Jerry Cooke<p>33rd finished book of the year: A Touch of Darkness by Scarlet St. Clair</p><p>

4.25 ⭐️ - Lore Olympus, but significantly more smutty. In a AU where the greek gods descended to the earth and became public figures. This is all that, but so much more too. </p><p>Hades and Persephone are HORNY. I was pre-warned of this, but seriously, there’s a lot of lusting going in this book. As a big Lore fan, I had to actively push the characters I’ve come to love there out of my head for a spell to make room for these new depictions and I’m glad I did. While smut forms a fairly sizeable amount of the story here, it’s by no means all there is - the world depicted here, imaging that the gods (with all their flaws and desires) walk among mortals, is rich and interesting. 

</p><p>This book takes place from Persephone’s perspective as we see her shed her helpless and powerless experience and take her rightful place as a the Goddess of Spring. Hades plays a big part of that and through her eyes we see.. well, a lot of lust.. but also her coming to understand that what her mother has told her and what the world believes of him might not be entirely accurate. 

</p><p>I’ve always been fascinated by the greek gods and the Hades here we see is something between the emotionally healthy and kind character in Lore and the more complicated Hadestown character. A powerful and figure, that is not always gentle, but shows a deep care of those in his realm and who can learn and listen. The relationship between him and Persephone, although complicated, shows his genuine love and devotion to her in a very human way. 

</p><p>The cast of chapters are rich, with the gods depicted as just as fallible and capricious as historical lore suggests, but in setting that imagines how they might interact with the world when made a part of it. Hecate in particular is beautifully written and the way the afterlife is described is really sweet.</p><p>

Overall, a really interesting take on Greek mythology with some satisfying spice. </p><p><a href="https://mastodon.jhcooke.com/tags/atouchofdakness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>atouchofdakness</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.jhcooke.com/tags/scarlettestclair" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scarlettestclair</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.jhcooke.com/tags/hadesxpersephone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>hadesxpersephone</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.jhcooke.com/tags/hades" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>hades</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.jhcooke.com/tags/persephone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>persephone</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.jhcooke.com/tags/greekgods" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>greekgods</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.jhcooke.com/tags/mythology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mythology</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.jhcooke.com/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>books</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.jhcooke.com/tags/bookstodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>bookstodon</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.jhcooke.com/tags/fantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fantasy</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.jhcooke.com/tags/romance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>romance</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.jhcooke.com/tags/romantasybooks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>romantasybooks</span></a> 

</p>