This was a good second book. It built upon book 1, which is good considering book 1 felt exactly like A Touch of Darkness, just from a different POV. I liked that we got a lot more of Hades on his own. It felt like a lot was happening, but seemingly nothing seemed to happen. But I was happy to turn the pages and read until the very end because Scarlett St. Clair's writing flows well and pulls the reader in.

Thought this series I’ve been alternating between Persephone’s and Hade’s points of views and I just LOVE Hade’s books soooooo much! I think it’s just knowing his thoughts during the moments that I wish I could know his thoughts when reading Persephone’s version!

This book was no different! While I gave A Touch of Ruin four stars, A Game of Retribution was a full five stars from me! I love how Hade’s thinks and they way he views things and makes the decisions he does. I also listen to the audiobooks for these typically and a good male audiobook narrator is hard to find and the narrator here is phenomenal!

If you’ve been reading this series but haven’t checked out Hade’s perspective YOU NEED TO IMMEDIATELY! I thought I’d get bored reading about the same big events I already read about from Persephone’s point of view but I didn’t at all! I was honestly more invested than I was when reading Persephone’s!

If you haven’t even started this series you definitely need to especially if your a sucker for Greek retellings like I am!

Not many authors can pull off telling the same story through a different POV well. St. Clair manages to do this by making the story seem fresh. She shows us that there was so much going on in the background of the original series that Persephone, and therefore readers, was unaware of. All of our questions about Hades are answered.

Ohhhh what a great book. A story for the Gods about the Gods. Hades is in love. The Goddess he loves is sweet and gentle and has not come into Her powers. What happens when outsiders attempt to keep them apart?

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with this ARC and ARC audiobook.


Description from NetGalley:
Hades, God of the Dead, does not take sides or bend the rules. He makes no exceptions to these values—not for god or mortal, even his lover, Persephone, Goddess of Spring.

Usually, fear prevents retaliation.

But not this time.

When Hera, Goddess of Women, approaches Hades with a plan to overthrow Zeus, he declines to offer help. As punishment, Hera sentences Hades to perform a series of labors. Each feat seems more impossible than the last and draws his attention away from Persephone—whose own tragedy has left her questioning whether she can be Queen of the Underworld.

Can Hades maintain the balance he craves?

I really liked the Persephone books that go with these Hades Saga books. It’s interesting to get Hades’s point of view because he was doing so much that we didn’t see since we were following Persephone. It also shows off Hades changing due to Persephone’s influence and also his realm and businesses. It’s definitely a good other side to the story. If you liked the Persephone books by Scarlett St. Clair then definitely check out the Hades Saga, both the first one and this one. The narrator for the audiobook was great.
Overall: 4/5

Like any myth-obsessed kid, my adult self can’t resist mythology based stories. And Hades and Persephone are a favorite.
For me, these stories are very hit or miss, and unfortunately I’ll have to pass on this one. It’s still a fun reimagining of the chaotic lives of the Greek gods.

This book had me dying. In Persephones pov she’s all sad and torn and then here’s hades going on adventures just trying to keep up.

As I’ve said before I really enjoy hades pov as there’s more the plot shown and more foreshadowing for what’s to come in later books.

I was happy to see more of their relationship and how hades loves her rather than the just the physical aspects in previous books.

Now to wait til next year to find out what happens I guess.

As a classicist, I am a big fan of Greek myth retellings, and I am happy for every chance I get to read them. (See my reviews on Ariadne by Jennifer Saint, Great Goddesses by Nikita Gill,

With this series you get both sides of the story. I know, because I have read the hades/Persephone books side by side, and though that are different they are still the same, and they match up perfectly. This is a very interesting series because there are books for both sides of the story. Persephone's books are the "A Touch of..." titles, while Hades's books are the "A Game of..." titles. It is an interesting way to present dual perspectives, and more in-depth than switching back and forth each chapter.

There are scenes between the two which are cute, because they are the same story, told slightly different from their perspectives. But each having their own book allows for a lot more depth to the story, scenes that reveal character arcs, and shows what the other does in their own life.

To be honest I think Persephones perspectives have more of the spark that made me love the series, but hearing Hades’ side paints the whole picture Much clearer, and shows the ups and downs of effort and compromise in relationships. It’s sometimes easy to forget that everyone has their own struggles and are fighting their own hard battles inside. But, by seeing this relationship from both perspectives like this, we as readers can better understand the motives and reasoning behind each persons actions, and helps to remind us that we are all just trying our best with what we are given. Give the grace that you wish to be given.

A Game of Retribution is the next book in the Hades Saga and definitely the best one out of all the books so far.

I loved diving back into Hades POV and in my honest opinion, I enjoy his books much better than Persephone’s. In these books you can see the behind the scenes of what’s going on and it makes Hades seem like a much nicer guy. I honestly don’t like Persephone very much and the way she acts angers me. She acts like a teenager and is constantly arguing with everyone 24/7. Her charters annoys me to the brink and the only reason I keep reading this series is because my man Hades is hot af.

I loved his perspective throughout the book and loved how we saw him dealing with his responsibilities and feelings and I continue to root for him!

Thank you Netgalley and RB media for this arc!

This was given to me as a free arc through NetGalley.

I love this series and Scarlett as an author and really enjoyed this continuation of the series from Hades’ point of view. It has been a while since I had read the last book, so this was a nice refresher on the events of the last book, and a peek into what else Hades is up to.

3.5 stars. This was a fun read, but I really wish I had read the first book in series before. There was definitely an interesting storyline, but there were several moments in the story where I lost interest and had to stop reading. Luckily, when I picked up the book again, it was able to reel me back into the story and hold more of my interest! I do have to say, Persephone drove me freaking nuts for some reason!! There was just something about her character that just really, REALLY irked me. I can't put my finger on it, but she made me mad on one too many occasions.

I liked Hades though, and there were some awesome side characters that made me laugh and I eagerly awaited their next appearance in the story! And lets not forget the steam, there was some good spicy moments!

The book ended on an interesting note, and now I am actually very curious to read the next book to see how everything ends up!

Ah, I got 40% into this and then realized I DNF'd the first book in this series, and now I'm remembering why.
Hades is a controlling ass and Persephone is like the shell of a character. I LOVE Hades/Persephone retellings, this shit is my life source, but when it's done wrong it just makes me so sad. This is an example of one that makes me sad. Even the sex scenes fell flat, I was ultimately disappointed.

Acabé con este librito: honestamente siento q es un complemento perfecto al segundo del pov de persephone. Hay “espacios”en blanco que porfin se ñuede ver exactamente lo que pasa. Aunque sabía lo que iba a pasar en la trama igual sentía que había nueva info y fue 🙌🙌🙌

Thank you for allowing me to read this ahead of publication! What a gateway drug. First, I did not realize that this was a sequel in a series. Second, I did not realize this was second in a series told from Hades perspective. (This is common for me...) I was just so excited to read this that I dove right in. It took me a few chapters to realize I was definitely missing something so I backtracked and backtracked some more...several books later, I finally got to finish this!

Though I can say the meat of the series (Hades x Persephone) is where the good books are, I did have fun reading Hades side and learning where some of the side characters came from. I just prefer Persephone's side more (Sorry, I know we're not supposed to choose sides). I am very anxiously awaiting that conclusion but probably won't pick up Hades side if there's another one coming. I will however seek out other of St. Clairs work. Very well written, well thought out and every character has some depth. The world is so interesting! I love Greek mythology and loved how much she tied in myths and characters and modernized most of them.

When I first read ACOTR, before I read the sequel, I had felt that it would be like a Hades x Persephone story. I forgot how much I wanted to read something like that until I picked up this series. Everything I wanted and more! The drama is short-lived and resolved quickly between the two - their relationship develops quickly but is extremely believable (some romances I read are very shallow - it's hard to know what the person sees in the other).
I am also a big fan of Lore Olympus (which I suspect has made the Hades and Persephone story become hot at the moment), so my image of Hades and Persephone took a while to form in my mind since St Clair's vision was obviously different. It was fun to read a different type of love story - done well. There's action, romance, partying, galas, you name it!

Hades is back! Coloured in a blue cover the king of the dead comes back with a striking force. Thank you, Scarlett St.Clair and Bloom Books for providing me with an ARC.

While I enjoy reading the story of Persephone, Hades’ POV strikes just differently. In ATOR Persephone learned more about the struggles of a relationship and in addition to their time apart, we grieved a lot. AGOR is less about her grief, but more about how Hades tries to secure a future with her and tries to protect her leading him only to make mistakes because of his almost compulsive trait.

St.Clair has a remarkable talent for writing the same scenes from different POVs. Although, there are some recurrent scenes from ATOR reading it in the POV of Hades feels like reading a new scene. Different unseen aspects play a role now and reactions and acts can be understood better.

Both (Hades and Persephone) have their own problems and struggles and fail to see their faults, which we can read about in ATOR and AGOR. But thank the gods, we have our amazing heroes Hecate and Hermes, who shove the ugly truth in their faces. Those two make every interaction more interesting, Hermes being the little funny brother and Hecate being the older wiser sister. The interactions between Hermes and Hades (or Hermes and anyone at that point) make me laugh out loud and those between Hecate and Hades make me giggle like a kid.

We can say with certainty, that the “a touch of” book series is more focused on the world of the mortals and showing compassion towards them, the “a game of” book series though, is more focused on the underworld and the gods (from the Olymp). We get to see more encounters with other gods and it’s brusquer here in general.

In comparison with ATOR, where we are confronted with grieving and losing someone, in AGOR we see how the fear of losing someone can make you do things, that chase them away even farther. While I grieved in ATOR alongside Persephone I weep in AGOR for Hades, a little boy afraid to be never worthy of someone’s love. Every conflict and dispute between them makes him sadder and leaves him desperate and longing for the love of his life.

It’s incredible how many different aspects St.Clair brings into this book series. She shows how deep her perception of human nature is, showing at the same time, that even gods aren’t above fate itself. Scarlett’s writing style is unique and ensures a magical reading experience. If you want to learn more about the gods, then read A GAME OF RETRIBUTION yourself!

"Get wet, Daddy Death."
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I will forever shove this series down anyones throat...especially Hades POV. Not enough people read his books and they need to! We get to meet new and amazing characters, see the sides of our favorite characters that we don't see with Sephy's POV. Trust me, when you get to the castration, the glitter, or the topiaries, you'll understand. AND...and everything Hades has to go through?? Fucking fates...he was busy.
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Get A Game of Retribution everywhere books are sold, trust me, you want this book! The spice, the banter, Sephy, Hermes, Hecate, Ariadne, Dionysus, and so much more just make this...ugh, so freaking good!!!!

I don’t usually read single male POV’s but it’s so interesting to read Hades Saga as we get to see so many things from Hades POV that we don’t know happens when reading Hades x Persephone. This can be read opposite A Touch of Ruin. I Ioved getting back into Scarlett’s world and learning new things about the gods and seeing another side in H&P’s relationship, I really think Hermes & Hecate are the most amazing relationship guru’s for the two of them. Excited to read the next book in the series!

I’m pretty sure my family and friends are looking to find help for me. I am completely and irrevocably in love with this fictional man, erm god! lol I’ve talked about Hades nonstop to pretty much anyone who will listen. Scarlett St. Claire and this cast of characters have me completely bewitched!

<b>Here’s what I love:</b>
Hades is hands down one of my favorite characters of all books I’ve read this year
He oozes sex appeal and the devotion he exhibits is second to known
Aside from the steamy sexy fun of this brilliant series, I’m completely intrigued by the rich world this author has created.
The characters, the plot, seeing the experiences through Hades’ lens, it just plain old works!

Simply put — I loved it and I want more!

I need a minute to figure out how this was both better and worse than the first book ...

Guess I'll start with the better.

This remains a quick and smooth read. It's far from the best thing I've ever read but as a detox read, it is truly peak entertainment. It's relatively easy to follow and very easy to get invested in.

There was much more of a rounded plot this time. Hades is still thinking way too much about sex, but he's at least got some purpose outside of his dick. The mystery and political machinations that were teased in the first book are dug into a lot more here. Hades is trying to figure out who is pulling the strings of who, and what it will mean for gods in the end. We get to see more of the world, and we meet some more gods and mythical creatures. Unfortunately they are just tastes, and I really wanted so much more of characters like Dionysus and Ariadne. And as before, Hecate and Hermes shine!

Now for the worse.

Everything really comes down to how awful Persephone is as a character. Girl, you are 23 and left the house for the first time like two years ago—get over yourself. She causes so many problems by being downright annoying and naive. And I realize that this book, being from Hades POV, is forced to fit within the confines of her story, but I get absolutely nothing from Persephone to make any of her actions work. Every event that happens, like her friend being in a car accident or a kidnapping, comes out of the blue and feels so shoe-horned in, making her look like an absolute dumbass.

I also struggle with their relationship. As much as they like to regularly state otherwise, Hades and Persephone really have nothing going on other than sex (which continues to be written as the same three poor quality scenes repeated over and over). Neither knows the other and they fight about stupid things because neither can communicate or make an effort to be a partner outside of the bedroom. And Hades, my dude. You proposed marriage four times and three of them were mid f*ck. I'd turn you down too.

I really shouldn't, but I am eagerly awaiting the third book. I'm invested now, and I will see this through to the end.

Always a delight in approaching a story you know and love from a different point of view! Hades and Persephone struggle to maintain and grow their relationship despite trouble seeming to close in from all sides. Another excellent installment in this stellar series!