All the Greek Gods have businesses, like Zeus and his marketing business, and live like celebrities in New Athens, but no one even knows Persephone exists. Demeter gives Persephone magic to cover the horns and eyes that mark the Gods. The only rule is to stay away from the other Olympians and especially Hades, the God of the Dead, who is notorious for making impossible bargains with mortals and gods alike.
To celebrate her landing an internship as a journalist in New Athens News, her best friend Lexa secures them a table at Nevernight—Hades’ club and casino with an impossibly long waiting list. Persephone remembers her mother’s warning, but one night can’t hurt if her mother doesn’t find out! Lexa and Persephone go to Nevernight, where they meet Adonis, Sybil, and other mortals who become their friends. But the night does not end there.
Persephone wanders from the group and ends up stumbling at a poker table. There, a charming, brooding, and sexy stranger offers to teach her how to play. She loses the round, and though tension is thickening, she knows she can’t stay. It’s not until the next morning that she discovers that there is a strange mark where the man touched her. Bells ring, and she realizes that the handsome stranger is indeed Hades, and she somehow struck a deal with him.
She goes back and demands an audience with him. Hades explains that their bargain is simple; she has six months to grow life in the Underworld to earn her freedom. Persephone panics and reveals she can’t grow life, plants, and flowers wither at her touch. She decides to expose Hades and his shady deals via her writing. Her editor in New Athens News gives her complete creative freedom, and she decides to use it by writing an article about him.
Upon returning to Nevernight, she is sucked into the Underworld, where she is attacked by lost souls. Luckily, Hermes saves her, and Hades treats her wounds—who else volunteers to get lost in the Underworld? Before she leaves the Underworld, Hades steals a kiss from her lips, giving her teleportation powers so she can enter at will.
Persephone has no choice but to fulfill their deal. She goes to the Underworld and plants various seeds, hoping it will work. There she meets Hecate and visits Asphodel, where souls go after they die. Asphodel is so beautiful and harmonious that she starts doubting her opinion of Hades. But Adonis, who happens to also work at New Athens News, goes behind her back and publishes the first draft of her article without her consent.
Her vehement criticism of Hades and his deals not only brings attention to the God but also creates a rift in their relationship. She watches Hades cure people, barter souls with the Fates, and do all kinds of good things, even though he thinks she hates him. His snappy—and obviously in love with him—secretary, Minthe, confronts her, but also hints there is another way to create life in the Underworld.
The New Athens News editor gives her tickets for the Olympian Gala. She is hesitant, but knows she must attend. Seeing Hades announce the Halcyon Project, a program designed to help addicts recover, is the last thing she needs to be sure she was wrong about him. They dance in front of everyone and go back to the Underworld to spend the night together.
Not wanting to expose Hades more, she accuses Adonis of publishing her article without permission and gets him fired. But he blackmails her with photos of her and Hades. As if things couldn’t get worse, Demeter catches Hades and Persephone in the act, and loses it. She demands her daughter be released from the bargain and that Persephone return to Olympus. The cherry on top is a visit from Aphrodite, who reveals that she and Hades made a bet that he can’t make someone fall in love with him in six months. Persephone is furious when she realizes she is the bet.
Hurt and despeate, she goes to the Underworld, to the Well of Regeneration that Minthe told her about. But she is met with a soul chained there as a punishment. Hades appears, and she confronts him. She confesses her love, but he doesn’t reciprocate, which destroys her. To punish him, she calls on vines to restrain him and leaves the Underworld. Lexa and her boyfriend help her erase the photos Adonis has, and Persephone finds it was the jealous Minthe who gave them to him.
Like the badass she is, she turns Minthe into a Mint plant and confronts her mother, calling her out for not letting her have worshipers and thus not allowing her powers to manifest. Hecate plays the peacemaker and convinces Persephone to return to the Underworld. Hades makes the confession of his life, and the two reconcile. But how will Demeter and the rest of the Olympians react to this relationship? Read A Touch of Ruin, A Touch of Malice and A Touch of Chaos to find out.
Persephone’s struggle with her lack of power is evident from the start. Her search for her autonomy and identity define her journey. The decision to be with Hades is her asserting her power over her mother and claiming her identity as the Goddess of Spring. Hades also struggles with being perceived as evil, while secretly striking bargains to protect mortals.
The love between Hades and Persephone is forbidden and yet burns hot. Due to Demeter’s manipulation, Persephone struggles to trust him. Hades is also reluctant to show her faith due to her earlier misconceptions. Love, however, manages to breach the gap and provide them both with what they were missing.
Hades offers Persephone utter freedom. She is free to roam his realm, speak with his souls, and even steal his heart. Contrary to Demeter’s suffocating control, Persephone is free to explore her powers and who she is when she is with Hades. He seeks a companion, not someone to control, which is what brings them together.
If you haven’t already read this trending BookTok fantasy romance, then open your Goodreads or any other alternative and add this Hades and Persephone retelling to your shelf! You can also check out A Game of Fate for a better insight to the Greek Myth of Hades’ Queen and a peek at his POV.
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Yes, A Touch of Darkness is very spicy. There are many explicit sex scenes with explicit language between Hades and Persephone from the very first book. It’s an ideal read for smut lovers, and we would recommend the audiobook experience!
The main characters of A Touch of Darkness are Persephone, the Goddess of Spring and daughter of Demeter, and Hades, the God of the Dead. This modern retelling tells the story of the meeting and their fated love against all odds and obstacles.
In the first book of the Hades and Persephone Sage, Persephone is 24 years old. She lived for the first 18 years of her life in her mother’s greenhouse in Olympus. She has studied journalism in New Athens and is now about to graduate and start working.
Always living in her own enchanted little world, Christina discovered the magic that can be hidden within the pages of a book when one dares to take a closer look from a tender age. An avid reader, she is constantly inspired to delve into the secrets woven between the lines and challenges herself to find her own voice amidst the chaos. She is a dedicated fan of the classics, but the supernatural creatures that have tormented readers for years are her kryptonite. The mastery it takes to infuse the author's essence, molded by the era they grew up in to their innermost desires fascinates her. Undoubtedly, putting her passion and knowledge on paper has a mesmerizing allure on her, and following the steps of so many other dreamers before her she wishes to leave her mark in the literary world. Guided by T.S Eliot’s haunting words: “I will show you fear in a handful of dust” she intends to wreak havoc in the minds of her future readers.
