A Touch of Ruin (Hades x Persephone Saga, #2) (2024)

I only have one question at the end of this book.

What the f*ck happened to you, Persephone?

I feel like this whole book was one giant mess. After reading book 1 and loving it and gave it 5 stars even, I wonder what the hell happened to the characters in this book. Mainly Persephone. I struggled each chapter to get to the end and it was arduous. I feel like the conclusion or the development they got from book 1 got swiped clean and now they have to build it up again.

I'm trying to see it in a more logical standpoint. I do agree that Persephone might need to learn more about letting go and accept what happened have to happen and all... What I don't like was how she acted during the said learning curve. She never did truly learn in the end. She never really get that moment of clarity of how her decisions were wrong and contemplated it maturely. Sure, she was sad and regretted it but I don't see how she learned from it.

All that I got from her in this book was a massive contradiction to what she was and what she said. I don't know whether this is the point that the author wanted to make or she failed to make her character consistent. Hell, I don't even know who is Persephone anymore.

She was bratty, wimpy, annoying, insecure (this one I can let it slides sometimes), jealous and incredibly stupid. I thought it would turn around in the end, have some sort of inner growth arc to her character but the conclusion to all of these issues were dealt with poorly. She made stupid decisions after stupid decisions. Then, she blamed other people, Hades, Apollo, Jaison for driving her to do those stupid decisions. For making her that way. It was all about her and none about other people's feelings or considerations.

In the end, I don't get what the book was trying to achieve. I don't like Persephone at all in this book. Hades was just there, being the complacent star-struck lover and a shoulder to cry on for our messy heroine. He wasn't the King of the Underworld anymore but a normal guy with obsessive mercurial lover and I pitied him. Pitied him for having a woman like Persephone besides him.

This is not what I was hoping for when I jumped into this book. It ruined me really. An apt way of saying considering the title.

not as good as the first book, but still enjoyable overall. i was wondering if the novelty of hades and persephone was wearing off, but then i realised the parts i didnt like about this only had to do with persephone alone.

when persephone is shown in a positive light, shes an excellent character. but wow, she does a lot of stupid things and honestly her mistakes make her insufferable. i feel like she was running to hecate every other chapter saying, ‘i messed up.’ the constant back and forth was giving me whiplash and really took my enjoyment down a notch.

im hoping she becomes a much more mature character by the third book because i really want to keep on loving this series.

↠ 3.5 stars

#1 A Touch of Darkness — 3 Stars
#2 A Touch of Ruin — 2 Stars

What did Hades do to deserve this?

I’m not saying it dreamily like I can’t believe how perfect they are for each other, and I’m in awe. I’m saying it in deep sympathy because Persephone in this book reallyyy didn’t deserve Hades. Seriously, she should be ashamed of herself. This was a disgrace to the original Hades & Persephone myth.

So, the deal is that Persephone was struggling to navigate her new relationship with Hades. There was the matter that he was ancient and had had lovers before her. She was also afraid that she’d lose herself in him. She wanted to be independent. That made sense, and those were valid concerns. Go her!

What I wasn’t so thrilled about was how all of that made her do stupid things. I think that her character was meant to be this strong self-reliant heroine who was caring, spoke up against injustice and did something about it. However, it completely missed the mark and made her simply immature and self-absorbed.

Her intentions were sound, but sheesh she reallyyy should’ve just . . . “Take a hike! And get a move on!” Also, this book didn’t have a plot. It was pretty much about Persephone being a pain in Hades’ butt, creating one mess after another for him to clean up, and running to Hecate with her tail between her legs.

I’d planned to unhaul and take down my review of the first book because I had no wish to continue, but the review keeps getting comments every now and then. I lowkey feel pressured to see this through. I might remove both in the future still. For now, let’s hope for the best for book 3.

If you wanna read this, I think you better not.

(Read as an Audiobook)

This book will go down in history as the worst sequel in the history of the universe. What in the hell did I just read?

I genuinely enjoyed the first book. I really really did. But where the first books conflict had to do with Persephone facing her mother, her own powers, Adonis, and the deal with Hades, the second book has one plot point.

Persephone being a literal child.

I've never seen a person regress so badly. She is the most vapid, narcissistic, selfish, childish character I've ever read about. I freaking HATED her. Time after time in this book she commits crimes against people worse than every single person who has been dubbed a villian but it's okay because she's Persephone. It was a miracle I even managed to finish it. The entire basis of her relationship with Hades dissolved to nothing but sex. She can't go one day without Hades paying attention to her, and even when he does she freaks out because he doesn't tell her everything that's ever happened to him in his entire life (he's billions of years old, they've been dating two minutes). It's ridiculous. She doesn't learn anything throughout the entire book.

Do not read this. Seriously. You will be dissapointed. I will go back to believing this book never existed and there was only the first one.

4.5 stars! I am officially obsessed with this series. Persephone and Hades romance is quickly becoming on of my favorite book couples. The angst and the passion is chefs kiss. I'm also realizing that I really really love greek mythology. Learning about all of the gods and what myths the book is based on is so cool.

WELL. Time for me to have yet another unpopular opinion because I thought this book was better than the first one. 😂 I’m even able to tell you why.

1. Persephone’s love language is definitely words of affirmation.
And so is mine. So I, too, know what it’s like to be an insecure idiot if I’m not constantly reassured. Unfortunately, it would seem Hades’s love language is physical touch, so these two do a terrible job of being clear on their feelings. Makes for great tension (see: item 2).

2. Jealousy all over the place.
Me, in real life: Jealousy in relationship is toxic. Do not put up with that.
Me, a reader: f*ck YES EVERYONE IS JEALOUS AND THE TENSION IS 💯 AND THE EVENTUAL SPICE WILL BE CHEF’S KISS

I’m aware it makes no sense. But, I don’t even care. Persephone is jealous of anyone pretty. Hades is jealous if she mentions a dude’s name at the wrong time. I’m here for it.

3. You get to see more of everyone.
I was pleased to see a lot more of Hermès. Persephone also doesn’t spend tons of time at work, so we get to meet some new characters while getting to know the old ones. I didn’t think I would ever really care about Lexa, but here we are.

4. It punched me in the feels.
I can’t go into detail, because spoilers. Probably just a bit of dust in my eye.

A Touch of Ruin had basically no redeeming qualities, yet it was strangely addicting and I just kept on reading. I liked nothing about this book, yet I still want to read book 3. I don't know why.

As I had written in my review of the first book, I wasn't going to read this.

But for some horrible reason, I made a huge mistake, read this, and true to my word, hated it as much as I had expected.

This book was trashy and just plain bad. As far as the plot went, there was none (unless you count pining and oh-no-i've-ruined-everything-so-instead-of-trying-to-problem-solve-i'm-just-going-to-ignore-everything-until-my-problems-magically-go-away-or-resentment-festers-like-an-open-wound, in which case there's plenty of it).

Persephone somehow managed to become more annoying in this book and the smut scenes were absolutely terrible. The writing somehow became more boring and the drama was at an all-time high - it started to resemble one of my mom's soaps.

The only thing that saved this book from being condemned by me was Hermes, the only part of the entire freaking book I liked.

So much drama you could start a theater club💀

not me stressfully reading an entire book in a day to avoid studying for my midterm

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

A Touch of Ruin es un libro que, definitivamente, no le va a gustar a todo el mundo, pero yo lo amé.

En esta segunda entrega nos encontramos una Perséfone que debe enfrentarse a un montón de dudas, sentimientos nuevos y situaciones que nunca antes vivió. Si bien en A Touch of Darkness la vemos como una diosa a la que han ocultado toda su vida, que no ha podido acceder a sus poderes y que, por primera vez, está desafiando a su madre gracias a su relación con el Dios de los Muertos, en A Touch of Ruin vemos a una Perséfone nueva… y muy confundida. Ahora la diosa ya tiene acceso a sus poderes, pero son un desastre; también quiere cada vez más a Hades, pero poco a poco se da cuenta de que no lo conoce mucho; y, por último, sigue aferrándose a su vida como falsa mortal, cosa que la llevará a tener que enfrentar una situación que no previó: la fragilidad de las vidas humanas.

A decir verdad, a mí me encantan las historias en las que las protagonistas se debaten entre dos mundos. En este caso, Perséfone, a pesar de ser la definición de “diosa que vive entre dos mundos”, va a estar más dividida que nunca entre el mundo mortal y el mundo de los dioses, pues aparentemente solo uno de ellos le permitirá ser su verdadera yo. Me gustó muchísimo leer todos los sentimientos encontrados que surgían en ella y, por ende, las malas decisiones que tomaba en los momentos de más angustia. Y sé que muchos odiarán este libro precisamente por esas decisiones, pero yo entiendo a Perséfone porque está perdidísima y lidiando con dudas que la atacan todo el tiempo. Lo bueno es que son esas malas decisiones las que la llevan a encontrarse a sí misma y a entender el nuevo rol que puede adoptar como diosa, con sus poderes y como pareja de Hades y potencial reina del Inframundo.

¿Y de Hades qué puedo decirles? Ay, primero, que lo sigo amando, jajaja. Y, segundo, que me encanta ver que, a pesar de que es un dios milenario, aún tiene muchísimo por aprender. Sobre todo en el campo de las relaciones, pues eso de revelarle todos sus secretos a Perséfone todavía no se le da muy bien. Aunque, de nuevo, lo entiendo… son miles de años de historias, errores, proyectos y amantes que tiene por detrás. Además, creo que, en el fondo, Hades tiene muchísimo miedo de que llegue el momento en el que algo de lo que le revele a Perséfone la aleje de él… y eso me parece lo más tierno del mundo, esa duda.

Pero justamente A Touch of Ruin es un libro en el que todos esos problemas chocan, crean maremotos y tratos inconcebibles con otros dioses que, al final, se transforman en entendimiento, en una relación mucho más fuerte entre Hades y Perséfone y en arcos de redención que no esperé que me gustaran, pero que adoré.

Antes de terminar esta reseña tengo que hacerles una mención de honor a Hermes y a Hécate. Son de los mejores personajes de esta saga, de verdad. ¡Ah! Y obvio mención especial al spice de este libro porque maaaaaadre mía. Angry sex, forgiveness sex, goodbye sex, yes-I’m-going-to-be-your-queen sex…. Vaya, hay de todo, jajaja. Y nada, ya quiero seguir leyendo estos libros y todos los demás de la autora porque me declaro fan.

I really like Hades in this series which I did not expect since I am usually not a fan of him in retellings but this book made me like him even more than in the first book.
He has this completely different side to him that Persephone only now got to know and yes there was a lot of tension and fighting aka trust issues in their relationship during this book but I think it was a necessary plot line to give everyone more character.
I loved Persephone in here, she is sweet and kind and loving and even if she makes mistakes, they are very human (though she is a god) which makes the story better and I did indeed cry during that one scene with Lexa.

I think my favourite thing is though that a lot of the side characters are important to the story and have an actual personality that made me love the relationship Persephone had with each of them.

However there was one plot line in this story I just did not like because I thought it was unnecessary and did not help progress the story at all. It was a small one though and not that noticeable.

Don’t get me wrong, it did get better.
I just…. Expected more.
First of all, what was the point of antagonizing Apollo so much (he was an abuser and a sex offender), and then give him a half-witted reason to be so bad and, pretty much forgive him?
Didn’t get that part of the plot at all, or why it was even necessary. I'm all for grey characters, but if you're going to make Apollo an abuser (which btw... Greek Gods are all shady ok? They've done lots of messed-up things. Do you think Hades is much better? If so, I have news for you.) don't make excuses for him.
The Lexa plotline was good and I think it made up for the Apollo fiasco a little bit.
The book in general was forgettable.

Annnnnd I read book 2 only because I like Hades and Hermes.

But I may have skipped a LOT of pages

I don’t suppose anyone could tell me what pleasure an author derives in writing a character that is incredibly stupid, emotionally immature and who actively courts death.

Is this supposed to be entertaining? To whom?

Anyway, about 40% in I finished this book. By that I mean, in my head Persephone is dead, along with everyone else 🥴, except Hades.

And in my head, Hades finds himself a real queen who’s smarter, less delusional, more emotionally stable, and a helluva lot more mature than that sh*t for brains, Persephone.

I could enjoy this book more but Persephone really ruined the experience for me. I never disliked a Persephone until this Persephone. Why is she so childish? The way she was reasoning, the way she refused to understand the underworld and their rule. I don't know if it is an attempt to make her appears empowering or badass but I think those efforts just made her more condescending. Can't she just respect the rules of life and how it works? Why does everything have to be special for her own accord? Honestly? Such a spoilt brat. I thought it only makes sense why heaven and hell exist, why there are good and bad people but Persephone seemed to fail to acknowledge this. I know she wanted to be noble but her notion was very unreasonable.

I know women are emotional, I am one too but I found Persephone to never make one right decision other than letting her emotions to consume her, resulting in her making yet another blind and foolish decision.

It also made Hades look weak because of his love for Persephone as he always excuses her when all she had done is just stupid after stupid mistakes. Can't she be rational for once? I'm at 59% into the book but I'm not sure if I wanted to continue because Persephone is so infuriating, I can't stand her character and it's a first for me.

I love Hades and Persephone & I'm a romance driven when it comes to reading book. On a bright side, this book could've been enjoyable if Persephone is less annoying and more mature. I wanted to give this book a chance and I so hope the third book would show some character development (because I hate not to finish anything I started, it left me restless and anxious but you tell me how when Persephone, a goddess of spring is like THAT?) If the third book is all the same with Persephone being impossible, I have to say goodbye to the series.

It's getting nowhere, just same old sh*t from Persephone & same old sh*t for Hades to deal with. It's getting monotonous. The author focuses too much on the romance on the first book than coming up with remarkable plot. However, I can't tell if the second book is an effort to come up with something more interesting but it kinda fails. I REALLY TRULY hope the third book would be better. I never felt so mad as I did with a female lead character.

UPDATE
The ending was satisfactory in a way I guess because Persephone finally finds herself and get a grip of what it should have been all along. I just hope this will give her a remarkable character development on the next book and be less disappointing.

5⭐️

this is truly one of the easiest five star series i’ve ever read. i know i’m only on book 2 but come on…i CANNOT get enough!!! i want this book flowing in my veins. i’m convinced there is crack in these pages.😮‍💨

the side characters in this carry a big chunk of this book and im not even mad. the plot is just so good and hermes, zofie, sybil, and even leuce (hades ex) were so damn funny. hecate, the god of witchcraft, will always be my favorite. she’s like the perfect mom persephone wish she had cause her actual mom should be burned alive. SPEAKING OF HER MOM, DEMETER, i don’t know how persephone keeps putting up with her she is AWFUL. don’t worry bb i’ll rescue you 💅🏼

there wasn’t much world building in this book compared to the first one, but i don’t think it needed it as much. it was already so developed and the plot just carried it. miss scarlett knew what she was doing in this one. having me wanting a vacation to the underworld 🤭 SIGN ME UP RN

“trust me, my darling, leaving you is the hardest decision i make each day.”

“are you saying you wouldn’t fight for me?”
“darling, i would burn this world for you.”

“i don’t want to be angry with you.”
“nor i with you, but it doesn’t change feelings, and it doesn’t mean we can’t care for each other while we heal.”

“this mortal has distressed you,” Zofie said. “do you want me to kill him?”
“what? no, zofie. you can’t just kill people who upset you.”

in the beggining there was darkness.
then a girl appeared.
her name was diana.
she didn’t want to waste her time with good books and delicious coffee.
instead, she tortured herself with trashy books and then, in disgust of what she read, she vomited into a cup.
the question that remains is why.
perhaps the therapist she needed to visit would know the answer.
in the end there was only agony.

I loved this one! Even more than the first, I guess I’m apart of the minority in that. Persephone did annoy me at times with her immaturity and constantly whining “I’m making the biggest mistakes”. Realizing it and yet she keeps adding to the list. 😂 I love Hades but our dark god kept digging himself Into some deep holes because Seph was right. No he doesn’t need to come clean about all his sins.... but at least the present ones!!

I love Hermès he’s definitely one of my favorites :)

I also ended up liking Apollo too, I hope we get more of him in the next book and get to see him become an even better god!

Lexa broke my heart :(

In the end I feel like all the struggles between seph and hades were needed. I’m hoping that they can handle things more maturely and become stronger together because they are sure gonna need it for what’s coming!!!!

Oh and sue me, I love their sex scenes stop saying that it needed to be less🤣🤣

Definitely recommend this series— adding malice to my most anticipated reads for 2021🥰

This turned into a 3 star read all because of Persephone. The next book she better mature or it’s a wrap. She was hypocritical, immature, and flat out whiny. I know it sounds rough but honestly with the first book having so much promise it really disappointed me. I don’t want this series to fall to the wayside. Hermès and Hecate really saved this story. Hades wasn’t present as much as I wanted. Turns out though that there’s a parallel series from Hades POV? And he’s purposefully gone because of the plot in that book? I wanna read it but I also don’t want to be disappointed. Sooooo here we are. My thoughts, splattered on this review. Thanks for bearing with me. 🙃

Deutlich schwächer als Band 1 :(

Writing was slightly better than the last one, but this one didn't have any plot.

Honestly don't know what else to write after that. Because that sentence pretty much sums up the book. And now there are going to be even more books? This just feels redundant. No need for more books. We get it; they meet, fall in love and get married and rule Underworld together.

This series feels like when someone is telling you a story, but instead of saying only the relevant things and going straight to the point, they ramble on and on about things that have nothing to do with the story.

Don’t ask me what this book is about I didn’t pay any attention to the plot

Persephone ruined this book for me tbh

2.75 - 3/5
Începem chill...
Ce mi-a plăcut:
HADES! Ce a făcut Hades ca să merite așa ceva?
Nu o spun cu răutate (mint), dar Hades trebuie să aibă lângă el o persoană înțelegătoare, deșteaptă, empatică și minunată care să-i înțeleagă punctul de vedere și să-i țină partea atunci când alți zei, buni sau răi, îl sfidează. Înțeleg că Zeul Morții este îndrăgostit și e cam orbit de acest sentiment frumos (și probabil că Persefona are the good stuff), dar săracul trebuie să-și tragă două palme zdravene și să se spele pe ochi cu clor ca să vadă BS-urile iubitei lui despre care o să vorbesc imediat :)
LUMEA! Mereu mi-a plăcut să citesc despre mitologia greacă, iar acest retelling spicy & modern m-a făcut să realizez că vreau să citesc și mai multe cărți care merg pe această idee. Am citit Dragoste și Război, Hades x Persefona și Lore Olympus care mi-au plăcut f mult.
PERSONAJE SECUNDARE! Good or bad, we like them!
-
Ce nu mi-a plăcut....
PERSEFONA! I. WILL. FIGHT. THIS. DUMB. BISH. HOLD. MY. ICED.COFFEE.
În acest volum Zeița Primăverii a fost ultima cretină/fraieră/ nesuferită/ egoistă /incultă / proastă și dacă eram în locul ei efectiv muream de rușine.
1. TOATE deciziile ei au fost egoiste și stupide și m-au făcut să o detest!! În loc să-și asculte partenerul care ARE o mai mare experiență cu sufletele celor morți (duh, Zeul Morții), proasta satului (easter egg Emi și Cuza) ce zice? ''LOL yolo nu-mi pasă de consecințe f U sunt o bad bish rebelă care nu ascultă de nimeni hue hue hue''.
Ce se întâmplă? Realizează un butterfly effect care cauzează un haos IMENS! Ce face fata noastră? Dă vina pe altcineva. În loc să zică ''da, așa este, am făcut o prostie îmi pare rău''ea ridică din umeri și aia e. THE AUDACITY OF THIS BISH... the f.ing AUDACITY. O singură dată nu și-a cerut scuze.
2. Vrea să fie independentă. Nu am o problemă cu asta. Înțeleg nevoia ei de a ieși din umbra lui Hades și de a avea propria viață, dar în momentul în care tu ai doar 2 neuroni care merg ȘI FIX ĂIA 2 AU IEȘIT LA PENSIE....poate e ok să stai în umbra lui. Garantat salvezi mai multe vieți și chiar ajuți lumea să fie un loc mai bun și mai sigur.
3. Ea încearcă să pară o eroină puternică, model în viață, care luptă împotriva nedreptății și sexismului. Intenția bună...execuția? Dezastruoasă! A fost pur și simplu imatură și absorbită de sine.
4. Persefona was a PAIN IN THE ASS pentru toți. Nimeni nu a scăpat de ea! Toți s-au confuntat cu BS-urile ei! Constant realiza o mizeri, una după alta, iar săracul de Hades trebuia să curețe și să suporte diverse consecințe!
-
Primul volum a primit 5 stele! 5 STELE! Nu înțeleg dacă versiunea asta proastă a protagonistei a fost gândită de către autoare, dar, a fost decizie oribilă. O să citesc volumul 3 datorită mesajelor din privat care mi-au promis că-și revine în cartea 3.
-
HADES DESERVES BETTER PUNCT PERIODT FACTS

“We cannot all be good, but if we must be bad, it should serve a purpose.”

This is the sequel to A Touch of Darkness, so you can see my review of that for a summary! Long story short, it’s a modern retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth.

I didn’t remember a single thing that happened in A Touch of Darkness or anything about the characters, and it did not matter. Reading this book felt like watching a random episode of a mediocre tv show you’ve never seen before. You’re able to follow the plot, but you’ll probably never think about it again.

It feels almost audacious to divide this book into parts. There is not enough happening here for parts.

Any character that says “being of service pleases them” is never gonna be a character I care about. Unfortunately, it is Persephone who said this, and so I do not care about the main character. Are we seeing the issue?

If this BINCH says “how could you want me?” one more time…. I mean we all deal with insecurity but you’re literally a goddess so I think you can maybe have a girl boss moment sis. You’re hot and divine get over yourself.

The way that intimacy is described in this book is actually horrific. A lot of people forgive these books for having not a single ounce of plot because the “spice is good”. These people must also think ketchup is spicy.

Finally, I’m just putting it out there that putting pictures of pomegranates and using Roman numerals in the chapter headings does not a mythological retelling make.

Catch me reading the next one.

A Playlist of Ruin:
- Mount Everest // Labrinth
- Lament of Orpheus // Darren Korb
- Just Another Nightmare // Fae

Persephone being DONE with Hades and his gaslighting:
“You will never know how difficult this is for me.”
“I imagine as difficult as it’s been for me.”

I can 100% see why people were frustrated with this book and Persephone here, because she gets messy and childish, but I think listening to this one in audio made more palatable lol. So I highly recommend the audios for this series! I also just really love the way Hades loves Persephone 😭

So during the first book I was like "wow that was fun! I'm gonna keep reading until I want to gauge my eyes out" and that happened within the first 100 pages of book 2.

So I'm going to need some things:
1) therapy
2) holy water
3) time to heal

That's all. Thank you for listening to my ted talk.

Oh and 2 stars because sometimes Persephone asks some relevant question, but gosh this girl is a dumb as a brick. Also, I like the perspective we got on the full extent of Hades' powers.

Demeter can die a horrible death. What a narcissist.

Also, yeah redemption arc (ish) Apollo. You're still a dick tho.

I have never felt so sorry for the God of the Underworld. Honestly what did Hades do to deserve such a whinny and annoying love of his life. Don’t wanna be that girl- but I’m going to be- Persephone reeeeeallllyyy doesn’t deserve Hades.

I’m assuming the goal of her annoying personality was suppose to give of an independent, strong outspoken goddess who stood up for injustice, where it missed the mark completely and only made me roll my eyes constantly at how immature and selfish every decision she made was.

Hades playing janitor seeing she makes a mess everywhere she goes making deals with every possible character and then crying because she can’t understand why nothing works out. Woe is Persephone.

I haven’t been this annoyed with a female character since Emilia in Kingdom of the Cursed.
This was horrifying. Where was the plot between all this Persephone tsunami mess?

5 stars for Hades because what a man.
-12 stars for Persephone.

had an out of body experience/crisis multiple times while reading this book