Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Neon Gods

I'd heard about this series, but didn't know anything about it. I did end up hate-reading (it didn't start out that way!) all six of the "Touch of Darkness" books that this book gets compared to, and the main things that I've seen have been that this book has more spice and less plot but is written better than ToD. First off, 100000% this book is written better than ToD, but this is still not literature. It definitely has more spice of a kinkier variety, but I sat through three books of the Hades half of ToD that was way less tasteful (I can't get over the interest in "ball slapping").

"Neon Gods" felt in the tradition of the singular romance novel series where each book is about one couple within a larger world (and it is - looks like Psyche is up next). It is an easy read, and I ended up finishing it quickly. No, it doesn't have a whole heck of a lot of plot, but I liked this Hades more, and the concept of The Thirteen vs them being actual gods was neat. If you like a quick, kinky, romance novel with a darker flavor and some nods to Greek mythology, you'll be entertained.

*I will note that I started this book out with the audiobook but switched over to the paperback because I did not like the readers. They had a reader for each perspective, but then in their respective chapters they would do imitations of the other instead of just having the other voice actor read the dialogue. Took me right out, especially in the spicy scenes. Didn't have a problem once I switched to the paperback.

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mikaylay's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious reflective fast-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? No

4.5

Series: Dark Olympus Book 1

Publisher: Sourcebooks (2021)

Genres: Romance with sub-genres of Mythology, Retellings, Fiction, and Fantasy.

Page count: 380

Intended age category, book format: Adult, novel, physical- paperback

Recommended age: 18+

Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

Spice Level: 4/5 🌶 – explicit/ tantalizing depictions of sexual content, 18+ only

Profanity: 3/5 – medium level, 10 or more instances of curse words

Synopsis:

A modern retelling of Persephone and Hades that is both sweet, mysterious and a bit spicy. Society beauty Persephone Dimitriou had big plans for her future that included escaping away from the ever-consuming and backstabbing nature of politics that plagued her home of the Upper City. Her plans however hit a roadblock when her mother Demeter springs an announcement of Persephone’s engagement to Zeus effectively dashing all of Persephone’s hopes and dreams of escaping and creating a new life for herself or so she thought. When Persephone flees from her mother and the rest of the powerful thirteen to the forbidden undercity said to be full of darkness and despair, she ends up making a deal with the so-called dead devil himself Hades. The deal will open both their eyes and hearts to things they both had long since given up to the political nature and overwhelming haunting shadow hands of the thirteen. Will there be a happy ending for the two or will the rest of the thirteen led by the all-powerful Zeus bring war and destruction to their plans, people, and hearts?

Date Started: February 4, 2024 Date Finished: February 14, 2024

Review:

The consent in Persephone and Hades’s relationship was important, and I enjoyed reading a book where consent was an important topic and point in the relationship. Persephone’s relationship with her three sisters is adorable, relatable, and inspiring in the way of trying to love and protect one’s siblings amid backstabbing political and dangerous situations. The way the book showcased the various ways in which power can drive a person to do evil things such as killing one to three of their wives was well-done and intriguing to see. The blooming, quirky, and sassy banter and friendship between Persephone, Hades, Hermes, and Dionysus bring a relatable feature and human-like nature to the story and the characters that are quite enjoyable. The writing was easy to understand, read, and imaginative at points. The book could have used more information on the way the people were selected to take over as one of the thirteen and the powerful political system to help readers better understand the nature and hand that the thirteen and politics play in everyone’s lives in the book. While I enjoyed Persephone and Hades’s friendship and relationship, it did feel quite instant-lovey and the book seemed to focus more on the sexual side of their relationship than the emotional or mental side of it. I think the book would have benefitted from more of the emotional and mental connection between Persephone and Hades being shown more or well-balanced with the sexual side of their relationship in the way of allowing a better knowledge and connection of the readers to the characters and their relationship. The plot was intriguing and was good but did feel a bit lost and unorganized in the end which could have been done on purpose by the author to represent the chaos of the situations occurring in the book. Overall, the book was a good retelling of the Hades and Persephone relationship and story.

Recommended for anyone over the age of 18 looking for a somewhat similar but also unique Hades and Persephone retelling.

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kaetlingrigsby's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

This book was a great re-telling of modern day Olympus. The sexy scenes were super HOT, creative and kinky. The characters were great, I love the creativity like cerebus being 3 puppies. I think it has a great ending but my favorite aspect is that Zeus is just as much of an asshole as he was at that time and everyone calls him out on it, I HATE ZEUS, so it made me happy that a majority of the characters in the book did as well.

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chelle22's review against another edition

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dark tense

4.0

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micaelamariem's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow 😏 I’m not usually into super spicy books but I thought this one had a good level, where it focused more heavily on the plot but still added quite a bit of 🔥 in the last 2/3’s. I wasn’t too keen on the fact that it was a very modernized retelling but I loved the concept as a whole. I loved Hermes as a side character!! And otherwise, yeah there were flaws and cliches, but I don’t think that’s what most of us were paying attention to…
Anyway yeah I’ll read anything Hades and Persephone even if I know it’ll be a bit out of my comfort zone. And in this case, going out of my comfort zone was rewarded!

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