A Touch of Malice (Hades X Persephone)

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I was expecting that this book would at least answer some of the questions that ending brought about, and maybe even bring the plot forward some, properly introducing us to some of the other Greek gods and goddesses, paving the way for a proper conflict. Now, with that set-up, and keeping in mind that this is the last 10% of the book, you would expect a battle worthy of all the build-up of the series, something with action, high-stakes, and maybe a few untimely demises here and there to keep things spicy, correct? My feelings are mixed on this book, as well, and my rating is definitely sitting at about 3.5 immediately after reading it. This might change. Hades decides to bring in Hypnos, the god of sleep, to see if he can create a draught that can help Persephone sleep. After speaking with her, however, Hypnos only comes to the conclusion that Persephone needs to confront her experience if she wishes for the nightmares to go away. 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?

It was probably the fastest, most unemotional, and pointless death scene I've ever had the misfortune to read. She literally - I kid you not - drops dead because someone throws some daggers at her. And what if I miss the sun?” How bright was the sky in Revekka—what would the sun look like beaming from behind red clouds? Would I even be able to see it? “Then I will find it for you,” he replied.”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? I have waited lifetimes for you," he said as if it was an oath he was swearing upon every star in the sky, every drop of water in the ocean, every soul in the entire universe. "I know it.” I am Persephone, future Queen of the Underworld, Lady of Your Fate. May you come to dread my presence. Apology accepted,” she said, and Thanatos offered a sad smile. “It does not appear my apology has made you feel better,” Persephone said as they danced. She has a Master's degree in Library Science and Information Studies and a Bachelors in English Writing. She is obsessed with Greek Mythology, murder mysteries, and the afterlife.

Up through the first two thirds of this book I would have given this four stars. But then I started to question where the plot was going and what the plot even was. There’s definitely a storyline of public distrust and political upheaval in the story, but much of the early parts of the book read as though the only plot was for Hades and Persephone to have their union approved by Zeus. But at the same time, the story still seemed lost in the weeds and unsure of its direction. Beyond all these issues, the first 85% is pointless nonsense and cringe worthy sex scenes. I’m not sure what happened between the last book and this one but the sex scenes were just straight up grim in this, and CONSTANT. I cannot stress enough, there is NO PLOT ADVANCEMENT IN THIS BOOK UNTIL THE LAST 15%. And there was not enough character development to support the plot advancement. Oh so Persephone can now take down Zeus after approximately three magic fighting lessons? The writing quality of this book is... questionable, at best. There's a lot of telling rather than showing, which makes for an overall dull and monotonous reading experience. There's a fair amount of detail, but not too much. Other times, books are terrible, but when you read them, you get the feeling that it actually could have been much better, and that there was potential in the plot and characters that ultimately went to waste. As figured by Eclipe, finding the catalyst is easier than you’d think. All you need to do is have your entire Fireteam deposit the orbs in Oryx’s Basketball Court.To get there, they travel across Lake Lerna, where they encounter Ceto, who is engaged by Demeter. The two fight for a while before Persephone gets everyone to calm down and let them onto the shore so that they can enter the Underworld/vault. The next installment in the Hades and Persephone story from bestselling author Scarlett St. Clair. Discover the world of New Athens and the Greek gods in a series that readers are calling "hopelessly addictive."

I am almost happy because Persephone has grown so much since the last two books (in which she was very very annoying) so yes to: What happened to Helen? There was a lot of foreshadowing about her and her involvement with Triad. And then nothing? Who did she meet at the sex club? Where did she go? What was the point of her involvement with Triad? How did her involvement add anything to the plot? Someone tell me about Helen! There’s 0 character work in this book so nothing Persephone does makes sense, Hades has been reduced to a walking erection and even Hermes who was the lighthearted antidote to the others had only one remotely funny line in the whole book. Hades and Persephones relationship at this point is sex, no communication and toxic sulking. The amount of red flags in this relationship are alarming. But that doesn't change the fact that at least THINGS HAPPENED in both of those books, even if the two were horny basically 24/7. This book and a little something I appreciate called "plot" don't mix whatsoever.

I loved the side characters like always and thought they were really interesting in here but characters like Lexa, In my opinion started to become more one dimensional again which made me a bit sad since I expected her to be very important by the ending of the second book. She was a wARRIOR IN CHARGE OF PROTECTING PERSEPHONE??? SHE'S LITERALLY HANDLED WORSE BEFORE??? IN WHAT UNIVERSE COULD SHE JUST DROP DEAD??? NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT SHE'S A PRETTY IMPORTANT CHARACTER AND PROBABLY DESERVED BETTER??? Unlike many catalysts that are purely RNG-based and could take hours to farm, Touch of Malice’s catalyst is straightforward. It isn’t “easy” to acquire, as King’s Fall is still a long 6-man endgame activity, but if you put in the effort, you should eventually be able to acquire it. Given how good the King’s Fall weapons appear to be, this catalyst seems to be worthy of your time and effort. She beats the absolute shit out of Harmonia (Aphrodite's sister) and steals her horns and just glosses over it. You can only get Touch of Malice through the King's Fall raid, but the good news is that the raid is free to all players. Just like most other raid exotic weapons, this scout rifle only drops from the final encounter with Oryx, and even then, the chance that you'll actually get it is relatively slim.

this installment is just as entertaining and steamy as the previous books, but man. i hate how hades’ character is being portrayed. It didn't really matter to me if the conflict was even resolved in this book, just as long as we got some answers. We forgot all about Helen? All this build up of what is Helen doing and what is going on, who is she meeting at the sex club? No follow up on that at all. The Touch of Malice has remained mostly unchanged from the original in both function and gameplay dynamic. However, with increased access to healing and damage resistance by all classes, users will typically be able to take advantage of the intrinsic perk (merged with Touch of Mercy) for longer than in Destiny 1, and can do so without staying in place if necessary. Unfortunately for us, character development takes even less precedence in this book than the plot does, which is well and truly saying something. While I used to find Persephone whiney and downright exasperating, I'm glad to say that I no longer hold those types of feelings for her.sex, sex, and too much sex. I can’t believe I am complaining about this, but it seems there are limits to how much is too much. This book could have cut the sexy scenes down by half and it would have added way more meaning to the other half of the sexy scenes. We get it. They’re trash for each other. EVEN IF ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, AND I MEAN LITERALLY NOTHING, HAPPENED DURING THE FIRST 90% OF THIS BOOK, BECAUSE IT'S NOT LIKE ANYTHING DID, AT THE VERY LEAST, SHOULDN'T THE BATTLE OF THE GODS THAT TAKES PLACE DURING THE LAST 10% OF THE BOOK BE WORTH ALL OF THE SENSATIONALIZATION OF THE PREVIOUS BOOKS AS WELL AS THE DIALOGUES OF CHARACTERS IN THIS BOOK? SHOULDN'T THE PLOT HOLD AT LEAST SOME VALUE??? See, right after Zeus gives Hades and Persephone permission to marry, they do. There was a prophecy that their union would produce a god stronger than Zeus. All of the characters immediately thought that this entailed Persephone and Hades having a child, even though it was stated earlier that he had bargained the ability to have children away with the Fates. All of the characters also conveniently forgot something else that was stated earlier: that a marriage between gods entailed that some of their power would be shared with the other. When I behold the interiority of these cold, cold fragments, I see blind, squirming creatures. Every wound they give, they feel also upon themselves. Every bite they tear from the Light only deepens, never fills, the raging emptiness behind their terrible mouths. SPEAKING OF WHICH. I'm not sure about you, but I don't really mind smut scenes in books. Yeah, sure, they pop up from time to time in adult books, but as long as they don't interfere with the FORKING PLOT, I'm good.