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lberestecki's review
1.0
I did not like this book. There was something about the romance that just seemed dark and forced. I kept hoping for her to end up with someone else, rather than in this relationship with a man who struck me as being very controlling.
saavybookworm's review
2.0
such a great premise but the characters are so one-dimensional and the plot became tedious
kirbs419's review
3.0
I was kind of disappointed in this book, the focus isn't really on Persephone and Hades but other stuff. I feel like it all happened really fast and there wasn't a real understanding of their relationship
helena_blythe's review
4.0
The second of the Hades and Persephone themed books I read dealt with an actual Hades and Persephone, the immortals, in ancient times. Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman takes the traditional myth apart and reconstructs one of the most crucial parts of the myth: Persephone’s abduction. How different would their story be if she had been a willing companion instead of a vulnerable victim?
Hades is most definitely a presence in this story, much more than his equivalent in Abandon. He is very much the distant and powerful Lord of the Dead, pleased to see the ranks of dead spirits increase when famine descends as part of Demeter’s despair. Yet he is also vulnerable and besotted as he woos and wins Persephone.
The Underworld in this book is presented as a place one could actually imagine feeling at home in (if you can get used to the river Lethe and a giant three-headed dog) and was beautifully described. Persephone’s struggle with the idea of being a Queen, with what that entails, and with how much of it is really her (or how much she wants to allow it to change her), is presented in a way that felt realistic and which escaped being whiny or ungrateful. I also appreciated the way her loyalty and attraction to Hades builds, rather than simply being something that occurs with lightning-quick spontaneity.
In this story, we are once again in a first person narrative, seeing things through the protagonist’s eyes. Though she’s still considered a child by her mother who is ever eager to keep men out of their safe, uncomplicated world, she is a clearly a grown young woman in her narrative. She does experience a learning curve as she falls in love and figures out the drama occurring around her, but readers are thankfully spared the all-too-common teen angst narrative we so often see in YA books.
Radiant Darkness is a ‘clean’ book with hardly a curse from start to finish, and barely even reaches the need to fade to black. There is longing and passion, but attraction is not the entirety of the story. For all that, though, it doesn't lack passion.
Of the four Hades and Persephone books I read, this one was my favorite as it stuck closely to the myth and, with the one major change of having Hades swoop down in his black chariot to woo Persephone rather than to abduct her, re-imagined the myth entirely. This was good,solid storytelling. Radiant Darkness is a stand alone novel, rather than the first of a trilogy – rather unusual in YA these days.
Hades is most definitely a presence in this story, much more than his equivalent in Abandon. He is very much the distant and powerful Lord of the Dead, pleased to see the ranks of dead spirits increase when famine descends as part of Demeter’s despair. Yet he is also vulnerable and besotted as he woos and wins Persephone.
The Underworld in this book is presented as a place one could actually imagine feeling at home in (if you can get used to the river Lethe and a giant three-headed dog) and was beautifully described. Persephone’s struggle with the idea of being a Queen, with what that entails, and with how much of it is really her (or how much she wants to allow it to change her), is presented in a way that felt realistic and which escaped being whiny or ungrateful. I also appreciated the way her loyalty and attraction to Hades builds, rather than simply being something that occurs with lightning-quick spontaneity.
In this story, we are once again in a first person narrative, seeing things through the protagonist’s eyes. Though she’s still considered a child by her mother who is ever eager to keep men out of their safe, uncomplicated world, she is a clearly a grown young woman in her narrative. She does experience a learning curve as she falls in love and figures out the drama occurring around her, but readers are thankfully spared the all-too-common teen angst narrative we so often see in YA books.
Radiant Darkness is a ‘clean’ book with hardly a curse from start to finish, and barely even reaches the need to fade to black. There is longing and passion, but attraction is not the entirety of the story. For all that, though, it doesn't lack passion.
Of the four Hades and Persephone books I read, this one was my favorite as it stuck closely to the myth and, with the one major change of having Hades swoop down in his black chariot to woo Persephone rather than to abduct her, re-imagined the myth entirely. This was good,solid storytelling. Radiant Darkness is a stand alone novel, rather than the first of a trilogy – rather unusual in YA these days.
flyingsails's review
3.0
What if Persephone had *wanted* to go with Hades to the Underworld?
Radiant Darkness is an interesting retelling of the Greek Persephone and Hades myth, with a filled-out plot so it's not ONLY the myth itself but with Persephone wanting to go. The only thing I wish is that the author had done a little more characterization by showing rather than telling the reader what the characters were like. Still, a never-slow and original book.
Radiant Darkness is an interesting retelling of the Greek Persephone and Hades myth, with a filled-out plot so it's not ONLY the myth itself but with Persephone wanting to go. The only thing I wish is that the author had done a little more characterization by showing rather than telling the reader what the characters were like. Still, a never-slow and original book.
amberinpieces's review
3.0
Persephone lives in a gorgeous, flowering vale with her mother Demeter and a few nymphs as friends. Unfortunately, Demeter is overprotective and never allows Persephone to leave the vale or have any male contact. She also incessantly infantilizes Persephone and she cannot imagine living like this for all of eternity. She needs a change. She needs to be allowed to blossom into adulthood. One day, Persephone smells a new flower in the vale and follows her nose up a path she has never explored. There she finds an attractive man sitting in an elaborate chariot with six black, winged horses. She does not reveal herself the first time, but she does continue to visit the little clearing, both scared that the man will be there and that he will not be there.
Radiant Darkness is a retelling of the Persephone myth with Persephone revealing the true story. Everyone believes that Hades abducted her and that she was miserable in the Underworld when, in fact, she fell in love with him and willingly went with him to the Underworld to be his wife and queen. For her whole life, her mother, Demeter, infantilized her and refused change. Persephone felt unloved and trapped at home with her mother and in the Underworld she tastes a freedom she never had and is allowed to bloom into a woman. But then she learns that the whole time she has been gone, Demeter has caused drought and more and more people are dying and entering the Underworld. When this changes nothing, Demeter changes tactics and allows it to rain and flood, with much faster results. Zeus orders Persephone back, but right before she leaves, Hades shares a pomegranate with her that she grew and they both eat of it after they profess their love for each other and that they want to return to each other.
Read the full review here.
Radiant Darkness is a retelling of the Persephone myth with Persephone revealing the true story. Everyone believes that Hades abducted her and that she was miserable in the Underworld when, in fact, she fell in love with him and willingly went with him to the Underworld to be his wife and queen. For her whole life, her mother, Demeter, infantilized her and refused change. Persephone felt unloved and trapped at home with her mother and in the Underworld she tastes a freedom she never had and is allowed to bloom into a woman. But then she learns that the whole time she has been gone, Demeter has caused drought and more and more people are dying and entering the Underworld. When this changes nothing, Demeter changes tactics and allows it to rain and flood, with much faster results. Zeus orders Persephone back, but right before she leaves, Hades shares a pomegranate with her that she grew and they both eat of it after they profess their love for each other and that they want to return to each other.
Read the full review here.
jaymeshaw's review
3.0
I thought this was a pretty neat take on the story of Persephone and Hades. A little OVER dramatic at a few points, but hey, it IS a young adult novel.
naoms's review
4.0
This is a great retelling of the story of Hades and Persephone! I really liked it, the characters are just as I always thought they would be. =]