A Touch of Darkness & A Touch of Ruin BOOK REVIEW

A Touch of Darkness & A Touch of Ruin

A touch of darkness is a series by Scarlett Sinclair. she’s a self-published author. and I believe this is her best-selling series slash book. 

A Touch of Darkness

A Touch of Ruin

if you’re somebody that enjoys Greek mythology then this book may be good for you. because it is a retelling of Persephone and Hades.   however, it is contemporary so it’s not really like in greek times it’s like in our day and age. and basically, Persephone is a journalism student so she’s living like a normal mortal human being.

she wanted to experience human life and wanted to get out of her mother’s control because well if you know anything about greek mythology you’ll know that Persephone’s mother is a bit controlling didn’t really let her out and didn’t let the world know about her basically. personally, I’m fascinated by Greek mythology which is why I was really excited to read these books.  

I have to say that hades and Persephone have become probably my favorite greek couple. and I would love to read more retellings of them so basically hades while being the god of the underworld. he also owns a club in the human world where he makes a lot of like bargains and deals with human beings. generally like hades are the winner he doesn’t play fair.

so one night um Persephone’s friend drags her to the club. they get in and it’s really hard to get in so they’re super excited. keep in mind Persephone has no idea what hades looks like, she goes to this VIP section because she’s invited there she ends up playing a poker game with hades and she ends up accidentally in a deal with hades.

A Touch of Darkness Quotes

“Respect could build an empire. Trust could make it unbreakable. Love could make it last forever.”

“They say Hades is protective of his realm, and while that is true, it isn’t about power. He cares for his people, protects them, and he takes it personally if anyone is harmed. If you belong to him, he will tear the world apart to save you.”

so hades says that she has six months to create life in the underworld and if not she will have to stay in the underworld and this is kind of like an impossible password for Persephone. because she has no control over her power she has not been able to create any form of life yet.

that’s the context of the book I’m not gonna say any more to not spoil it. it’s a pretty interesting um contract and it really likes allows the two characters to have to interact.

book is written in the third person which I’m not personally the biggest fan of I prefer first-person sometimes there are some books that are written so well that you don’t notice it the body finder is a great example of this read the body finder series.  

however, in a touch of darkness, I feel like it is a bit more apparent in this third-person so I don’t like that as much it’s not a deal-breaker I think what might be a deal-breaker for people is Persephone’s character she is a tiny bit annoying I have to admit she’s not the most likable main character but I don’t hate her either I just don’t love her I think sometimes well both her and hades have a lot of communication problems.

which I mean makes sense right because you don’t want the couple to be perfect from the start they have to learn they have to grow. and that’s one of their biggest weaknesses they need to communicate it causes a lot of problems throughout the book. so if you like the like miscommunication trope that this is the book for you.

and if you absolutely hate it it is like the worst thing ever in your opinion then this may not be the book for you. the writing itself is very easy to understand the world is easy to understand because it is our world despite having a magical touch to it.   you’ll have scenes in the underworld it’s nothing overwhelming it’s not confusing at all.

is it the best writing probably not I’m not saying that it’s bad writing but you know compared to other books I read and may not be the same level i feel what it likes in writing it makes up for with romance.   

This book is perfect for somebody who loves romance books somebody hades is what makes it worth reading if you enjoy a love interest that is possessive protective um crazy jealous more authoritative then you will love hades I personally compare it to 50 shades of grey which actually goes to my next point. 

it is a very spicy book this is not appropriate for anyone under 18 maybe 16 can be okay but even then I don’t know it definitely is not as bad as you should be great like it’s so not the same level of spice it has no BDSM or doesn’t have like any of those sub and dom kinks but it definitely does not lack in those type of scenes so the reason.  

why I compared to 50 shades of grey a little bit like I said it doesn’t have the same type of intense spice scenes but Anastasia Steele was a journalist Persephone is a journalist Christian gray was super protective jealous possessive hades is super protective jealous possessive they’re both like business people both very strict I guess dominant.

so if you’re somebody who enjoyed the fifty shades of grey series or you’re somebody that wants to read a book like that but less intense then I definitely think a touch of darkness um this series is meant for you.  there are other side characters obviously like her friends other great gods that they are super enjoyable super great side characters some of them I absolutely adore they’re funny they’re sweet the first one it does take a little bit of time to get to the romance because obviously hades and Persephone are getting to know each other and they’re not gonna jump right into bed.

so it takes a little bit of time but once you get there it is so worth it and it’s kind of difficult to put down.   the second book I personally found it even better I’m really excited to read hades’ point of view of the second book in case you didn’t know scarlet Sinclair the writer als is also writing books from hades’ perspective. 

I like the second book better because it had more drama and it was a lot harder to put down but it also gave us a lot of more protective scenes jealous scenes however i was not expecting it to be sad like at all. I thought it was going to be like constantly happy maybe with ups and downs.

A Touch of Ruin Quotes

“Are you saying you wouldn’t fight for me?” Hades sighed and brushed his finger along her cheek. “Darling, I would burn this world for you.”

“The first rule of men, Persephone, is that they’re all idiots.”

“You are my weakness, losing you is my greatest fear, your love is my most treasured possession.”

but in the second book, something happened that really really really upset me I can’t say more than that. but I was just pretty shocked. I cried I definitely cried but by the end of both books even by the end of the first you just get really attached to these characters.  

Ratings I have a hard time reading this book because on one hand, I loved it it’s a guilty pleasure read hey I know a lot of people really couldn’t get past her writing or Persephone as a character but I feel like it’s something I would reread. honestly maybe in the fall like a nice easy read except the second that hurt my feelings but I want to give it a 10 but i know i can’t because there are things that bothered me maybe 8.5 and then maybe a 9 for a touch of ruin which is the second book yeah I think that’s fair

do I recommend the book? I absolutely do.

everything I said sounds awful too then obviously maybe you shouldn’t read this book.

but if you feel like it’s something that would interest you then I would definitely give it a shot. i encourage you to kind of just push through the beginning because it does get some time to adapt to for Persephone as a character to scarlet saint claire’s writing but you’ll definitely just end up enjoying it. if you don’t take it seriously, and if you don’t walk into it thinking that it’s some sort of masterpiece.

but I still really rate it highly and it’s I feel like for me it would be one of my top series because I’m just a sucker for romance. I’m a simple person anyways thank you for Reading the review and if you like this review make sure you subscribe so you’re notified when I post more and you can also check out my Instagram and FB. 

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