Thoughts on A Touch of Ruin (Persephone Saga, Book 2) by Scarlett St. Clair

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After finishing A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair, I was curious where the rest of the series was going to go. For the most part, everything had been wrapped up. The only real thing that didn’t get reflected in the book from the mythology was Demeter declaring wore and Hades/Persephone becoming married. Granted, there were plenty of things to suggest marriage would happen. And Persephone did stand up to her mother. So, that’s where I figured A Touch of Ruin was headed. The fallout over Persephone not doing what her mother wanted. Not to mention Persephone and Hade’s relationship is now public after they made out in public before vanishing. I won’t share too many spoilers for the book, but I did want to share some thoughts.

Synopsis

Persephone’s relationship with Hades has gone public and the resulting media storm disrupts her normal life and threatens to expose her as the Goddess of Spring. Hades, God of the Dead, is burdened by a hellish past that everyone’s eager to expose in an effort to warn Persephone away. Things only get worse when a horrible tragedy leaves Persephone’s heart in ruin and Hades refusing to help. Desperate, she takes matters into her own hands, striking bargains with severe consequences. Faced with a side of Hades she never knew and crushing loss, Persephone wonders if she can truly become Hades’ queen.

Book Details

• Published: April 22, 2020
• Page Count: 415 pages
• Genre: Fantasy Romance

Review of A Touch of Ruin

A Touch of Ruin takes place about two days after the end of A Touch of Darkness. Persephone and Hades have reconciled their relationship status to some extent. Having both admitted that they love each other. But a lot of things are still in the air. For starters, Persephone knows next to nothing about the God of the Dead and he’s not inclined to tell her until things royally blow up in their faces. Like past lovers, business deals and ventures, and charities he owns. Next, Persephone now has magic for the first time and is learning how to use it. Something she hasn’t had for twenty-four years. Plus, the fall out from her mother and publicity of her relationship with Hades.

Persephone has a lot going on. Not to mention one friend gets fired after regretting the sexual advances of a god. Something Persephone takes great issue with and after a night of wine with said friend decides to write an article that is published the very next morning. This only causes more fallout that Hades cannot help Persephone with. Besides ensuring that Apollo can’t come after Persephone over what she did. Not that Persephone really regrets that decision until her other friend’s life is in the balance, and yet again Hades refuses to help. He states that it’s her friend’s time to move on, but Persephone refuses to listen and ends up striking a bargain with another god. Which only causes another major falling out between the two.

And here I was wondering at the start of the book where A Touch of Ruin was going to go. There’s a lot to digest in the 415 pages. And sets up for additional books perfectly consider Demeter is determined to make sure that rift between Hades and Persephone continues. She does a lot of things behind the scene to cause the drama that Persephone has to deal with. Not that all of it is Demeter’s fault. But you can see evidence of the original mythology creep in. Demeter practically declaring war when she doesn’t get her way, which is Persephone to leave Hades and live permanently under Demeter’s control. I have a feeling that’s going to be the main conflict of the next book, since Demeter is not going to back down.

I also loved seeing Apollo’s tales woven throughout the book. Not only his but a few of the other gods and demi-gods from Greek mythology. Of course, they have a modern twist to them, but you can tell Scarlett St. Clair did her research. And I have a feeling some of the other stories involving other gods will be woven into the rest of the books in this series. I can’t wait to read more. Especially Hade’s POV as we’ve only gotten some bonus content from his side. I did order his first book A Game of Fate, so that review will be up later in the week as I haven’t gotten it yet. But if it’s anything like the last two books, I’ll manage to finish reading it in a day.

Overall, I would give this book a 3.75 out of 5-star rating. It’s good, not as much sexual tension between Hades and Persephone. More just relationship stuff that’s real. Figuring out how to communicate, arguing, and making-up. Of course, there are romance scenes and multiple proposals from Hades to Persephone in A Touch of Ruin. So, if the romance is what draws you and hooks you, there isn’t as much of that in this book. But I enjoyed these books for the mythology, so I still really enjoyed this book.

Love ya,

Mae Polzine

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