A Touch of Ruin: 2 (Hades X Persephone)

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St. Clair’s most popular work has been “Touch of Darkness,” the first of the “Hades & Persephone” series of novels. She tapped into her love for Greek mythology to retell the classic story in this work. As a college student, she had taken several literature classes on Roman and Greek literature such as “The Aeneid” and “The Orestes.” The story of “Hades & Persephone” is one that she always loved ever since she was a child and she thought why not put her own spin on it. She started to think about what the world would be like if the gods in Greek mythology were real beings that came down to Earth. Her imagination took over from there and she proceeded to create a whole new world. In addition to a developing relationship between Persephone and Hades, Persephone also learns and interacts more with the underworld. As the series progresses, Persephone is beginning to break out of her role as the sheltered daughter of Demeter and pave her own path. On that path, there are a lot of learning curves about the nature of life and death. Weaknesses Demeter shows up and all of them (ie, Theseus, Persephone, her friend Sybil, her girlfriend Harmonia, and Demeter) go to the entrance to the Underworld that leads straight to the vault where Hades' weapons (the Helm of Darkness amongst other things) are kept. SPEAKING OF WHICH. I'm not sure about you, but I don't really mind smut scenes in books. Yeah, sure, they pop up from time to time in adult books, but as long as they don't interfere with the FORKING PLOT, I'm good.

What happened to Helen? There was a lot of foreshadowing about her and her involvement with Triad. And then nothing? Who did she meet at the sex club? Where did she go? What was the point of her involvement with Triad? How did her involvement add anything to the plot? Someone tell me about Helen! It was disappointing to see how a character trait that could have potentially resulted in a meaningful and eye-opening conversation between characters was just snipped halfway through the story and tossed aside. Starting with the fact that this book is RIDDLED with errors. If you told me this book was a first draft that had never once seen an editor, I wouldn’t be surprised. Not just spelling and grammar, but we’ve got sentences with mixed tenses, we’ve got plot holes, we’ve got sections that straight up don’t make sense? Some examples: surrounded by trash. “When you’re finished, we’ll watch a movie,” Sybil said. Persephone took her wine and purse into the bedroom. Dropping her bag on the bed, she moved into the bathroom and turned on the shower. As the water heated, she sipped on her wine before setting the glass aside so she could unzip her dress. She paused when she felt Hades’ magic surround her. It was a distinct feeling—a tinge of winter on the air. She closed her eyes and prepared to vanish. It wouldn’t be the first time Hades had taken her to the Underworld without any notice, but instead, a hand touched beneath her chin and lips closed over hers. He kissed her like they hadn’t made love into the early hours of the morning, and when he pulled away, Persephone was breathless, the stress of her day forgotten. Hades palm was warm against her cheek, and he brushed her lips with his thumb, dark eyes searching. “Troubled, darling?” She narrowed her gaze, suspicious. “You followed me today, didn’t you?” Hades didn’t even blink. “Why would you think that?” “You insisted Antoni take me to work this morning, most likely because you already knew what the media was reporting.” Hades shrugged. “I didn’t want to worry you.” “So you let me walk into a mob?” He raised a knowing brow. “Did you walk into that mob?” “You were there!” She accused. “I thought we agreed. No invisibility.” “I wasn’t,” he answered. “Hermes was.” Damn you, Hermes. She’d forgotten to extract a promise from the God of Mischief not to tell Hades about the crowd. He’d probably waltzed into Nevernight with a smile on his face to report what happened. “You could always teleport,” Hades offered. “Or I can provide an Aeg—” “I don’t want an Aegis,” she stopped him. “And I’d rather not use magic not...in the Upperworld.” “Unless you’re exacting revenge?” “That’s not fair. You know my magic has become more and more unpredictable. And I’m not eager to be exposed as a goddess.” “Goddess or not, you are my lover.” She didn’t mean to, but she wasn’t a fan of that word. She stiffened, and she knew by the way Hades’ eyes narrowed, he had noticed. He continued, “It is only a matter of time before someone with a vendettaThat being said, there were some silver linings: ✧ Hecate: She's honestly my favorite character, even if she was sidelined during the book. Turns out that Theseus is trying to overturn the old gods and somehow harness their power to become/create new gods?? And he needs the gods' divine weapons to that - Hera and Demeter are already on his side, along with his father, Poseidon. He now needs Persephone's help to get Hades' weapon - the Helm of Darkness. Although, that being said, I no longer hold any sort of feelings for her as a character at all, which is actually quite worse. This book and its characters are becoming increasingly comparable to a pot of vegetable broth that you accidentally poured too much water into.

Persephone and Hecate then work together to save Sybil and Harmonia, and Persephone begins to fight with her mother, who she ends up killing. Other times, books are terrible, but when you read them, you get the feeling that it actually could have been much better, and that there was potential in the plot and characters that ultimately went to waste.Throughout this novel, the romance between Hades and Persephone goes through many phases. Some of these phases are pleasant and others look a little more bleak. That’s only normal for a relationship and drives the character dynamics forward. For starters, there's Hades himself. In the first book, he was a dark and morally ambiguous character, with an obvious soft spot for Persephone, but was a pretty intgeral part of the plot. Meanwhile, in the second book, he started to withdraw a bit from the plot as more emphasis was placed on Persephone's growth (but also because the two were constantly at odds with each other). Somehow, during all of the chaos, Theseus manages to escape, (which i still don't completely understand, considering that there were at least two people watching him??? not to mention the fact that this sentence, "Persephone’s magic erupted, thorns rose from gashes in the marble, sealing exits." makes it impossible??? anywho, i try not to think about it much because it's quite headache-inducing), and unleashes the Titans. Contents DEDICATION MORE BOOKS BY SCARLETT ST. CLAIR PART I CHAPTER I - A TOUCH OF DOUBT CHAPTER II - A TOUCH OF DUPLICITY CHAPTER III - A TOUCH OF INJUSTICE CHAPTER IV - A TOUCH OF WARNING CHAPTER V - ROYAL TREATMENT CHAPTER VI - LOVER’S QUARREL CHAPTER VII - TRUCE CHAPTER VIII - ABDUCTION CHAPTER IX - A TOUCH OF POISON CHAPTER X - GOD OF MUSIC CHAPTER XI - UNRAVELING PART II CHAPTER XII - THE DESCENT INTO HELL CHAPTER XIII - A TOUCH OF PANIC CHAPTER XIV - INIQUITY CHAPTER XV - A NETWORK OF SECRETS CHAPTER XVI - BREAKING POINT CHAPTER XVII - THE PLEASURE DISTRICT CHAPTER XVIII - THE FURIES CHAPTER XIX - GODDESS OF SPRING CHAPTER XX - COMPETITION CHAPTER XXI - A TOUCH OF BETRAYAL CHAPTER XXII - THE SEVEN MUSES CHAPTER XXIII - THE SOLSTICE CELEBRATION PART III CHAPTER XXIV - A TOUCH OF MADNESS CHAPTER XXV - COLLECTING PIECES CHAPTER XXVI - A TOUCH OF SERENITY CHAPTER XXVII - EMPOWERMENT CHAPTER XXVIII - A TOUCH OF RUIN THANK YOU FOR READING! AUTHOR’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR It says here there are eight heroes competing,” said Leuce, looking at her phone. The glow made her eyes spark. “Three women and four men.”