Reviews

Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman

punkassbookjockey84's review

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5.0

When Hades fell in love with Persephone, in order to get around her mother Demeter who would oppose the match, he kidnapped her and took her to the Underworld. There, he tricked her into eating the seeds of a pomegranate, forcing her to remain with him. In Demeter's despair and anger, the earth was barren and thousands died. So, as a compromise, it was decided that Persephone would spend half of the year in the Underworld with her husband and half of the year on earth with her mother. The latter half, when Demeter was happy, became the spring and summer, and those months when Persephone was no longer by her side became winter and fall. Or so the myth goes. But what if Persephone wasn't kidnapped but actually chose to become the Queen of the Underworld?
At the beginning of the book, Persephone lives in the world her mother created for Persephone's protection. And despite being at the age when mortal girls are sacrificing their toys to enter adulthood, Demeter won't allow her to do so, forcing her to remain in that state between adulthood and childhood. A world where no men are allowed--and in such a place, how will Persephone ever fall in love? Until the day a mysterious stranger appears in the field. Though she doesn't know his name, she sneaks every day to meet him, hoping all the time that her mother won't find out. And when she discovers his identity and he asks her to come with him, she immediately says yes.
The Persephone-Hades myth is my all time favorite, so of course I had to read this book. I really love the idea of Persephone not being kidnapped but actually choosing to join Hades.

livinliterary's review

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2.0

Reading this book is like riding an unmoving roller coaster.

lkenyon2015's review

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3.0

Loved seeing a myth in a different light. Not super eloquent. Enjoyed it the whole time though!

mirable's review

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4.0

Interesting twist on the myth of Persephone and the seeds of spring. I liked the writing style and the story quite a bit, even if Persephone was a bit dense.

lammerman's review

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3.0

http://lhubert3.blogspot.com/2009/07/radiant-darkness.html

leabookjoy's review

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4.0

Persephone is tired of always being the little daughter of Demeter. Her days go by, always the same, doing the same thing every day in the valley that her mother created for her, away from men and mortals. But one day, the smell of an unknown but captivating flower leads to a clearing where an handsome man in a chariot awaits ...
I love Greek mythology so when I read the summary of this book, I couldn't resist =D
This rewriting is successful, I really liked the style of the author and I loved the characters, especially Hermes (he was exactly as I expected !!) but also Persephone (who is adorable, sometimes not rebellious enough but terribly endearing) and Hades (ahhhh sooo handsome ><)
I kinda regret that Demeter becomes all too nice at the end and that the characters are not more deep but I did read in one sitting.
One regret: I wanted this book to be longer (how is Persephone's life after ?? Does she still continue to talk with her friend ??) and more adult. I have nothing against the YA but let's say I would have preferred a bit more passion and real sex scenes.
A nice story nonetheless =)

kaitrosereads's review

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4.0

Radiant Darkness is a new take on the old myth of Persephone and Hades. Instead of being forced to go with Hades, Persephone chose to marry him and live in the underworld. It’s definitely a new twist to the old story and it was surprisingly well done.

The characters in Radiant Darkness were really well developed. I loved Persephone and how she was her own person and how she wasn’t the typical old fashioned teenager. When she wanted Hades, she found a way to get him. Probably not the best way, but she found a way. Hades was actually my favorite character. I never thought I would say this but Hades was sexy. =] I really loved his character and how Emily Whitman made the god of the underworld into a normal human being who can love. He was just perfect. Well, most of the time!

Also, the story was wonderful. I took a myths class this past year and we learned about the original story of Persephone and Hades and I really thought Emily Whitman’s take on the old myth was believable. Who knows, maybe that’s what actually happened. It would make a great love story.

Overall, Radiant Darkness is a great historical fiction book and I only give it four stars because Persephone annoyed me at times. Other than that, I thought the story was cute, memorable, and most importantly, believable. If you haven’t already read it, check this one out!

joyousreads132's review

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4.0

Mythology remixed. It's always nice to read about Greek mythology without all the incest happening in the background. :)

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book!

lilrongal's review

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5.0

This book was gorgeous. A beautiful retelling of the Persephone story. :)

ark99's review

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1.0

i reallyyy love greek mythology based books but i didnt really enjoy this one.
the romance in it didn't seem natural to me?? in the beginning when persephone and hades first meet it starts out really nice and I wish that the author kept that build up of their friendship but as soon as persephone goes to the underworld it all kind of stops and suddenly they're in love?? what?? anyways thats basically all i have to say about it. (all this is purposefully in lower case and stuff im too lazy to capitalize everything)