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halynah's review
3.0
The most unusual retelling of Persephona and Hades myth, but it was very slow-paced and, in my opinion, the plotline with Betty Quentin was absolutely unnecessary and boring and only spoilt the impression of the book. The best part was the memories of Persephone and Hades - that was truly brilliant.
infinite_tbr's review
4.0
The start of this book concerned me, with simplistic prose and a cliche kidnapping of Sophie by Aidan(?), the reincarnations of Persephone and Hades respectively. What's great about this book is that it is exactly what it appears to be: a romance. But told through several lifetimes. We see Persephone’s memories played out in Sophie’s dreams as she learns about her different incarnations. Meanwhile, there are evil forces looking to wipe out the immortals and Sophie is trying to adjust to her first year of college.
I would have liked to see more of Sophie’s life outside of the other Greek deities, but appreciated that the story was nice and concise. It’s a sweet story and I plan to read the next one to find out what happens now that they’ve lost their leader. Seeing the different layers of reality, including the Underworld, helped make the setting engrossing.
I would have liked to see more of Sophie’s life outside of the other Greek deities, but appreciated that the story was nice and concise. It’s a sweet story and I plan to read the next one to find out what happens now that they’ve lost their leader. Seeing the different layers of reality, including the Underworld, helped make the setting engrossing.
kate_and_books's review
2.0
Please do not start a witch hunt for me. This book was just not for me
2 stars is being pretty generous considering I couldn't finish it... The book isn't bad but there is a slow pace and I mean slow as a snail. I know that there are a lot of people out there that are raving about this book. But I expected there to be more action. I just think that this not my cup of tea as it is all so very sweet and not enough going on. I did like the idea of reincarnation but unlocking all these memories by dreaming. That means she dreamt for half the book.
2 stars is being pretty generous considering I couldn't finish it... The book isn't bad but there is a slow pace and I mean slow as a snail. I know that there are a lot of people out there that are raving about this book. But I expected there to be more action. I just think that this not my cup of tea as it is all so very sweet and not enough going on. I did like the idea of reincarnation but unlocking all these memories by dreaming. That means she dreamt for half the book.
thedistortedbliss's review
4.0
I honestly am having a hard time writing this review. My thoughts towards this book was up and down and all around. The beginning was eh, the characters started out very hmm cheesy. I did not connect at all with them. Sophie who is the main female lead was to trustworthy towards Adrian. Girl, you just met the guy...who had another guy... push you to the ground and bring you to the underworld...and and and of course Adrian says to get her back to the real world he has to hold her..and what does she do. She just does it without hesitation.
then she cries a lot and blows her nose everytime. She somehow always has tissues on hand? Can't you do what normal girls do and wipe your snot on your arm and sniffle. I know that is silly of me to let that bug me but it did.
Ok Adrian is the male lead. And immediately he is already saying he loves her and misses her. But once the story goes on you learn to know why he says such things and then I become more in love with Adrian and his sweet ways but sometimes he just annoyed the crap of me.
By page 232 I was really starting to like the book. The writing style was not my favorite. The author wrote in third person and had you sometimes in sophie's head or Adrian's. I hated being in Sophie's head.. I wanted to poke her nose so hard! Either she was being stupid or being to smart (that makes no sense). I loved reading the stories of the olden days, I looked forward to reading the history parts. It was relaxing reading about the Gods and Godesses. When you were in Adrian's head it was written a little clearer but he wasn't very masculine.
I know this review sounds mean but all in all it was a good read.
I liked the plot. Thought the authors thought process of the underworld.. was not scary. IT was... not the underworld. I don't know what it was.
The beginning gets a 3 star and the reason I give it a 4 star is being for some reason I did not want to put the book down.
then she cries a lot and blows her nose everytime. She somehow always has tissues on hand? Can't you do what normal girls do and wipe your snot on your arm and sniffle. I know that is silly of me to let that bug me but it did.
Ok Adrian is the male lead. And immediately he is already saying he loves her and misses her. But once the story goes on you learn to know why he says such things and then I become more in love with Adrian and his sweet ways but sometimes he just annoyed the crap of me.
By page 232 I was really starting to like the book. The writing style was not my favorite. The author wrote in third person and had you sometimes in sophie's head or Adrian's. I hated being in Sophie's head.. I wanted to poke her nose so hard! Either she was being stupid or being to smart (that makes no sense). I loved reading the stories of the olden days, I looked forward to reading the history parts. It was relaxing reading about the Gods and Godesses. When you were in Adrian's head it was written a little clearer but he wasn't very masculine.
I know this review sounds mean but all in all it was a good read.
I liked the plot. Thought the authors thought process of the underworld.. was not scary. IT was... not the underworld. I don't know what it was.
The beginning gets a 3 star and the reason I give it a 4 star is being for some reason I did not want to put the book down.
carladionisio's review against another edition
4.0
Opinião em português no blog Pepita Mágica: http://pepitamagica.blogspot.pt/2015/10/especial-halloween-livro-persephones.html
I received a digital arc from the author through "Fangirls and Fanboys" group from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
I need to start this review by stating that I’m a huge Ancient Culture lover, especially Greek Culture – chiefly about its mythology. Therefore, while I was taking my degree I took several classes about this theme, even though the main focus of my degree was performing arts and cinema. Having said that, any book that uses mythology in general, and the Greek mythology in particular, it’s a must read book. I have a personal relationship with Dionysus (my surname is directly related to the god of wine, theatre and madness), but Hades is, without a doubt, one of the gods of the Greek pantheon that most fascinates me. Maybe because he is kind of “neglected” and poorly explores in the myths.
Persephone’s Orchard, for the reason I already stated, was an obligatory book for me. And I have to say that I was so happy that I liked this book so much. I must confess I was a bit worried that I wasn’t going to like it, for several reasons: its writing; the way the myths were going to be used; etc… but nothing like that happened. I enjoyed it a lot! Firstly, I think the author was very intelligent in the way she approached the myth about Persephone’s kidnap, because, as the author, I always thought it was more than just a kidnap. Maybe it was my naivety, but I always believed Hades had “kidnap” Persephone’s because he loved her (okay, it’s a twisted way of showing it) and, in my wildest dreams, that feeling was corresponded by Persephone. Hades always had a “bad reputation” among other gods, and maybe because of that, drastic measures were needed. For me, it was never an actual kidnap. And it was what Molly Ringle did. She created a beautiful love story between two Greek gods, who fought against everything and everyone, and from their several different lives, they always find each other.
Hades and Persephone’s myth is not the only myth in this book, there is more; and we have a lot more characters than just those two: Aphrodite, Hermes, Zeus, Hera, Apollo, among others, and I think it was a really good thing about the book. To be honest, the parts I most loved were the ones about the memories, the flashbacks about the gods’ lives and such, although the story that took in the present (Sophie and Adrian) was also really interesting and I liked it.
Albeit, I’d like to have seen more about the way the gods died and how they reincarnated in mortal people throughout the history of humankind. It’s a subject that is always present, but we never actually see it. How did Hades die? Or Persephone? Ou any other god in this book? And, on top of that, I thought that Thanatos was a bit poorly developed in the story. If we think deeply about it, it kind of makes sense, since not even the characters know much about it. Thanatos is just a scary omnipresent shadow of destruction – a bit like the actual idea of Thanatos in the mythology.
Molly Ringle has a fluid and interesting writing. Despite the several jumps in time, she has the ability to keep the story coherent and making sense all way until the end. It keeps us hooked to every word. Definitely, it’s a well written book and it’s notorious the author put a lot of thinking on those words. Since it’s a saga, I want to keep reading *so much*!
I received a digital arc from the author through "Fangirls and Fanboys" group from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
I need to start this review by stating that I’m a huge Ancient Culture lover, especially Greek Culture – chiefly about its mythology. Therefore, while I was taking my degree I took several classes about this theme, even though the main focus of my degree was performing arts and cinema. Having said that, any book that uses mythology in general, and the Greek mythology in particular, it’s a must read book. I have a personal relationship with Dionysus (my surname is directly related to the god of wine, theatre and madness), but Hades is, without a doubt, one of the gods of the Greek pantheon that most fascinates me. Maybe because he is kind of “neglected” and poorly explores in the myths.
Persephone’s Orchard, for the reason I already stated, was an obligatory book for me. And I have to say that I was so happy that I liked this book so much. I must confess I was a bit worried that I wasn’t going to like it, for several reasons: its writing; the way the myths were going to be used; etc… but nothing like that happened. I enjoyed it a lot! Firstly, I think the author was very intelligent in the way she approached the myth about Persephone’s kidnap, because, as the author, I always thought it was more than just a kidnap. Maybe it was my naivety, but I always believed Hades had “kidnap” Persephone’s because he loved her (okay, it’s a twisted way of showing it) and, in my wildest dreams, that feeling was corresponded by Persephone. Hades always had a “bad reputation” among other gods, and maybe because of that, drastic measures were needed. For me, it was never an actual kidnap. And it was what Molly Ringle did. She created a beautiful love story between two Greek gods, who fought against everything and everyone, and from their several different lives, they always find each other.
Hades and Persephone’s myth is not the only myth in this book, there is more; and we have a lot more characters than just those two: Aphrodite, Hermes, Zeus, Hera, Apollo, among others, and I think it was a really good thing about the book. To be honest, the parts I most loved were the ones about the memories, the flashbacks about the gods’ lives and such, although the story that took in the present (Sophie and Adrian) was also really interesting and I liked it.
Albeit, I’d like to have seen more about the way the gods died and how they reincarnated in mortal people throughout the history of humankind. It’s a subject that is always present, but we never actually see it. How did Hades die? Or Persephone? Ou any other god in this book? And, on top of that, I thought that Thanatos was a bit poorly developed in the story. If we think deeply about it, it kind of makes sense, since not even the characters know much about it. Thanatos is just a scary omnipresent shadow of destruction – a bit like the actual idea of Thanatos in the mythology.
Molly Ringle has a fluid and interesting writing. Despite the several jumps in time, she has the ability to keep the story coherent and making sense all way until the end. It keeps us hooked to every word. Definitely, it’s a well written book and it’s notorious the author put a lot of thinking on those words. Since it’s a saga, I want to keep reading *so much*!
shannon_cocktailsandbooks's review
5.0
New Adult novels are somewhat new to me as a reader. I’ve read only one other and was surprised at how well I enjoyed it. So when I found out that this book was in the same genre, I had high hopes. And let me just say, it was so much more than I expected.
Persephone’s Orchard is a wonderful modern take on the centuries old mythological romance between Hades and Persephone. The author’s beautiful blend of contemporary romance with the legendary story of the Greek God and Goddess is artfully done, as she builds an extraordinary world that not even dreams are made of. Each and every character in the story is written with intricate detail and care, transporting the reader into the story through the lives of those in it. Her two main characters, Sophie and Adrian, are exciting. Their journey, both together and individually, is what makes the story so great.
It’s incredibly hard to review a book that is so packed with intense emotion and moments that, if told, would make the book less enjoyable for others to read. So, with that being said, the story of Persephone’s Orchard will make you laugh, cry and leave you hoping that there is much more to come from this incredibly talented author. It’s definitely a book you don’t want to miss.
Reviewed by Marie for Cocktails and Books
Persephone’s Orchard is a wonderful modern take on the centuries old mythological romance between Hades and Persephone. The author’s beautiful blend of contemporary romance with the legendary story of the Greek God and Goddess is artfully done, as she builds an extraordinary world that not even dreams are made of. Each and every character in the story is written with intricate detail and care, transporting the reader into the story through the lives of those in it. Her two main characters, Sophie and Adrian, are exciting. Their journey, both together and individually, is what makes the story so great.
It’s incredibly hard to review a book that is so packed with intense emotion and moments that, if told, would make the book less enjoyable for others to read. So, with that being said, the story of Persephone’s Orchard will make you laugh, cry and leave you hoping that there is much more to come from this incredibly talented author. It’s definitely a book you don’t want to miss.
Reviewed by Marie for Cocktails and Books
trouble's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
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
5.0
After I started reading “Persephone’s Orchard” I had realized I have actually read this book years ago. I love Molly Ringle’s take on Hades, Persephone and the other Greek Gods that were introduced in this book. She really put a modern twist to it, and overall I really enjoyed the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Death, and Violence
Minor: Stalking, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship
seakingnur's review
3.0
It started out nice and interesting but after a while it seemed to lull a bit. Even though Sophie and Adrian did have meet ups and talked to each other, the readers didn't seem to be able to view more about the characters. Plus, while it was nice seeing the original Hades and Persephone, I would've liked to know more about the actual present time characters. I did enjoy the book to an extent. It was a nice read.