A Christmas of Chaos

Hades x Persephone Reading Order #7.5

by Scarlett St. Clair

From #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Scarlett St. Clair comes a holiday surprise set in the world of Hades and Persephone.

The halls are decked.

The souls are caroling.

And Hecate, Goddess of Witchcraft, is warding the Underworld against a Kallikantzaroi invasion. For years, she’s kept the menacing gremlins at bay. But this year, Hermes makes a mistake that could ruin Christmas for everyone in New Greece.

Now, as Hades and Persephone prepare to celebrate Yuletide, the Underworld descends into chaos. Can the gods restore order before it’s too late—or will their holiday be destroyed?

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Christmas, Mythology, Greek Mythology, Dark Romance, Holiday

178 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 23, 2025

About the author

International and USA Today Best Selling author Scarlett St. Clair is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and the author of the HADES X PERSEPHONE SAGA, the HADES SAGA, KING OF BATTLE & BLOOD, and WHEN STARS COME OUT.

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.

If you are obsessed with these things, then you'll like her books. You can find pictures of her adorable dog Adelaide on her Instagram at @authorscarlettstclair.

Reviews

[౨ৎ˖ ࣪⊹ hanah ౨ৎ˖ ࣪⊹ · Rating 5 out of 5]

₊⊹⁀➴ 5 stars
my christmas read for this year! ive missed this universe since last time ive been in this universe was last year. very heartwarming and christmassy!

[Kayla Dempsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this world so much, I can read 10 more books with these characters. This was such a perfect read for the Christmas season! I could picture all the beautiful trees that Persephone decorated and it gave Christmas without it being overly Christmas if that makes sense, which to me is perfect because sometimes I don’t want too much Christmas in a book that takes place during Christmas. I laughed out loud so many times during this book and I just miss how much the characters in this world feel like home. Like it truly felt like coming home for the holidays and I adored it, no notes!

[darshini 🖤 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Christmas of Chaos was a genuinely fun return to this world, and I really enjoyed getting to see where the characters ended up after the series finale. That sense of closure and check in with everyone was the strongest part for me, and it was a nice, warm, festive epilogue.

That said, the way the gods were portrayed pulled me out of the story at times. They felt a little too humanized for my taste. I could not quite buy Dionysus leading a mortal choir or Ares baking cookies in the Underworld kitchen. Those moments were amusing, but they pushed the gods so far out of character that it broke the immersion for me.

Overall, I still had a great time reading this and appreciated the chance to revisit characters I already cared about. Even with a few moments that felt off, it was a cozy, chaotic holiday add on that fans of the series will likely enjoy.

[Daisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

this lowkey might be my favorite book in this entire series and its literally just a christmas novella 😭

[Sophie Ives · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh I had missed this world so much!

It truly is a testament to Scarlett St. Clair’s writing that even months after reading the ToD series, I could be completely sucked back in and know exactly where I am and I what I can expect.

It was cosy, lovely, and I loved how she made Christmas make sense for a series set/themed around Greek Mythology. Hermes and Hecate, as always, were stand out and just perfect.

There was so much relationship progression and it sets up any new books to come really well. I’m so excited for the next instalment - whenever that will be! - but I know I’ll be the happiest clam when it does.

[Za · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are you well? IYKYK!!!! This was like watching my favorite show, holiday edition.

This was such a holiday treat!

[Miruna-Gabriela Flipache · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot say that I didn’t miss the characters, that would definitely be a lie. The problem stands in the fact that it was a little bit too rushed. Maybe a few more chapters would have been better to help me understand more about Persephone and her children. Or, who knows, maybe the author will surprise us with another book about their fate. Anyway, this book convinced me to read the ones from Hades’ perspective, which is something I’ve been up to for an entire year. :)

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

It brought me so much joy to return to The Underworld and New Athens! I love how Scarlett St. Clair dives into Greek mythology and was able to create a Christmas book based off her research and include icons like Circe. It was so gratifying to jump back into this story after the conclusion of the series and see how all my favorite characters get closure.

[RJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look. If Scarlett St.Clair doesn’t have a single fan, then I have been deceased. I love this series, it is near and dear to my heart and I’m sad it’s over (like officially) but I am happy with its end. This novella helped with some closure for after the battle and we got more insight into the gods and their POVs which was fun! The cute little Christmas traditions, the show of gore and nightmares and fears, along with growth was good. Braaaavoooo

[Shelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved returning to two of my fave characters in Hecate and Hermes!! The introduction of Circe was a fun addition. And for being so short, the fact we got multiple spicy scenes that weren't just HxP going at it, niiice.

[Hope Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually 3.5 stars! Very cute Christmas novella that transported me back into a world I love! Only reason for lower rating is I just wanted MORE! More of the characters and the world I love! More Aphrodite and Hephaestus to hold me over for their upcoming book!

[Kristina Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my absolute favorite book series, and I jumped on this novella IMMEDIATELY once I stumbled across it. I love everything about this world, and this touching and humorous Christmas story was no different!

[mara - hyrulevalkyrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Merry Christmas everyone 🥰🎄🎅🏼

[Milica Morrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s cute, but really I’m still mad about the pregnancy trope

[ampère 🫐 · Rating 3 out of 5]

well chaotic as its titled 😂 a lovely, fun novella for Xmas

[Michele Dechert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun little novella featuring characters I have loved throughout the series. I couldn't help but laugh at the trouble Hermes got himself into, and I continue to love how motherly Hecate is to Persephone. Their relationship is adorable. I hope we get to revisit the world of New Greece in the future.

[Sierraaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

returning to this world made me so happy🥺💕

[Myriame · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

[Mery · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF..

All in all, I genuinely enjoy the Hades x Persephone Saga, but this book unfortunately missed the mark for me. It felt as though it was desperately trying to create a festive or emotional atmosphere that simply wasn’t there, which made the reading experience feel forced rather than immersive. To put it in Gen Z terms: it read like a chaotic Y/N x CEO Christmas special, except the Gremlins somehow ended up being more powerful than literal gods.

I really tried to push through and finish the book (especially because I usually love Scarlet’s work) but I physically couldn’t bring myself to do it. That alone says a lot.

There were moments I genuinely enjoyed, such as Hermes forgetting to burn the shoes and accidentally causing a huge mess. However, instead of allowing him the agency to fix his mistake, his powers were taken away almost immediately and he was unceremoniously dropped off at Circe’s. He wasn’t even given the chance to deal with the mess. Just straight up „no you cannot clean with your power now off with you fool“

I do want to acknowledge that this book was self-published by Scarlet, and I’ve heard that it may not have been fully finished at the time of release. Because of that, I don’t want to be overly harsh. Still, despite my appreciation for the author and the series as a whole, this was a DNF for me and not something I plan on picking up again anytime soon.

[SaucceyySarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sweet ending to a major series to me. I very much enjoyed this one

[Alessia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t expect to receive a Novella but I AM NOT COMPLAINING!! This was the PERFECT Christmas gift🎄🌲🎁
Now I almost forgot how much I missed Hecate, Hades and Persephone trio. I have nothing to say about this book but praise🌷🖤

And am I the only one that feels a bit bad about Hermes? Like that man needs a BIG BIG HUG🤗 Even tho he messed up, he’s still a sweetheart and I will always be a Hermes girl. Don’t get me wrong, Hades is everything a girl wants and more but Hermes is like a big adorable teddy bear😍🧸

Anyways, the novella was AMAZING and my favourite part was Hades and Dionysus little talk while waiting for Hecate to free them😝😂

And not to forget about Melinoë and Zagreus🥰😍
This little duo is going to give headaches to the whole Underworld.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was also wondering why the Greek gods celebrate Christmas and that was literally her first comment in the authors note LOL, still think it would’ve been better if it was just the winter solstice with the same traditions and symbols as Christmas but not referencing Christmas. I missed this world and I can’t wait to visit again in future books.

[think for yourself · Rating 5 out of 5]

Я люблю цю серію всім серцем і досі щиро не розумію хейту в її бік. Персефона майже 20 років росла в абсолютно тепличних умовах — і коли люди дивуються її наївності, емоційності чи різким реакціям, у мене виникає лише одне питання: а ви взагалі читали уважно?

Я перечитувала перші дві книги — і не тоді, і зараз я не знайшла в Персефоні нічого такого, що мало б мене бісити. Навпаки, її характер, її здатність мотати нерви всім навколо — хіба це не робить її живою й унікальною? Вона не ідеальна, і саме в цьому її сила.

«Занадто багато інтиму» — серйозно? У першій книзі перша сексуальна сцена з’являється десь на 70%, без детальних описів, буквально на одну сторінку. Це тепер вважається перебором? До того ж герої — боги. У них, цілком логічно, може бути підвищене лібідо й зовсім інші уявлення про близькість і бажання. Можливо, їм просто так ок. А може, це просто заздрість — бо Аїд так довго чекав і так щиро кохав свою Персефону 😅

Ця різдвяна історія не стала винятком — я люблю її так само сильно. Хоча, якщо чесно, серію про Золоту полонянку я не люблю взагалі, тож тут у мене з хейтерами Аїда та Персефони рахунок 1:1 🤣🤣🤣

Новелла вийшла неймовірно комфортною. І, чесно кажучи, це навіть не зовсім новелла — історія досить об’ємна, приблизно половина стандартної книжки. Мені дуже сподобалося спостерігати, як Аїд і Персефона нарешті стають батьками. Це їхня заповітна мрія, яка здійснюється в цій частині, і це відчувається дуже щиро.

За деякі сюжетні повороти я навіть готова сказати, що пробачила авторку. Цю книгу було справді приємно читати. Вона вийшла казковою, теплою, затишною. Тут ми знову бачимо всі попередні пари, знайомимося з новими, всі ключові персонажі на своїх місцях. Деякі герої отримують шанс на покаяння й зміну — і, що важливо, це не виглядає фальшиво.

Окремо не можу не згадати сцену пологів: Аїд поруч із Персефоною, його хвилювання, народження двійнят — це дуже ніжно й зворушливо. Саме за такі моменти я й люблю цю серію.

Мені також щиро подобається, як Клер працює з міфами: як вона їх переосмислює, вплітає у власний сюжет і надає їм нового життя. Це одна з найсильніших сторін серії.

Єдине, що мене трохи дратує — це історія Гефеста й Афродіти. Вона надто сильно розтягнута: авторка постійно обіцяє її розвиток, але знову і знову відкладає. Дуже хочеться вже побачити цю лінію повноцінно.

Підсумок: чудова, тепла, дуже комфортна історія, до якої хочеться повертатися.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve missed this world! This was the perfect holiday novella for this series. While everyone is preparing for the holidays, Hades and Persephone are preparing for the birth of their twins. They are set to arrive any day now and in the meantime, Persephone is determined to make it a perfect holiday season in the Underworld. But while Hecate is warding the Underworld against the Kallikantzaroi, well, Hermes happens. And you know what that means. The gremlins are on the loose in New Greece and in the Underworld and everyone is scrambling to get rid of them before they destroy Christmas. But can they do it? Loved this story! We get to not only catch up with Hades and Persephone but others as well! We get a nice Ariadne and Dionysus update as well as other characters and what is going on with them at the moment. It was a perfect story to catch up with our favorite characters during a magical time of year. And of course the bit of chaos that always seems to find the gods. Loved this story and it made me excited for the day when we finally get the spinoffs we were promised! Hopefully the wait won’t be too long now!

[LitAndLustful · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scarlett St. Clair lovers have been waiting for this one!

A Christmas time novella.

I myself am not usually a Christmas themed reader, but I will however devour anything Scarlett St Clair writes.

This was a very cute way to revisit her characters from her Greek mythology series, and to maybe be prepared for more books soon...?

Hades and Persphone are awaiting the twins birth, and Persephone is using Christmas and the soul ascension to help with that anxiety.

Ariadne and Dionysus definitely take the cake in this one and you see their relationship progress.

You get a little bit of Aphrodite and Hephaestus. Knowing that their story is up next for a full book is leaving me impatient and giddy.

You also get a bittersweet Apollo story as well.

We meet Circe in this one, and I'm very excited to see where her story goes.

Hermes , as always, is kind of the glue and hilarity of the whole story.

Basically evil Christmas gremlins make for a fun chaotic time and we get to see a lot of points of views in the after math of the war.

As always well done Scarlett St Clair

[Jackie Borcky · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a die-hard Scarlett St. Clair fan, the second I saw on Instagram that A Christmas of Chaos was coming out, I knew I had to read it. Then—Christmas miracle—my lovely sister got me a Kindle, so there was officially nothing stopping me.

Did I read the entire book on Christmas Day?
Yes.
Do I regret it?
Absolutely not.

This book was such a cute and chaotic addition to the Hades and Persephone series. You don’t just get more of their relationship (which I loved), but also time with other characters, which made the world feel even richer. The new creatures introduced were so fun and interesting—I genuinely loved every addition.

It was such an entertaining, cozy read that I honestly didn’t put it down once. One sitting. No breaks. No shame.

Overall, just like always with Scarlett St. Clair, this book is a 10/10, five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. It’s the perfect fun Christmas read to get you into the holiday spirit.

Merry Christmas! If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my room reading Terror at the Gates 🎄📖

[Beth (bethsbookshelfx) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘈 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺.”
———————————————————————
This novella was everything I needed and more and was a wonderful way to kick off my reading year.

Seeing Hades and Persephone getting ready for parenthood was special. Just thinking of the growth both of these characters have had is beautiful to see. It’s good to know Hades also struggled putting a cot together I don’t feel so bad now when I had 12 mental breakdowns putting my sons together before he was born.

We saw a more in depth look into Dionysus and Ariadne’s relationship, I adored them both in chaos. Dionysus and acamus are the cutest, seeing him in uncle mode was amazing.

I’ll take any excuse to go back to this world and thank Scarlett every time she takes us back!
———————————————————————
“𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦.”

[Shiane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a cute little novella.
It takes place where Persephone is pregnant with twins. She's 9 months pregnant. She can't sleep much and Hades won't have sex with her since she gets nightmares every time they do.
There are these little creatures that are causing chaos right before Christmas and Hermes is to blame. He was supposed to burn old shoes and he ended up falling asleep.
So Hecate punishes him and sends him to Circes island where he has to dig up Pig Jaws. But it was a punishment. He had to show her was sorry for what he done. And eventually he did that and Hecate gave him his power back and they went back to the Underworld.
Once there on Christmas Day, they learned the creatures were all hiding in the big tree. Oh and Dionysus proposes to Ariadne. 💙 And Persephone gives birth to her two babies on Christmas day.💙

[Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean...

-Persephone finally gave life to the underworld...
-All those years of Hades creating a perfect playground for those children of the Underworld and now he gets a chance to be a dad for reals?!? 🥹
-Fuckin' Hermes. Releasing those... I thought they resembled Gremlins in behavior when you feed them after midnight (I'm sure my plebeian behind just doesn't know the story behind their name/design. Forgive me🙏 ).
*His joke about "Hecate, your idea of a good time involves standing in the middle of the road" had me cackling... get it? Because OG myth Hecate is known for standing at crossroads? Maybe I'm not so plebeian afterall?
-Seeing Dionysus going dad mode made this 4.5. Don't get me started on his proposal to Ariadne. Now they deserve their own epilogue with a sibling for their nephew 🥰

Yeah, yeah, I read this out of season. But fuck it? It's Hades and Persephone, baby 😜

[Evelyn (S'more Books Please) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's Christmas in the Underworld, so of course, there has to be some chaos. Hades and Persephone are expecting their twins any day now, and one broken promise from Hermes turns their holiday from joyful to stressful. He has accidentally unleashed the Kallikantzaroi on the world. These mischievous creatures love to steal items and generally wreak havoc. Now the Gods must contain them before Christmas goes completely off the rails.

I was thrilled to return to this world and get an update on so many of my favorite characters. This novella has multiple perspectives, among them, Hades, Persephone, Hermes, and Dionysus. It was wonderful to see Hades and Persephone so happy together, ready to grow their family. Hermes continues to be his hilarious self. There are even some updates on other couplings that I hope to see play out more in future books within this world. If you enjoyed the rest of this series, this is a great read for the Christmas season.

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