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abitbetterbooks's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I’d rank this as sort of middle of the pack for the Dark Olympus series for me. I liked it more than Electric Idol and Radiant Sun for sure, but I think Wicked Beauty, Cruel Seduction, and Neon Gods will always be my top favourites. However, I’m ready and willing to be proven wrong by the last 3!
I do like how the stakes are getting higher and conflict has become quite heightened as the books have progressed, with some truly nail-biting moments near the end! I liked hearing from Eurydice and watching her come into her own, beyond the protection and shadows of her sisters.
Although I appreciated KR mixing it up with the relationship development and dynamic, it felt like Charon and Eurydice got together immediately with zero yearning or development. In addition to that, I feel like Orpheus was redeemed way too quickly than was realistic for the hurt that he had caused. So while the spice was next level, the relationships didn’t really feel earned in the same way as some of the other books.
All in all, I got what I came for and I’m happy to devour these books whenever they come out, but I wasn’t as invested in this one as I wanted to be!
I do like how the stakes are getting higher and conflict has become quite heightened as the books have progressed, with some truly nail-biting moments near the end! I liked hearing from Eurydice and watching her come into her own, beyond the protection and shadows of her sisters.
Although I appreciated KR mixing it up with the relationship development and dynamic, it felt like Charon and Eurydice got together immediately with zero yearning or development. In addition to that, I feel like Orpheus was redeemed way too quickly than was realistic for the hurt that he had caused. So while the spice was next level, the relationships didn’t really feel earned in the same way as some of the other books.
All in all, I got what I came for and I’m happy to devour these books whenever they come out, but I wasn’t as invested in this one as I wanted to be!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Gun violence, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, and Abortion
thats_so_raychell's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Cursing, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Medical trauma
enzopudge's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gun violence, and Sexual content
bookishlucy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I have conflicting feelings about this book. I've enjoyed the series immensely so far and I can't help feeling slightly disappointed in this one. It wasn't bad by any means. I still enjoyed the developments of the overarching plot So excited we're getting Circe in this series, even if she is the villain currently! And I liked the relationship between Charon, Orpheus, and Eurydice.
My qualms with the book are the following (Potential spoilers, I've tried to mark as many as possible but proceed with caution!):
My qualms with the book are the following (Potential spoilers, I've tried to mark as many as possible but proceed with caution!):
- There were more spelling/grammar errors in this book than usual. Mistakes are always going to slip through but compared to the 5 previous books, there were a lot more in this one than usual. And besides the usual typos, there were some pretty big mistakes like missing words or dialogue that was practically repeated only a paragraph later by the same character. Individually these wouldn't have been a big deal and wouldn't have impacted the reading experience, but I couldn't help but notice the stark difference in quality compared to the other books in the series. This one almost felt rushed.
- Besides the spelling/grammar feeling rushed, the story also felt rushed. Charon comes off a little strong. I get that they have an existing situationship that we got glimpses of in the previous books but I would've liked to see their relationship develop a little slower. Instead, we were immediately thrust into it from the very first chapter.
If I remember correctly, Charon literally says 'I love you' to Eurydice in the first chapter.
- Charon doesn't seem to have much internal conflict about being attracted to Orpheus/wanting him to be part of a trio with him and Eurydice. I feel like this seems out of character since he's usually so overprotective of her.
Orpheus traumatized her by almost getting her killed. I don't feel like Charon would be so blazé about Orpheus being around. He seems fine with adding Orpheus to their relationship long-term from the start and I just think it would make more sense/be more interesting if he was struggling with conflicting emotions.
Despite all of this, I still enjoyed the book, though not as much as the previous 5 installments. This is the first book I've rated lower than 4 stars which makes me extremely sad since I was really looking forward to Eurydice's book.
I will still be reading Dark Restraint the second it comes out!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence and Gun violence
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Abortion, Death of parent, Blood, Dementia, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
llcardenas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence
rebekkamafia's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Blood
Minor: Abortion
ghostmomxoxo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Moderate: Gore, Pregnancy, Abortion, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Death of parent
book_gremlin42's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Pregnancy and Abortion
frantically's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Fun addition to the series!
I'm impressed by how Robert managed to redeem Eurydice and Orpheus' relationship – never would've imagined I'd like them together again. This is a poly relationship with Charon, too, but Charon and Eurydice only start dating at the beginning of the book as well which makes it all a bit too unstable for me, there's a lack of foundation with Charon and Eurydice's relationship which makes it hard to believe that they're the stable couple here, the couple Orpheus yearns to be a part of. This was probably done to not copy the Patroclus x Achilles x Helen relationship but I don't think I would've minded a repeat of that! The latter seemed a lot more natural imo.
I've not been quiet about the fact that I'm primarily here for the romance, not for the politics. I still don't think it was necessary to turn a series that started as "Modern!Hades has a sex club lol" into "Here are the intricate politics and diplomacy involved in trying to run a Modern!Olympus". I love scheming just as much as the next person but please Katee, this isn't ASOIAF. All that to say, I've had my suspicions on who the Big Bad was for some time now and I'm both elated at the reveal and a bit disappointed that this is the route we're going for when this is supposed to be this great feminist retelling. Hope that resonates with someone and I'm not alone!
Loved seeing more of Hades and Persephone again, they remain the best couple in this series for me (with the best book as well) and it's great to see how Persephone's grown into her role as Hades' partner. With Charon as an MC we really return back to Hades' realm and it felt like coming back to my favourite dysfunctional home.
As much as the pet play was advertised for this book, it didn't play that much of a part! Didn't think I'd be into it (and I'm still not really lol) but it was fun and even if the actual play didn't have that many scenes there were loads of dog puns that I chuckled at.
Like other reviewers have said, I'm too far in to stop now – let's see how Roberts manages to fit BDSM into a more and more complex political story next...
I'm impressed by how Robert managed to redeem Eurydice and Orpheus' relationship – never would've imagined I'd like them together again. This is a poly relationship with Charon, too, but Charon and Eurydice only start dating at the beginning of the book as well which makes it all a bit too unstable for me, there's a lack of foundation with Charon and Eurydice's relationship which makes it hard to believe that they're the stable couple here, the couple Orpheus yearns to be a part of. This was probably done to not copy the Patroclus x Achilles x Helen relationship but I don't think I would've minded a repeat of that! The latter seemed a lot more natural imo.
I've not been quiet about the fact that I'm primarily here for the romance, not for the politics. I still don't think it was necessary to turn a series that started as "Modern!Hades has a sex club lol" into "Here are the intricate politics and diplomacy involved in trying to run a Modern!Olympus". I love scheming just as much as the next person but please Katee, this isn't ASOIAF. All that to say, I've had my suspicions on who the Big Bad was for some time now and I'm both elated at the reveal and a bit disappointed that this is the route we're going for when this is supposed to be this great feminist retelling. Hope that resonates with someone and I'm not alone!
Loved seeing more of Hades and Persephone again, they remain the best couple in this series for me (with the best book as well) and it's great to see how Persephone's grown into her role as Hades' partner. With Charon as an MC we really return back to Hades' realm and it felt like coming back to my favourite dysfunctional home.
As much as the pet play was advertised for this book, it didn't play that much of a part! Didn't think I'd be into it (and I'm still not really lol) but it was fun and even if the actual play didn't have that many scenes there were loads of dog puns that I chuckled at.
Like other reviewers have said, I'm too far in to stop now – let's see how Roberts manages to fit BDSM into a more and more complex political story next...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy and Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Toxic relationship, Gun violence, War, Death, and Medical content
ka_ke's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, and Sexual content
Minor: War, Classism, Gore, Grief, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy