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sparrowhearted's review against another edition
★★☆☆☆ — 2/5 stars
A frustrating read — or, well, listen in this case. I didn't go into it with high expectations so it's a little sobering that even that was seemingly a bit too ambitious. For much of the book I felt like I was listening to the result of someone enjoying Fifty Shades of Grey and Lore Olympus, thinking "I can do that too" and then somehow failing to add much unique flair to it.
The mythological inspiration feels very surface level and like it's just there to throw around names in the hopes of the reader's own interest in Greek mythology to fill out the blanks. My brain did a lot of the filling in and even then, however, it felt like the worldbuilding made next to no use of it. Most of the things that happen in the book don't rely on magic and mythology to work and could very, very easily be substituted for realistic equivalents.
Also, pardon my uh, Greek, I suppose, but why is this retelling of Greek mythology written from such an overly heterosexual lens??? There is nothing wrong with m/f couples in entertainment in themselves, but the heteronormativity in this novel was a little mind-boggling considering Greek mythology wasn't all that shy about same-sex relationships.
The narration didn't help either, much of it feeling cheesy and making it hard for me to take characters i should perceive as serious and imposing seriously. Lexa's exaggerated intonation makes lines that could be read as completely inoffensive sound insufferable and Hades sounds like a caricature. In particular in that second instance I wish the narrator had just used their natural voice.
Sensitive and difficult topics like parental abuse, power imbalances, drug abuse or consent that were loosely addressed in a few instances but for most of the part, it feels like they're included in the story for drama and shock value. I don't need entertainment to spell out moral lessons for me but I do think it's rather disappointing when themes like that aren't treated with the respect necessary. In a lot of places the efforts to portray Persephone as an enlightened, intelligent and insightful person was hampered by leaning into Not Like the Other Girls(tm) territory (borderline slut-shaming Aphrodite by pointing out her gala dress was "surprisingly tasteful" does what, exactly?), being unwilling to take responsibility for her own actions and preconceived notions (only challenging her stance on Hades around the 07:30 hour mark?? Really??) and a good amount of narration that feels like it doesn't really understand societal issues past where they impact privileged people.
Persephone's reactions to most of these instances often come with very strange priorities that make it seem like she doesn't really (care to, in some instances) understand what the actual issue is and that is a little worrying, considering she's portrayed to be well-read and curious. Investigative journalist, amirite?
The characters feel very trope-heavy and as a result, flat. Persephone is a bratty, entitled and hypocritical woman throughout everything I've heard and although she ends up in a good amount of situations that would evoke sympathy from me under different circumstances her habit of almost making a point and then swerving and focusing on the wrong part of the issue made that hard. She's infuriating, she's bland and listening to the book I was reminded of a good amount of white privileged feminist stereotypes.
There were a few instances where it felt like the author genuinely just wasn't fully aware of the words they were using. Describing seeing someone in a simple dress only to go on to describe how it'd featured embroidery that is likely by every measure of the word lavish or phrases like "a contract she couldn't win" (Contracts are not about winning? That's not what they exist for) became more glaring as I went and lost interest in the actual story and characters and… I don't know. Isn't that stuff an editor should've picked up on? Was the book self-published? Even then, shouldn't maybe a beta reader have called the author's attention onto these things? Made the writing feel sloppy.
tl;dr: I probably shouldn't have expected much, this genre isn't meant to dissect difficult societal issues and that in itself is okay. I do feel a little catfished, however, because the Greek mythology component of the premise was flimsy. The characters are either bland or downright unlikeable, the plot meanders and feels painfully drawn out for what it's supposed to achieve and the worldbuilding is so weak, the story could do away with it and might feel less pretentious for it.
Didn't pay for it since it was included in the list of Audible titles I had access to for free so I don't feel scammed necessarily, but I do wish I'd put my time and attention into books that I liked better.
A frustrating read — or, well, listen in this case. I didn't go into it with high expectations so it's a little sobering that even that was seemingly a bit too ambitious. For much of the book I felt like I was listening to the result of someone enjoying Fifty Shades of Grey and Lore Olympus, thinking "I can do that too" and then somehow failing to add much unique flair to it.
The mythological inspiration feels very surface level and like it's just there to throw around names in the hopes of the reader's own interest in Greek mythology to fill out the blanks. My brain did a lot of the filling in and even then, however, it felt like the worldbuilding made next to no use of it. Most of the things that happen in the book don't rely on magic and mythology to work and could very, very easily be substituted for realistic equivalents.
Also, pardon my uh, Greek, I suppose, but why is this retelling of Greek mythology written from such an overly heterosexual lens??? There is nothing wrong with m/f couples in entertainment in themselves, but the heteronormativity in this novel was a little mind-boggling considering Greek mythology wasn't all that shy about same-sex relationships.
The narration didn't help either, much of it feeling cheesy and making it hard for me to take characters i should perceive as serious and imposing seriously. Lexa's exaggerated intonation makes lines that could be read as completely inoffensive sound insufferable and Hades sounds like a caricature. In particular in that second instance I wish the narrator had just used their natural voice.
Sensitive and difficult topics like parental abuse, power imbalances, drug abuse or consent that were loosely addressed in a few instances but for most of the part, it feels like they're included in the story for drama and shock value. I don't need entertainment to spell out moral lessons for me but I do think it's rather disappointing when themes like that aren't treated with the respect necessary. In a lot of places the efforts to portray Persephone as an enlightened, intelligent and insightful person was hampered by leaning into Not Like the Other Girls(tm) territory (borderline slut-shaming Aphrodite by pointing out her gala dress was "surprisingly tasteful" does what, exactly?), being unwilling to take responsibility for her own actions and preconceived notions (only challenging her stance on Hades around the 07:30 hour mark?? Really??) and a good amount of narration that feels like it doesn't really understand societal issues past where they impact privileged people.
Persephone's reactions to most of these instances often come with very strange priorities that make it seem like she doesn't really (care to, in some instances) understand what the actual issue is and that is a little worrying, considering she's portrayed to be well-read and curious. Investigative journalist, amirite?
The characters feel very trope-heavy and as a result, flat. Persephone is a bratty, entitled and hypocritical woman throughout everything I've heard and although she ends up in a good amount of situations that would evoke sympathy from me under different circumstances her habit of almost making a point and then swerving and focusing on the wrong part of the issue made that hard. She's infuriating, she's bland and listening to the book I was reminded of a good amount of white privileged feminist stereotypes.
There were a few instances where it felt like the author genuinely just wasn't fully aware of the words they were using. Describing seeing someone in a simple dress only to go on to describe how it'd featured embroidery that is likely by every measure of the word lavish or phrases like "a contract she couldn't win" (Contracts are not about winning? That's not what they exist for) became more glaring as I went and lost interest in the actual story and characters and… I don't know. Isn't that stuff an editor should've picked up on? Was the book self-published? Even then, shouldn't maybe a beta reader have called the author's attention onto these things? Made the writing feel sloppy.
tl;dr: I probably shouldn't have expected much, this genre isn't meant to dissect difficult societal issues and that in itself is okay. I do feel a little catfished, however, because the Greek mythology component of the premise was flimsy. The characters are either bland or downright unlikeable, the plot meanders and feels painfully drawn out for what it's supposed to achieve and the worldbuilding is so weak, the story could do away with it and might feel less pretentious for it.
Didn't pay for it since it was included in the list of Audible titles I had access to for free so I don't feel scammed necessarily, but I do wish I'd put my time and attention into books that I liked better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, and Sexism
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