Book Review: A Touch of Malice
Scarlett St. Clair did it again. Here are my thoughts on this lovely and heartbreaking read. :)
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Persephone and Hades are engaged. In retaliation, Demeter summons a snowstorm that cripples New Greece, and refuses to lift the blizzard unless her daughter calls off her engagement. When the Olympians intervene, Persephone finds her future in the hands of ancient gods, and they are divided. Do they allow Persephone to marry Hades and go to war with Demeter or prohibit their union and take up arms against the God of the Dead?Nothing is certain but the promise of war.
I didn’t think I would be able to hate a god more than I already do, but my despise for Zeus has tripled after reading A Touch of Malice. He is just as despicable as you would imagine and just as horny too. I haven’t had such a visceral reaction in this series until I got to the part where Zeus gets introduced. He competes with Demeter for the most disliked character thus far in the series.
Persephone changes and grows so much in this book. I love it. The character development is amazing. The maturity, all of it, reflects the pain that Persephone is going through and it’s well written. In contrast with Persephone’s character development, I feel like Hades took a step back. He is super controlling and protective in this book, and while I understand why, it’s not like Persephone hides that she wants to stand on her own feet. He needs to learn to back off every once in a while.
“Grief means we loved fiercely… and if that is all anyone ever has to say about either one of us in the end, I think we lived our best life”
We learn a lot more about Demeter in this book, which is appreciated. While the things we learn expand on why Demeter is the way she is I still stand by my previous statement on her character. It doesn’t excuse anything. She puts Persephone through so much pain by the end of this book and kills countless people in her anger. While I am a big fan of snow storms personally (the Alaskan in me coming out), there was no reason to put the overworld through that just because she was pissy the fates were right.
“Fate does not make sense, that is why it is so easy to blame.”
The plot in this book thickens. So much gets tied together in this book and events start foreshadowing the last book. I love it, but man did it hurt my soul while reading. St. Clair knows how to pull the heartstrings on this one. Sybyl is a great friend. This is evidenced by a lot of things but we see her friendship with Persephone grow a lot in this book. Cerberus makes his ultimate appearance in this book and I love it. He is such a good doggo and deserves the most pets. I struggled a lot with Hades in this book. He is blinded by his need to protect Persephone at all times and it makes him act like an idiot. Being blinded by who you love can happen, but being blinded so hard by it that you end up causing more harm to them in the end, isn’t a good thing.
“I am not sure who you think I am… But let me be clear – I am Persephone, future Queen of the Underworld, Lady of Your Fate – May you come to dread my presence.”
I appreciated the mortals turning against the Gods. That has been something St. Clair has been suggesting for the first two books and I was wondering when it would come to fruition. I’m excited to see where it goes but my heart is not ready for the pain it will cause. Thesues and Helen… made a lot of choices. A lot of choices that I disagree with. I have a lot of choice names for Theseus and a few for Helen as well. I am not prepared for how this series is going to end with these two involved but I am hoping that Persephone gets the relief she deserves.
Thanks for reading!