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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
3.5 stars.. It was good enough to keep me interested to finished listening to it. Got the audio book for free by signing up for the author page.
I randomly picked up this book because of the title, I really like novels about Persephone and Hades and this one was a lot of fun to read. It was under 200 pages and action packed, I'm glad that I gave it shot even with the horrible cover, lol.
The plot was a little hard to follow in the beginning, it just pushed everything at you really fast, but as you read on it got better. Plus, the main character, Persephone, made the novel ten times better, and the side characters, Hades, Cassandra and others were great.
I will be checking out the other novels in this series, I'm glad that I read this one first before I dove into the other books.
I recommend checking this out if you like Greek Mythology.
I very much enjoy reading retellings of various mythologies, they are just so much fun and I love seeing each authors interpretation of those myths. Sadly this retelling fell a little flat for me, which I found especially disappointing as I love the story of Hades and Persephone.
Things I liked about this book:
- friendships - this book has amazing friendships in it, especially female friendships that I loved reading about.
- Persephone - I really liked her as a character. Even when she found out that she was a goddess and very different from humans, she still held onto her values and stayed true to herself. I also loved seeing her love for her mother and her best friend.
- characters - I was fascinated by most of the characters in this book, they were very interesting. Even though not all of them got the development they deserved(after all this was a rather short book for that) I still enjoyed reading about them and learning more about them as well.
Things I disliked about this book:
- instalove - there was literary no transition from them meeting each other to falling in love. Honestly this didn't bother me too much, as I tend to forgive it when it comes to these retellings.(In all other cases I hate instalove.) Still, I wanted to mention it in this review.
- rushed scenes - some of the things that happened during this book felt beyond rushed, I would have loved to get more explanations on things and I would have loved it if the book was a bit longer.
- some of Persephone's comments - she commented on some of the other girls appearances and things in a negative way without really knowing them. That bothered me quiet a bit and those were the moments when I really wanted to dislike her as a character because of that.(Luckily it wasn't anything too bad and I could look past it.)
Things I liked about this book:
- friendships - this book has amazing friendships in it, especially female friendships that I loved reading about.
- Persephone - I really liked her as a character. Even when she found out that she was a goddess and very different from humans, she still held onto her values and stayed true to herself. I also loved seeing her love for her mother and her best friend.
- characters - I was fascinated by most of the characters in this book, they were very interesting. Even though not all of them got the development they deserved
Things I disliked about this book:
- instalove - there was literary no transition from them meeting each other to falling in love. Honestly this didn't bother me too much, as I tend to forgive it when it comes to these retellings.
- rushed scenes - some of the things that happened during this book felt beyond rushed, I would have loved to get more explanations on things and I would have loved it if the book was a bit longer.
- some of Persephone's comments - she commented on some of the other girls appearances and things in a negative way without really knowing them. That bothered me quiet a bit and those were the moments when I really wanted to dislike her as a character because of that.
Wow two awesome books in a row. I am on such a great book streak. Persephone was fantastic. It is no secret that I love mythology books, and I am super excited that there seem to be more and more of them popping up in the young adult age group. But Persephone, while staying very true to the original myths and stories of the gods, gave a modern spin on the description of the underworld. The whole setting just seemed revamped, and I think it is my favorite layout and concept of the underworld and Hades that I have read to date. I just loved the idea of the asphodel fields, where the majority of the people end up, being like the suburbs. The really evil people get weeded out and the truly fabulous and heroic go on to elysian fields and the rest live out the days of their afterlife much like the days of their death. Some of them open up hobby shops and food shops and little boutiques, and it just all seemed very modern and comforting. Which was great, because a majority of the story takes place in the underworld. Persephone started to come into her goddess nature, and she was all too unaware of what she was (I've noticed that a lot in stories lately)and she unknowingly attacked the attention of the wrong God, so Hades came to her rescue. And that's all just in the first 10%
Persephone is a great character. She is strong and forceful, and maybe just a teeny bit rash, but it makes her fun. She is flawed, but she is only 16. I loved watching her train and mature and really come into her own throughout this story. And I loved watching her interact with Hades. The two of them just knew exactly how to push each others buttons, and get a rise out of the other one. It was so much fun to read about. I loved the two of them. You could see the slow but steady growth of feelings on Persephone's end. The romance is not rushed in the slightest. It is actually very slow, but it makes perfect sense the way Hades described it. They are immortal, they have forever to figure things out. I actually liked the slow and tentative courtship that they had.
Hades is kind but he has a pretty fierce dark streak running through him. He is not someone that I want to mess with, and he is certainly someone that I want on my side. He is so loyal to his friends. I admired that about him. And I lived for those rare moments when he would let his emotions show for just a split second. One of my favorite scenes was when Persephone was in his dream scape and she found a picture of her self and he was so scared about what she was seeing. He was embarrassed. It was adorable.
Persephone is the first book in the Daughters of Zeus series and I can already tell that is going to be a favorite series of mine. I am already itching to get my hands on the next book. The ending of this one had one part that I completely did not see coming. It made me sad. I need to see where that storyline is going in the books. Kaitlin Bevis has a real hit with Persephone. It is a must read for fans of mythology. Awesome book!
Persephone is a great character. She is strong and forceful, and maybe just a teeny bit rash, but it makes her fun. She is flawed, but she is only 16. I loved watching her train and mature and really come into her own throughout this story. And I loved watching her interact with Hades. The two of them just knew exactly how to push each others buttons, and get a rise out of the other one. It was so much fun to read about. I loved the two of them. You could see the slow but steady growth of feelings on Persephone's end. The romance is not rushed in the slightest. It is actually very slow, but it makes perfect sense the way Hades described it. They are immortal, they have forever to figure things out. I actually liked the slow and tentative courtship that they had.
Hades is kind but he has a pretty fierce dark streak running through him. He is not someone that I want to mess with, and he is certainly someone that I want on my side. He is so loyal to his friends. I admired that about him. And I lived for those rare moments when he would let his emotions show for just a split second. One of my favorite scenes was when Persephone was in his dream scape and she found a picture of her self and he was so scared about what she was seeing. He was embarrassed. It was adorable.
Persephone is the first book in the Daughters of Zeus series and I can already tell that is going to be a favorite series of mine. I am already itching to get my hands on the next book. The ending of this one had one part that I completely did not see coming. It made me sad. I need to see where that storyline is going in the books. Kaitlin Bevis has a real hit with Persephone. It is a must read for fans of mythology. Awesome book!
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Unfortunately, I think my time for enjoying this series has passed. I was planning on continuing, and if I had done it years ago I think I might have enjoyed the next books, but they just don't appeal to me now. I'm struggling to describe why I feel this way, but they feel very young to me, very middle school into early high school. It feels like this is aimed at the preteen to early teen crowd, and being an adult now I just don't connect with it. In some cases it felt very melodramatic and like it was lacking some substance. I also found some elements problematic, and as a result I will not be continuing with the series.
Spoilers
I found I could not ship the relationship between Hades and Persephone for several reasons. One is the age difference in the story, because although both of them are immortal, Hades has been around for thousands of years, whereas Persephone is only 16. The dynamic just felt icky, since he has a lot more life experience than her, a lot more power, and even by our standards she is still technically a minor. To Hades, she is an infant, and the whole thing just didn't seem right. Hades does bring this up but at the end they decide to have a relationship anyway. I also wasn't a fan of what Hades did to save Persephone, forcing her into a marriage without her consent. He even admitted he probably could have found a different way to save her but he didn't because he didn't want to, and that's not okay with me.
At times, Hades shifted from being caring and kind to being kind of a jerk, which I wasn't a fan of. It seemed random and like it was trying to make him sexy, but I really didn't buy it. He also belittled Persephone, calling her stupid, which there is no excuse for. When she is kidnapped again he is caring one second and the next berating her for what happened. Yes she should not have been sticking her hands into the river but it's not like she went across voluntarily, and he should not be blaming her for the traumatic experience she had. Sometimes Hades reacts in anger and seems to try to intimidate Persephone, like when she tried to charm him, and I did not think that was appropriate.
I wish there was more of a discussion on Pirithous and his punishments at the hands of Demeter and Hades. Both of them are biased in their desire to protect Persephone, and yes while he intended her harm I don't think the punishments were fitting for the crime. I think their punishments were too harsh and they could have taken him out of the picture in a different way.
There's also the fact that Melissa had no choice in her own life, she was born to be a priestess for Persephone and cursed to live forever because of it, and I wasn't a fan of this either. She is really given no free will, even though she tells Persephone that she is okay with it. I mean, what else is she supposed to say?
Overall, the story no longer resonates with me, and there were too many issues that made me not want to continue with the series. I think part of why I didn't continue with this before was even then I found it kind of iffy. I couldn't understand why, if Zeus was alive, he would want to hunt down his daughter in this fashion. It just doesn't make sense.
Spoilers
I found I could not ship the relationship between Hades and Persephone for several reasons. One is the age difference in the story, because although both of them are immortal, Hades has been around for thousands of years, whereas Persephone is only 16. The dynamic just felt icky, since he has a lot more life experience than her, a lot more power, and even by our standards she is still technically a minor. To Hades, she is an infant, and the whole thing just didn't seem right. Hades does bring this up but at the end they decide to have a relationship anyway. I also wasn't a fan of what Hades did to save Persephone, forcing her into a marriage without her consent. He even admitted he probably could have found a different way to save her but he didn't because he didn't want to, and that's not okay with me.
At times, Hades shifted from being caring and kind to being kind of a jerk, which I wasn't a fan of. It seemed random and like it was trying to make him sexy, but I really didn't buy it. He also belittled Persephone, calling her stupid, which there is no excuse for. When she is kidnapped again he is caring one second and the next berating her for what happened. Yes she should not have been sticking her hands into the river but it's not like she went across voluntarily, and he should not be blaming her for the traumatic experience she had. Sometimes Hades reacts in anger and seems to try to intimidate Persephone, like when she tried to charm him, and I did not think that was appropriate.
I wish there was more of a discussion on Pirithous and his punishments at the hands of Demeter and Hades. Both of them are biased in their desire to protect Persephone, and yes while he intended her harm I don't think the punishments were fitting for the crime. I think their punishments were too harsh and they could have taken him out of the picture in a different way.
There's also the fact that Melissa had no choice in her own life, she was born to be a priestess for Persephone and cursed to live forever because of it, and I wasn't a fan of this either. She is really given no free will, even though she tells Persephone that she is okay with it. I mean, what else is she supposed to say?
Overall, the story no longer resonates with me, and there were too many issues that made me not want to continue with the series. I think part of why I didn't continue with this before was even then I found it kind of iffy. I couldn't understand why, if Zeus was alive, he would want to hunt down his daughter in this fashion. It just doesn't make sense.
This wasn't terrible, and it wasn't great. It was just.... meh.
There was nothing highly objectionable in it, but it also didn't stand out from all the other retellings of this myth.
It did get interesting at the end where the mechanics of the world that had been created came in to create problems, but that's apparently something for the next book, which I probably won't be reading.
It was interesting that, in this version, Olympus had fallen (like, literally, through the ground) because the gods were no longer being worshiped. The mechanics of how they get there power was not layed out fully, but was detailed enough to be believable.
In the end, I think it was cute, but I wouldn't read on.
There was nothing highly objectionable in it, but it also didn't stand out from all the other retellings of this myth.
It did get interesting at the end where the mechanics of the world that had been created came in to create problems, but that's apparently something for the next book, which I probably won't be reading.
It was interesting that, in this version, Olympus had fallen (like, literally, through the ground) because the gods were no longer being worshiped. The mechanics of how they get there power was not layed out fully, but was detailed enough to be believable.
In the end, I think it was cute, but I wouldn't read on.