I have no idea how I discovered these books. I mean, I’m sure it was #bookstagram. Still, I don’t remember any of the particulars.  I went into these books with no expectations and no real idea what they were about.  Like I said in my blog post, all I saw was that this was a retelling of Hades and Persephone.  So I was sold. 

I started with A Touch of Darkness, book one in the Hades & Persephone series.  It wasn’t great.  The writing wasn’t anything to start yelling from rooftops about. It was just Okay.  I believe this is St. Clair’s second published book –  some new authors come out with fantastic debut or sophomore novels.

In contrast, others have to grow and evolve into their craft. St. Clair is growing into her craft. I can appreciate the world that she is building. It’s very much a ‘What if we still worshiped the Greek Gods of Old in the New World today‘ – mixing Greek mythology elements into our world.  I liked it – it was fun.

What I didn’t like was St. Clair’s portrayal of Persephone.  She irritated me to no end.  I wasn’t a big fan of her mild-mannered reporter – Clark Kent vibes. I never really thought about what Persephone would do for a career in the real world. While I’m not against journalist Persephone, I think I would have preferred her to be older.  A more established journalist than one barely out of school.

I should have liked Persephone more. She’s rebellious & intelligent, but it wasn’t enough. Persephone was graduating school and had this fantastic intern job as a journalist, carving her own way in the world away from her mother.  But she was also meek, mild, naive and dull; Uninteresting for a divine goddess. I’ll admit that as the book progressed, and when Persephone wasn’t playing mortal, I enjoyed her more. I also liked her more from Hades’ perspective.

I absolutely loved St. Clair’s portrayal of Hades.  I liked him so much that I instantly went and bought A Game of Fate – I needed more of Hades in my life, a lot more.  I didn’t realize when I got A Game of Fate that it would be the same book. That’s right, the exact same. Okay, a few minor things are different – and it made for a better, more exciting book for me.

There is only roughly a year between publishing dates for these two books, and most of A Touch of Darkness is reused in A Game of Fate. Still, in my opinion, A Game of Fate is the better book. If you want to read these, I would suggest it over A Touch of Darkness.  You really would not be missing anything by only reading one of the books.  With Hades, you will get more insight into the Gods and Goddesses.  The Persephone version of events is a more whiny teenager rebelling against her mom in the real world than the powerful Gods and Goddesses of Greek Mythology.

Many other major Gods & Goddesses show up in St. Clair’s books, making for some great banter between characters.  I loved the relationship Hades & Hecate have.  Hermes was fantastic.  All around, St. Clair did a great job in developing personalities for the minor characters in her story.

Last but not least, I want to address the elephant in this review – the sex.  If you have any issues with sexual content in the novels you read, please stay away from this series.  There is quite a bit of sexual content & I had no idea when I started to read them, So fair warning.  If you are looking for lots of romance, I also suggest you stay away. There’s not much in these two books,  a few scenes here or there – hello Hades’ baking cookies!  Personally, I don’t look for romance in the books I read – honestly, I hate lovey-dovey type tropes in my life.  I also don’t mind any sexual content in the books I am reading – & in the two books I have read, everything was consensual if that is a deciding factor for you.

I honestly wish these two books had just been one book.  I would have much preferred to flip between Hades & Persephone’s POVs in one longer book than to have read the two books separately like I did. In the end, though, they were semi-fun quick reads that aren’t heavy on the brain, heart, or soul.

I have decided on giving A Touch of Darkness a 3, while A Game of Fate has earned an extra .5 star from me. I won’t be taking the rest of the series off my tbr list, but I’ll probably stick to the Hades Saga over the Persephone x Hades one.