A String of Fate in the Darkness

by Azzie Drauch

It had been three long years since Lilliana St. James vanished without a trace and Persephone had nearly resigned herself to the heart-wrenching reality that she might never see her best friend again. But, just as her last flicker of hope was about to extinguish, Lilliana was found. Not by any ordinary being, but by the one god Persephone's mother had warned her to avoid at all costs. Hades, the enigmatic God of the Dead. Determined to uncover the truth behind her best friend's disappearance, the Goddess of Spring decides to throw caution to the wind. She seeks out Hades, the one being in all the realms that may be able to help her stop other mortals from going missing. Driven by his own desires to solve the case, Hades proposes a daring plan; Persephone will go undercover as his favored mortal to lure out the culprits behind the kidnappings. But as they dive deeper into the case, the proximity between Persephone and Hades ignites a forbidden attraction. Hades, despite his stoic nature, finds himself captivated by Persephone's strength and determination. The tension between them sizzles as they navigate the dangerous waters of their new found feelings. Every moment they spend undercover bring them closer, the lines between their ruse and reality quickly blurring. But with that closeness comes a target painted on Persephone's back. Will Hades protect her from the rising threat, or will their fate unravel as the darkness threatens to consume them?

Genres: Mythology, Greek Mythology

372 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2025

Reviews

[Amara F · Rating 2 out of 5]

*I was given this book as an eArc but my review is based solely on my own thoughts and opinions*

I’m a huge fan of Greek mythology and loving that these types of books are having their moment. You have to be somewhat familiar with the Greek characters to understand, because it just jumps right in and the first couple pages already talks about minthe, hecate and Hermes, etc. There’s a lot happening in this book, I would have loved more detail. For example: the first fight scene had multiple people mentioned that I didn’t even know were there until they attacked. I wasn’t sure what was going on. It went from missing girl, talked to a group of Demi gods to a fight, I would have loved some more transitions and explanation of things. I like the vibe of the world, it’s very dark, kinda futuristic feeling in a way. Mafia vibes which is cool and different. There’s some spicy scenes, so don’t you worry! lol. It does end on a cliffhanger, just a warning.

I give it a 2.5. I think this author shows a lot of promise. I think with some tweaking, they can have something great on their hands. I don’t want the author to be discouraged by my rating, I hope my feedback is valuable and helps them along their writing and book journey. I just wanted to thank the author for having me participate and read their debut book and wish them nothing but the best!

For readers, give it a shot and read it! That’s what I love about books, one book can be a 2.5 for one person but a 5 for another!

[Macee Grisenti · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW: k!dnapping, attempted m*rder, m*rder of children, bl**d, g*re

I love a Hades and Persephone story as much as the next and this one delivers! The only unrealistic thing is that Persephone near the beginning of the whole thing is taken from her home in the middle of night and dumped into the river Styx. She is of course rescued by Hades but then it’s just not talked about ? He knows it was a weird thing for her to end up there but it doesn’t get pushed at all and I know many things happen all right at that time but it seems unrealistic that he would just forget about it or that she as a detective wouldn’t care more about figuring out what happened.

Also in this retelling there’s a battle that seems to kind of come out of nowhere. One minute they are watching then it seems like they suddenly make a choice to go to war like it was something they discussed before the second it happened. It was a little weird. However overall the story is good. It’s a very classic Hades and Persephone story.
Persephone’s magic was done well and it was cool to see it truly come out. I liked how strong Persephone is.

Tropes: Hades and Persephone retelling, touch her and d!e, hand flex, she says something is beautiful, he agrees but he’s looking at her , he is absolutely obsessed with her, shadow hands

Spice: 🌶️🌶️.5
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Sweetness: 💗💗.5

[Johanna Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this as an ARC and am so grateful for the opportunity. This is a reimagined Hades & Persephone retelling. If you like mythology and spins on mythology with modern flair, this is for you. It is part 1, so it is a cliff hanger, but it is so very good. Hades is not the bad guy, the underworld isn't terrible, the author even adds the rainbow bridge and honors pets who have gone before. That was probably my favorite part. I thought this was a really good spin on the gods/demigods/mortal tales and relationships, I like how it was brought into modern times and they all interacted, yet still sometimes hid who they were. I loved that Hades owned a bar and Hecate owned a shop. Demeter was a controlling mom who hid Persephone away (do we ever find out who her dad is?) and the gods don't seem to have such a hatred for each other, their relationships seem complicated but not as horrible as the old myths sometimes made them out to be and I liked that the author changed this aspect and made them more likeable overall. I enjoyed that Persephone pretended to be mortal and became a police officer and was a detective and really lived like the mortals with a roommate and 2 mortal best friends. The world the author created was well developed and she turned the old tale upside down and completely gave it a fresh perspective. Oh and of course if you don't know about Hades and Persephone, there is the love story aspect as well, but this also has mystery and the tension of kidnappings and the fightings of the demigods (a jealous nymph and an angry Demeter) so it isn't just the love story covered in here. The author also covers some themes of friendships. I can't wait for part 2.

[Isabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A String of Fate in the Darkness is a fun romantasy following the Greek gods as they try to uncover a mystery. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Hades and Persephone; I can see the influences from the original myth, but Drauch still gave them a fresh twist. I binged this in (almost) one sitting!

I do have to lower my rating to 4 stars, though, because there were some issues with the book itself. The pacing was off in some spots, which either made the scene feel rushed or made me confused because something important was glossed over.

Either way, I still recommend this book, and I look forward to the next one!

Thank you to the author for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Lilian Oklobia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was a beautiful read🥹❤️

[Rose Dinsmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my last read of June and I was up until the wee hours of the morning desperate to see how it ended. I basically read this book in one sitting and I can't imagine having done it a different way. I'm going to have to be careful not to let this book become my whole personality, honestly, it's that serious... I am on pins and needles for the sequel!

5 💜’s.

[Victoria Houghton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was amazing! There were some confusing parts but I learned the author had to cut some parts due to her editor. But it was an amazing read and left on a cliffhanger! It was hard to put down and I was sad to finish it. I can’t wait for the next book!

[Spades · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any Hades and Persephone book is gonna catch my attention. But is it going to hold my attention? This one sure did. From the start I liked how Hades made himself known. He was this strong character with a lot of depth. He brought so much energy to his character and made me feel excited. Persephone herself was a bit of a spitfire. She’s very good at getting herself heard. She has a lot of sass and strength. However it was a bit disappointing to see her always in the damsel role. I would’ve loved to see her fight more. But overall these characters were very strong and lovable. I can’t wait for the second book to see where it leads to!

[BookishBabes98 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give it a 2.6/5 (received as an ARC)
Starting out, I enjoyed the book. I thought the plot was interesting, and the characters easy to follow. Pretty early on, I did notice some typos that were hard to ignore and were more or less constant during the entire read (I was an ARC reader so I hope this was fixed before being published). The friend was found pretty fast, and I was curious to see where it would lead, and sure enough the investigation continued. But from that point it started falling a little flat and the further I read the less I wanted to finish the book.

The entire middle of the book I felt like the plot was lost and instead had a lot of info about the relationship between Persephone and Hades that I wished took more of a back seat to the plot. I kept waiting for something to happen or for the FMC to get taken, but it never did. When she was injured, it was only until the start of the next chapter then she was totally fine, and the time between was hard to follow. At one point I think we found out it had been 9 or so months from when they met each other, and it was confusing since it didn't seem like much time had passed.

I think the book could've been shorter since not a lot happened in the first book. There was a little bit of world building (earth, the underworld and a liiiittle of olympus), not a ton of character development, the friendships I think were understated and I would've like to see that trio a lot more and in general more of the mystery around what was happening. It felt like they had all the info they needed and nothing ever happened.
I understand that to have a story with high powered individuals, you don't want it to have a fast finish, but I find it hard to believe that Hades would've let one character live after what she did, and that they didn't end another character once they found who it was. I think there should've been more explanation on that part since it really was hard to believe.

I do think it will be interesting to see where this story goes and how it develops, and since there was a bit of building in book 1, I do believe that book 2 will be more plot driven in a way that I am excited to see.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I was gifted an eARC of this book and here's my review:)

I love the concept of this book, and overall, the vibes were good. I only had a few things that kind of bothered me with the main thing being I feel like there was more focus on Minthe's jealousy and her trying to hurt Persephone rather than what the book is about - solving kidnapping cases. It kind of felt like the kidnapping case was thrown in there sometimes, which I would've loved to see more of.

I feel like Hades and Persephone had insta love in a sense that they moved quick af between the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next. Like, I know there were things leading up to them getting together, but then the next second, it was like BAM they're kissing like they've always done that when they see each other.

There were a lot of different POVs in this book which some I didn't think were super relevant. I think Liliana's POVs could have been removed since the book didn't explore much of that aspect as much as I would've liked.

I do think there's a lot of potential for this author, though! I'm interested to see what happens in the next book after what happened at the end!

[Susan (Purplegalaxyreads94) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huge thank you to Azzie Drauch and torchlitink for the gifted eARC copy in exchange for my honest review!

When I saw that this was a Hades and Persephone retelling I immediately had to sign up for it. Greek mythology is one of my all time favorite genres and if it’s hades and Persephone focused…then I am definitely all in! This was such an interesting retelling that blended the Greek god world with the modern world. Hades owns a bar and Persephone is a cop who is trying to solve the disappearance of her dear friend. Of course with this one, hades and Persephone were insta-love but I didn’t mind it too much. I loved their moments together and seeing all the gods and goddesses being represented in this story. Hermes is also another favorite of mine especially with his sassy self so I adored seeing scenes with him in it as well. Overall this was a fun fantasy retelling that was super easy to read and get through. Some scenes may have seemed a bit out of nowhere but I still enjoyed my time reading this either way!

[Lucrezia Castello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Persephone knows that's best for her: be far away from her mother, Demeter.
To do so, she is willing to run away, with some divine help, and live among mortals.
Four years after her escape, she has built a life for herself, made friends, found a job and a purpose. The problem? The constant presence of the Olympian Gods on Earth.

To complicate matters further are the various disappearances in recent years of mortals who were too close to the gods. What better way for her than to investigate further, even at the cost of her own life?
However, standing in his way is Hades, the god of the underworld, who also wants to be involved in the investigation as he runs a small private detective agency on Earth.

But could a retelling of Hades and Persephone ever end with a happy ending?
No, because the author knows her audience and knows that drama and trauma keep us readers coming back for more🤣
I can't wait to read the sequel, because between the third part of the story and the ending, I don't know what shocked me more😱

[Ariana silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC and I’m so thankful! My opinion is my own.

This book took me by surprise. It is a Greek mythology retelling. Hades x Persephone work together to solve the case of the kidnappings of mortals. The tension is sizzling and the spice is spicing!

Hades is the perfect amount of morally grey! I love how the underworld is described and I teared up when reading the part of the rainbow bridge for dogs that have passed. It was super sweet!

This is a fast paced, easy read with a cliffhanger that left me wanting more! I can’t wait for the second book! I highly recommend!

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this as an ARC and I thoroughly enjoyed it

I’ve been an avid fan of Greek mythology for years and especially Hades and Persephone!

I really liked how much was going on in this book even though at sometimes it could feel a little busy, I feel like it worked really well!

I don’t really have any complaints, although it does leave on a cliffhanger

I hope this author continues and I can’t wait for a book 2 hopefully.

[Shawn Burt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any retelling of Persephone and Hades I am all in for it. This book is set in the modern world and has the Gods and Goddess interacting with mortals all in harmony. This book held my attention the entire time that it took me to read it. Persephone is living and working in the mortal world as a detective and Hades is in charge of the Divine Police force and works as a PI. Favorited mortals are being reported as missing all over the town. They decide to work together to solve the case and end up falling in love.

[Alice Granger · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC REVIEW
I had the chance to be chosen to Arc Read this book and I thank the author for this!
A String of Fate in the Darkness is an amazing story full of drama, action and romance.
It is a Greek mythology inspired book, but each character had their own perks and strong opinions, making them feel unique. I missed a bit of character depth when it came to Hades. I would like to have seen more from the loneliness he felt and how he was as a ruler in the Underworld before he met Persephone. This would be to match Persephone's character which had so many layers and made you root for her. It was easy to empathize with her situation and to understand her decisions. The way she wanted to control and her and make her own choices felt relatable and human. It was raw and powerful.
Hades and Persephone's relationship developed beautifully, their emotions and feelings for one another were shown clearly. However, I felt like she abandoned her friends slightly.
In the beginning we were promised with a murder mystery case, but the layers of the story (the case, the gods, her friends and her relationship) seemed to be separate stories at times. Hades and Persephone fake dated because of the case, but we don't see much solving during the book. In the beginning Persephone was a worried friend and then it's like she forgets about them. This is understandable from the point of view that she was discovering who she was and fighting for the control in her life. Still, I wished we would have had more balance in these aspects.
Plot wise, it was incredible. The twists, the characters, the action, the description. All well-written and the author had a unique voice and a talent for moody description (my favorite was Hades' palace).
Everything I pointed out didn't stop me from really enjoying the book. My biggest complain is that it ended.

[Ambre · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐ rounded up to 3

I signed up for the ARC of A String of Fate in the Darkness because I thought it was an interesting concept and I appreciate the author providing me with a review copy.

I was really intrigued by the idea of Persephone escaping her overbearing mother to go live as a mortal and work as a mortal detective and then teaming up with Hades, who runs his own Divine Detective Agency (among many other businesses), to solve a string of disappearances among the gods' and goddesses' favored mortals after he finds her best friend/Hekate's favored, who had been missing for three years. While the abductions are supposed to be the main plot line, I felt like it needed more development, to really delve into that detective/noir fiction vibe.

I'd also hoped that Persephone would be more assertive, given she's been a detective for several years. But the minute Hades comes into the picture, she's a damsel in distress. There is one memorable moment when she tangles with Hades' obsessed bar manager where she kicked some decent ass but he still swoops in to rescue her. And even though she's a goddess in her own right, she nearly dies twice. It isn't until Chapter 39 (about 90%) that she really taps into her divine power and wields it really well despite never using it before.

As a debut novel, it's off to a fairly good start. There were a couple of good twists in the book, some of which were nicely foreshadowed. The book does end on a cliffhanger, but I'm interested in seeing where this series goes!

[Johanna Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A modern twist on Hades and Persephone. I liked this book so much I’ve read it 3 times. The mystery/missing friend/ thriller portion could’ve stood on its own, but adding the Greek Pantheon to it just made it spectacular. It’s set in modern times but the humans and gods know of each other and interact, they still have their favorite mortals and demigods. Persephone is living among the mortals and working as a police detective hiding the fact that she’s a goddess, her best friend and roommate gets kidnapped and she and her other best friend are the detectives working the case. The roommate is one of Hekate’s favored mortals, favored mortals are being kidnapped across town. Hades owns a club and private investigation agency, he is also working on the case and crosses paths with Persephone when he rescues her best friend. They decide to work together to solve the case and sparks fly. This book has a trope for everyone: found family, mystery, overbearing parents, miscommunication, angst, jealous ex, should we/we shouldn’t, touch her and die, touch him and die, we will burn the world for each other…. Also in the underworld there’s a rainbow bridge for all the animals who have passed, I loved that piece so much. And who doesn’t love Cerberus?! Trust me, this book appeals to so many tropes and genres, just give it a shot.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This retelling of Hades and Persephone is set in a modern world that has mortals and Gods/Goddess interacting with each other in harmony.

Hades is the head of the Divine Police Protection and Persephone is masquerading as a mortal policewomen both are investigating the disappearance of favored mortals including one of Persephone's friends.

Both team up to find the organization involved which puts both in the crosshairs.

I liked this book as Persephone started out as an unsure and very unconfident person but grows into her power and her confidence especially when it comes to family matters with her mother. Hades is the dark and mysterious God he is portrayed in the original legends. The book does end in a way for book 2 to start from. I am so looking forward to it.

Thank you to Torch Lit and Azzie Drauch for the ARC Copy for my honest review.

[Ebony Whitehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had all my pure loves and tropes in which I absolutely did adore from the get go! I am absolutely Hades/Persephone obsessed, well actually the whole Greek mythology thing in general and I genuinely thought this might have been one of the best modern interpretations I've read in a very long time of these two. I also really loved the thriller and crime vibes on top of the modern Ancient Greece vibes, that in the end I just thought the whole concept was immaculate! The entire novel kept me on the edge of my seat while I read it and there was so many points where I just did not want to stop reading at all! Persephone is one of my very favourite characters from Greek mythology and I thought her darkness and light was shown beautifully and her power definitely does radiate off the pages for me very magically. Full easy 5 star read for me!!

[Stephanie Skiffington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this modernized retelling of Hades and Persephone. Persephone is living with mortals as a cop, hiding that she is actually a goddess. One of her good friends and roommates has been missing for 3 years. Hades saves the day and finds her! He was instantly infatuated by Persephone as soon as he met her. Their tension was high and just couldn't get away from each other. He was completely protective of her and really cared for her. I loved the mystery, found family, miscommunication, touch her & die, and jealous ex. I'm so excited for the second book!

[Isabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

The original edition is good, but I much prefer the extended edition. The pacing is much better, and the writing has improved. There are new scenes that really add to the overall book; I'm so glad the author decided to keep them in. I'm excited to see where this series goes!

Thank you to the author for my copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.