Okay. I needed a few days to process, yet again. Because I just.... I LOVE SCARLETT AND HER BOOKS.

I am glad I chose to read this before officially opening A Touch of Ruin (even though my profile says I started it before this one... we'll pretend like we don't see that.) I do think that if you, like me, want to be able to understand all the ins and outs, all the motivations, all the quirks, etc., of a character, then it's important to have all the information available. With that being said, having an entire book from Hades POV?! A+, man, A. Plus.

Without getting spoiler-y, Scarlett gave us the ability to understand Hades thoughts and emotions more in depth than what we saw in ATOD. Since ATOD came from Persephone's lens, which is very tainted by her mother, we missed some of the nuances of Hades and his actions. On top of this, we also begin to explore the going-ons of New Athens outside of Persephone's bubble, which, to be honest, is a very small bubble.

My one and only complaint was that Hades did come across very toxic boyfriend to me at times, and I do believe that is meant to be part of his story arc, so I guess I get it? It's just a bit difficult for me personally to fully love from the jump. Hence 4 out of 5 stars.

And also. HERMES. My love. My light. Thief of my heart. I need more of him. He brings so much joy to me when I read his scenes, and you get so much more of him in this than in ATOD. I am so pleased.

I do highly recommend this book overall. I don't know that I could read all of the Persephone POVs without also reading the Hades ones, especially after having now read this first installment.

Let me know your thoughts! <3