![]() 3.5/5 So I finished A Touch of Ruin, and I think my feelings can best be summed up by me speaking directly to my latest fixation and telling him my dearest wish: Hades, please step on me. But because I’m nothing if not thorough, I’m still going to write a whole review. You’re welcome. Even though this book didn’t really have much in the way of plot, it’s still a rollercoaster. By not having plot, I don’t mean that nothing happens but more that the characters don’t really have a main goal or overarching problem that they’re trying to solve (unless chronic dumbassery counts). I still found the book exciting and engaging because there is a lot going on, particularly in the last half. I think it was a good second-book for a trilogy because we’ve learned a lot more about the characters and the world, though it probably could have used a more clear direction in terms of this book’s specific story. Now I obviously love Hades, for a lot of reasons. 1.) Hello smut. 2.) He’s unintentionally hilarious, Mr. I Had No Idea You’d Want to Spend Time With Me. 3.) The hair. 4.) He’s literally the only smart character, even when he’s being a moron. Considering this book had So Much Doing It, there was disappointingly little of Hades. Persephone spent a lot of time giving him the silent treatment because she disagreed with him, which was unfortunate because he’s probably the most interesting character. Which leads me to Persephone, the sole reason I took away any stars from this novel. I could write an entire book about all of the annoying and illogical things she does, but for all of our sakes, I’m going to focus on four. Persephone spends the entire book worrying about dumb shit. Her biggest issue? Whether or not Hades has slept with other people. In case you’ve forgotten, Hades has quite literally been alive forever. Now, that would be justifiably intimidating, but it’s not really what Persephone is concerned about. She spends the whole book getting pissed or worrying about whether or not Hades has ever had a girlfriend. In his entire life. My guy, give him a break, he’s literally been alive for all of history. He’s not Edward Cullen, obviously he got busy at some point. She’s also very concerned about living like a mortal. Unless that’s inconvenient for her, then she wants to be a goddess. She’s upset about her magic being weak, or that her 21 year old self is not as adept as the literal goddess of witchcraft. Kay. She wants to have all of the benefits of being Divine without any of the inconveniences or responsibility. Early on in the book Apollo does her friend Sybil pretty dirty. Persephone thinks that if she writes a lil exposé, it will solve everything. Now, Sybil herself has asked Persephone not to, as has Hades. They’ve both given her a lot of very sensible reasons why writing about Apollo would backfire not only on Persephone, but on Sybil as well. In a drunken moment of clarity, Persephone writes the article and surprise, surprise, it goes terribly. This is one of many moments where Persephone seems to think that she knows better than everyone else and bulldozes her way through everyone else’s life. Later, Apollo becomes one of the more interesting characters in the book and Persephone (as well as everyone else) seems to think that hanging out with her will make him a better person. Personally, I think Persephone is the most selfish, thoughtless MC’s around so this plan does not seem very sound. Another big concern of Persephone’s is Hades' communication skills. In fairness, he doesn’t always offer the clearest explanations but when called out he apologizes, attempts to understand her perspective, promises to do better and DOES do better. Which is pretty freaking patient, considering a lot of the information Persephone thinks she should have been told IMMEDIATELY had absolutely nothing to do with her. The guy has lived forever, if she wants to know about every conversation or decision he’s ever made, it’s going to take awhile. In contrast, Persephone keeps crucial information from him such as the dangerous development of her powers from Hades because “it has nothing to do with him, it’s probably nothing.” But she thinks that telling her everything he’s ever done in his entire ancient life should be at the top of his priority list? Bruh. And finally, Persephone’s whole job is a bit of a mystery. She’s supposedly a first year intern but she’s doing the job of a full investigative reporter. She gets to order around other interns, and when tasked with menial work like editing (which would actually be a pretty big deal for a real intern to be given that task, I would think) or fact-checking, she’s upset. In fairness, Demetri was a little shady with the whole editorial about Persephone’s love-life. However, the real drama in that work relationship came after Persephone received pretty intense backlash about her Apollo article. Demetri gives her legitimate criticism, feedback, and advice, but because it’s not what Persephone wants to hear, she calls him a coward and accuses him of sabotaging her. I will admit, Persephone got less annoying in the second half of the book when she had to deal with the fact that she was pretty much making horrible decisions that negatively impacted everyone around her. I think most of the conflict could have been easily avoided if she had been less of a narcissistic moron, but such is life. When she actually listens to the people around her, she’s a character that I actually want to root for. I’m hoping that A Touch of Malice has Persephone working with her loved ones instead of against them. Despite, old Sephy needing a nice slap to the face (for her health), I enjoyed this read a lot and have already started A Touch of Malice. Hopefully everyone will be able to find more than 1 brain cell to split between them.
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