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380 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2021
👍 Making Zeus a sinister Bluebeard kind of figure. Zeus is a jerk, okay? Disney's Hercules has made a lot of people picture him as some sort of benevolent Santa figure, but he was a real jerk. It's way too easily to imagine a twisted Bizarro universe where Zeus kills off all his consorts. He's just a major creep.
👍 Hermes and Dionysus. They were great. Loved the idea to gender-flip Hermes and her bromance (girlmance?) with Dionysus. The two of them were great and I wish them nothing but the best.
👍 The emphasis on consent. I like consent in books. Which is weird because I also like books that have dub-con. But fantasy is fantasy and for those who like consent, I am very happy that there are an increasing number of options trying to put the "sensual" in consensual. Especially in books that are more kink-forward.
👍 Persephone unapologetically owning her sexuality. Just this.
DISLIKES:
👎 The world building. What even is this? Is Olympus in the U.S.? Is it in its own dimension? Is this fantasy? It feels like it is kind of its own thing, but then there's all these weird references, like Persephone wanting to go to Berkeley, or Hades having a Princess Leia fetish, or Hermes stuffing her mouth with Cheetos. And then it's mentioned that some of the gods have social media accounts, and they're kind of a cross between society folk and a mafia, so who gave them all this power and how were the thirteen created and DO THEY HAVE MAGIC? Are they gods? Because at one point they're described as human, but they seem to have these preternatural talents that mark them as gods, and some of them are born to the role but others are elected and others inherit AND I AM JUST SO CONFUSED.
👎 This is not a dark romance. Which I would not have a problem with if it weren't being packaged as a dark romance. It's like ordering a dark chocolate cake and cutting it open and having all these rainbow sprinkles and gumballs come flying out. Like, yes this is a nice cake you made here ma'am BUT I DID NOT ORDER THIS FROM YOUR MENU. From a story that is supposed to be so dark, I would like some real stakes. But apart from a sinister beginning, it was just mostly, well, fluff.
👎 There's no real conflict. Persephone and Hades lust after one another at first sight. She's not at all weirded out by his exhibitionism kink and they're just magically in tune with one another in all ways. The Zeus thing and the treaty had some promise but everything gets tied off so neatly at the end that it felt like all build up and no pay-off. It was very anticlimactic, especially given all the hype.
👎 EVERYONE IN THIS BOOK IS SO STUPID. People literally think Hades is a myth because they never bothered to cross the river. Hades has public sex parties and social media is a thing. Did nobody ever find Hades's OnlyFans or something? That's like me assuming my neighbors don't exist because they don't cross the street. ESPECIALLY since one of the ways Zeus gets revenge is by cutting off the supply chain to Hades's territory. There's obviously accounting and paperwork going on and this was never addressed to my nitpicky satisfaction.
👎 It's basically porn with plot. This book wears what little plot it has like a see-through nightie. If you're picking it up for the fantasy, you're going to be disappointed. I went into this expecting something like Ilona Andrew's Hidden Legacy series and ended up with something more like FIFTY SHADES OF HADES meets A COURT OF GODS AND SMUT. Which is fine if that's what you're into, but that's not really what I'm into.
👎 Calling this grumpy vs. sunshine is an overstatement. Persephone is pretty angsty and not really a sunshiney character and Hades is just a little bit brooding but he's clearly a good guy. There's no hard or icy shell to crack away at. He is basically a chocolate-coated marshmallow. Which ties into my fluff complaint. DON'T SELL ME BROODY AND GIVE ME A MARSHMALLOW. Marshmallows don't brood. They fluff. Unless you put them in a microwave and then they explode (which I guess technically happened at the end of this book but we're not sailing on the S.S. Spoilers here).
So in short, this book wasn't what I expected but it could have been worse. There were some really great quotes and spicy scenes and I didn't hate it but I also really don't understand the hype.
2.5 stars
Jesus Christ. I don't even know where to begin. First of all, is anyone surprised that this is one of the most recommended books in the history of overhyped books? I am not. lmao
Second of all, Hades and Persephone? Again? How many more do we need? You know we have other Gods right? There are over twelve gods to chose from. At this point I'd read a medusa retelling. Any originality, for the love of ALL THAT IS SACRED I AM STARVING OVER HERE.
You guys were like: yeah, I know. At least the smut is good...
THE SMUT IS GOOD? WHERE? WHERE IS THE SMUT GOOD?
After the first time he makes her c*m, she literally says: "the orgasm was good" with the same enthusiasm someone would say: the chicken is ready. LMAO
And Hades? The simp, the limp noodle we have as a character here, who shows her HIS PLAYROOM on chapter 7 like he's a wish copy of Christian Grey.
Followed by the sentence: "I LIKE KINKY STUFF" It has the same level of cringe as Christian's: I DON'T MAKE LOVE, I FCK HARD.
You incompetent swine, if you have to tell me you like it kinky or if you have to tell me how good you are in bed instead of actually showing, you are making me drier than the Sahara desert.
Let's start with the fact that this book is supposed to be a MODERN RETELLING of Hades and Persephone. Where for some reason Olympus has Starbucks, Persephone has a trust fund and she wants to go to CALIFORNIA TO GET A PHD AT BERKLEY... because that is the way she can...WAIT FOR IT... ESCAPE HER ARRANGED MARRIAGE WITH ZEUS.
IN WHAT WORLD!!! IN WHAT FREAKING WORLD DO THOSE GO TOGETHER?
Like, it's totally normal for an arranged marriage with Zeus and going to college to exist in the same universe and make sense. lmao So yes, the world building was nonexistent and absolute garbage.
I wish she had kept the regular fantasy/magic system instead of destroying her own book like this by making it laughable.
Just because you decided to use the word neosporin in your book, it doesn't mean it's a modern retelling Katee. However, for some UNKNWON reason, the characters talk to each other like it's the 1800s.
She could have changed their names and turned this book into a mafia romance for all I care, anything else would have been better.
You know something else that pisses me off? HADES IS A PRE-MADE CHARACTER. He is literally a 3 minute microwavable meal. The characters traits are there.
The God of the Dead and keeper of the Underworld. Pop him in the oven and BAM you got yourself a morally grey character. It is the easiest thing in the world to get it right and they turn Hades into this whiny, weak, insecure, pathetic, cringe character that lacks self control and becomes a lovesick puppy within six chapters. It is SO UNDERWHELMING.
It is INSULTING.
The day you give me a Hades worth reading about is the day I will be reading another Hades and Persephone tale. (Probably never)
Honorable mentions to this particular Hades having a FOOT FETISH because he spends 20 chapters obsessed over the fact she twisted her ankle in chapter 2 and he never got over it, you'll get to hear him yell at her about her foot 16 times. He is also the guy who yells are her to eat, yells at her to remember to breathe... it's that disingenuous concern that came from an insta-love relationship.
Anyways, she crosses the river to where Hades is and they decide to start sleeping together because she believes Zeus would no longer want her if she was damaged goods and that way she could escape the arranged marriage.
In this world Zeus is a perv, an ugly old man, who kills all his wives when he gets bored of them.
The way this world building was put together, he will be the next California serial killer SINCE OLYMPUS IS THAT CLOSE.
LMAO GET IT? Anyways...
As for Persephone? She gets one line from me: waste of space. Another goddess people butcher when they write their books. Y'all really skipped History. These guys were brutal, selfish, unyielding, mischievous and you give me a white girl with a Starbucks addiction. lol
This book does NOT DESERVE THIS MUCH TIME from me.
Awful, Jesus Christ. The worst copy/fanfic inspired by 50 shades of grey you could possibly read.
My first and last Katee book, sorry.
“Someday, when you let some asshole seduce you and you’re riding their cock, remember tonight and know that they will never compare to me. You think of me when they’re inside you.”
I suddenly, desperately want this winter never to end, want spring never to come, want to stay with her here forever.
But there is no forever. Not for us.