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audioandereadergrrly's review
5.0
"The Dark Wife" by Sarah Diemer is a lesbian retelling of the Greek myth surrounding Persephone and Hades. Persephone has always been my favorite myth in Greek mythology, so I was immediately attracted to this book.
I was torn about how I would rate this work. It was in need of editing; the misspelled words and run-on sentences distracted me from the reading experience. I ultimately decided to give it the highest rating because as a reader, I was completely enthralled in the story and could not put the book down.
The market needs more lesbian books, and Diemer's work responds to that. Her writing is beautiful and refreshing. I, as a bisexual woman, truly felt connected with the love of Persephone and Hades. The structure of the retelling succeeded in providing a unique love story with a happy ending. I look forward to the future works of Sarah Diemer.
I was torn about how I would rate this work. It was in need of editing; the misspelled words and run-on sentences distracted me from the reading experience. I ultimately decided to give it the highest rating because as a reader, I was completely enthralled in the story and could not put the book down.
The market needs more lesbian books, and Diemer's work responds to that. Her writing is beautiful and refreshing. I, as a bisexual woman, truly felt connected with the love of Persephone and Hades. The structure of the retelling succeeded in providing a unique love story with a happy ending. I look forward to the future works of Sarah Diemer.
amyjoy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
This was fairly quiet and slow moving, but I enjoyed the characters. I like watching Persephone find herself in Hades and embrace her power.
I didn't realize when I started reading that the author considers this YA, so I was a little disappointed it wasn't smut. I'm glad to have read this, but I don't know that I would have finished it if I hadn't put it on a Reading Challenge - it was just too easy to set aside, which is why it took me three months to read it.
I didn't realize when I started reading that the author considers this YA, so I was a little disappointed it wasn't smut. I'm glad to have read this, but I don't know that I would have finished it if I hadn't put it on a Reading Challenge - it was just too easy to set aside, which is why it took me three months to read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape
nicjmorrow's review
It just didn't hold my attention. It is a fine book just without a ton of plot around the romance and hades and persephone retelling.
vizira's review
while the concept was amazing, pretty much everything else sucked. the writing was pretty juvenile, the characters were as complex as the average fanfiction OC, and i felt that Diemer kinda ruined some of the gods, notably Demeter. really disappointing, since i was really looking forward to this book.
brittemira's review
2.0
Sapphic man-hating retelling of Persephone’s myth sounds like everything I have ever wanted BUT:
- Pacing was so off
- Low-stakes and severe lack of dramatic effect
- One-dimensional characters (except for Hades, whom we would all die for)
- everything is too easy, so the point of Persephone developing as a brave strong independent queen doesn’t really come across
- important plot points happen in a few sentences, but other things we are hit over the head with excessively in monologues that all sound pretty much the same after a while (e.g. Zeus is a dickhead, it’s so dark in the underworld, Zeus is a liar, I shall be strong independent woman, Hades=the best person in the world, Zeus is a bad bad man *sad angry noises*)
- other plot points are just never developed
- ending is meh and nothing is wrapped up
- overall this reads like a decent fanfic with some pretty words but even then the writing is not atmospheric enough to really redeem it
so anyway two stars, one for the sapphic fluff and one for Hades
- Pacing was so off
- Low-stakes and severe lack of dramatic effect
- One-dimensional characters (except for Hades, whom we would all die for)
- everything is too easy, so the point of Persephone developing as a brave strong independent queen doesn’t really come across
- important plot points happen in a few sentences, but other things we are hit over the head with excessively in monologues that all sound pretty much the same after a while (e.g. Zeus is a dickhead, it’s so dark in the underworld, Zeus is a liar, I shall be strong independent woman, Hades=the best person in the world, Zeus is a bad bad man *sad angry noises*)
- other plot points are just never developed
- ending is meh and nothing is wrapped up
- overall this reads like a decent fanfic with some pretty words but even then the writing is not atmospheric enough to really redeem it
so anyway two stars, one for the sapphic fluff and one for Hades
mngwa's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
writtenechoes's review
5.0
Oh wow. I LOVE this interpretation of the Hades/Persephone myth. Wow. The only problem with it (although it wasn't large enough to mark it down a star) was that it wasn't LONGER. It felt quite rushed and I wanted more. But I definitely bought Hades' love for Persephone and the gentleness of their relationship. I love the whole ~meant to be aspect versus the "he" stole her "away" tale that we know so well. Anyway. READ THIS!
sapphicurse's review against another edition
3.0
Read for boston reads books' sapphiction book club, May 2020
oh man i really wanted to love this but it was just an awkward length. it was too long to be a really enchanting, mythical short story but too short to fully develop the characters and make me feel about them :((
oh man i really wanted to love this but it was just an awkward length. it was too long to be a really enchanting, mythical short story but too short to fully develop the characters and make me feel about them :((