Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Neon Gods

There were characters I liked, Hermese was quite pleasant and I truly wish she had been a bigger part of the overall story. But the romance in this book felt unbelievable to me
Persephone was transfixed by the myth of Hades before she ever met him. And when she runs from a marriage forced onto her by her mother to Zeus, she runs to the undercity and finds out he is more than a myth.
But he certainly wasn't what I think anyone was expecting.
He was beloved to his people, kind hearted, but infuriatingly blind to how others perceive him. Persephone on the other hand has spent her entire life learning to be keen and manipulative. Initially she presses him into the arrangement they form, though quite literally in a matter of days they are both head over heels for each other.
The story has BDSM themes, and even a safeword, though it is never used. The author handles consent and protection really well. But there are so many little things that felt like they should have been a much bigger deal that either never happened or were glossed over.
Like the collomns for example. They are mentioned several times and sometimes with snippets of lore that might suggest a further connection to the myth this story was based off of. But that is about it.
We never get the full answers we want from Zeus about what he did to Hades. We never learn why these regular humans are named after Greek gods even if they aren't a member of the thirteen. Etc.
But I think what bothered me the most was her description of side characters. Rather than using descriptive words we are instead told their ethnicity. Example being "A black woman, a White man, A Latino woman"
And the sexuality of Persephone and Hades felt so thrown out there in one random chapter, and as a Bisexual woman myself I would have loved if the author expanded on that more, so it felt like an actual part of the characters rather than a footnote.
I liked the concept of the book and a take on modern day Olympus. But I just wanted more.

Content Warnings

josie1999's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Content Warnings

ginalucia's review against another edition

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lighthearted tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I’m going to be honest, it took me a while to get into this book. But once I did, I raced through.

We’ll get one thing out of the way first. Yes, this book is spicy. If it weren’t for the Greek Myth themes, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up. I’m not really mad about that though.

So let’s get into the plot. The concept of the 13 and their position in the world was pretty confusing to me. It takes a backseat to the spice in the book, which is probably why it doesn’t have time to develop. But in general, I’d love some more world-building.

I also got the ick from a few questionable bits of dialogue and actions. Some red flags were raised. Look at the content warnings if you want specifics.

It’s hard to suspend disbelief when the characters in this world aren’t actually Greek deities. Instead, they’re kind of normal people, just with a lot of power and money.

Aside from that, Neon Gods offers a fun ride. It’s fast-paced and entertaining, and you can get lost in it pretty quickly. A good read if you can set aside misgivings and let go.

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