Scan barcode
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
5 ⭐ CW: (provided by the author) hunting, animal sacrifice, misogyny, a father hitting his adult son, blood, death, sexual assault mention, deaths in a fire, strong language, sexual content
A Veil of Gods and Kings by Nicole Bailey is book one in the Apollo Ascending series. This is a NA romance reimagining of the Apollo and Hyacinth myth. I have been loving retellings lately, and this one gave me The Song of Achilles vibes minus all the tragedy.
We get POVs from Apollo, Hyacinth, and Epiphany (Hyacinth's sister). Each character, including Temi, Apollo's sister, struggles with their lot in life vs. what they actually want. For Apollo, he is destined to ascend as the sun god, but wants nothing more than to stay on earth with his sister. Hyacinth is destined to become king after his father, and struggles with the pressure of duty and trying to be with the one he loves. Epiphany is constrained by the patriarchal laws that make it so she must marry or have male patronage, when all she wants is freedom.
The enemies to lovers between Apollo and Hyacinth is so wonderful! I love all the witty repartee and the "gods I hate him, but can't stop fantasizing about him." I had very "just kiss already!" Vibes the whole time lol. I loved the friendship between Temi and Pip! Temi is aroace and is not here for all the patriarchal bullshit and encourages Pip to do what she wants despite what is proper. Temi is absolutely my favorite character. She's me, except I'm allosexual lol. As Nicole said, definitely a Sagittarius 😆.
I'm not usually a huge fan of NA romance, mostly because a lot of enemies to lovers in this genre read as abusive, but Nicole doesn't do that! This was a sweet relationship with plenty of steamy moments that were not gratuitous, but loving. I'm impatiently waiting for June to come so I can have the next book to see more of Temi's story.
A Veil of Gods and Kings by Nicole Bailey is book one in the Apollo Ascending series. This is a NA romance reimagining of the Apollo and Hyacinth myth. I have been loving retellings lately, and this one gave me The Song of Achilles vibes minus all the tragedy.
We get POVs from Apollo, Hyacinth, and Epiphany (Hyacinth's sister). Each character, including Temi, Apollo's sister, struggles with their lot in life vs. what they actually want. For Apollo, he is destined to ascend as the sun god, but wants nothing more than to stay on earth with his sister. Hyacinth is destined to become king after his father, and struggles with the pressure of duty and trying to be with the one he loves. Epiphany is constrained by the patriarchal laws that make it so she must marry or have male patronage, when all she wants is freedom.
The enemies to lovers between Apollo and Hyacinth is so wonderful! I love all the witty repartee and the "gods I hate him, but can't stop fantasizing about him." I had very "just kiss already!" Vibes the whole time lol. I loved the friendship between Temi and Pip! Temi is aroace and is not here for all the patriarchal bullshit and encourages Pip to do what she wants despite what is proper. Temi is absolutely my favorite character. She's me, except I'm allosexual lol. As Nicole said, definitely a Sagittarius 😆.
I'm not usually a huge fan of NA romance, mostly because a lot of enemies to lovers in this genre read as abusive, but Nicole doesn't do that! This was a sweet relationship with plenty of steamy moments that were not gratuitous, but loving. I'm impatiently waiting for June to come so I can have the next book to see more of Temi's story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Cursing, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Blood and Animal death
Minor: Sexual assault
More...