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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
moncuries's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
this book touches on a lot of topics that might have made for a more compelling plot; misogyny, classism, privilege. The characters themselves are aware of these injustices, “Down with the patriarchy,” Apollo mocks his sister’s short rant about Hera. The two leads embark on a sort of one upmanship on who knows the plight of the city best. Both of them still see it through ultimately privileged eyes. Apollo is nice to some orphans once. Its weird
I also think this book would have benefitted from establishing their characters a little more before bringing them together. The beginning (Seeing Zeus, travelling etc) felt a little rushed. I wanted to settle into the quiet life a little more. It felt as though, in an effort to demonstrate Apollo’s place in his village, we had to see him interact with as many people as possible. If just one of those scenes had been longer and more introspective, I think it would have been much more effective.
I like how much description we get, particularly from Apollo’s perspective. The metaphors and comparisons are mostly rooted in the character’s world, which is good. I only wish the descriptions spent less time talking about how beautiful it all was and a little more on establishing mood. I want to know about the dirt of the city and the heavy smells. Apollo is a poet, so maybe it makes sense that his POV is mostly surface level pretty worded description. I also think good description needs character interaction/context so maybe thats why it wasnt clicking.
I think the dialogue in this book struggles with hitting in between the modern lexicon and some more antiquated expressions and sensibilities. It’s a purposeful choice and one thats not uncommon in the genre, but I don’t love it.
I’m about halfway through, so maybe things will turn out! I do like the story, I’m just not as impressed as i wanted to be haha.
update:
another pet peeve is when the characters cite “The Laws!!” as explanation for an injustice. Its used as the explanation for injustices faced by begging orphans, misogyny, etc. It just feels like a childish thing to say. even just “By law, the women may not seek employment.” is better than “The laws,” LMAO they do explain what the law is but it feels childish
also the physical descriptions get a little repetitive. it feels like it was missing an editor. lots of ebony hair shining and gleaming and dark curls. which, yeah, a lot of characters may share a hair colour or texture, but surely we can talk about more than their hair colour. i have heard about hyacinth and apollo’s jawlines like 6 times. some of the environment description gets reused too. flaxen light for instance. its a good one, but i just feel like... why didnt an editor see this?
STOP USING THE WORLD AMBLED LOL U CAN SAY WALK! why is everyone and their mother ambling. it might be appropriate for one character to amble but a whole royal family and all of their court? nobody learned to walk properly?? lol
at the beginning, apollo and his sister have a small discussion about a previous hookup. its implied that non binary people exist in this universe or at the very least, there are people who use they/them. Unless I missed something, we never actually see a non binary person. Why even mention it? Also how do these non binary people fit into the systematic oppression of women in the story? for it to be Normal enough that Apollo discusses it readily, its odd that it never comes up again. Its weird to throw it in at the beginning, when things are being established, and then just let nothing come of it.
I also think this book would have benefitted from establishing their characters a little more before bringing them together. The beginning (Seeing Zeus, travelling etc) felt a little rushed. I wanted to settle into the quiet life a little more. It felt as though, in an effort to demonstrate Apollo’s place in his village, we had to see him interact with as many people as possible. If just one of those scenes had been longer and more introspective, I think it would have been much more effective.
I like how much description we get, particularly from Apollo’s perspective. The metaphors and comparisons are mostly rooted in the character’s world, which is good. I only wish the descriptions spent less time talking about how beautiful it all was and a little more on establishing mood. I want to know about the dirt of the city and the heavy smells. Apollo is a poet, so maybe it makes sense that his POV is mostly surface level pretty worded description. I also think good description needs character interaction/context so maybe thats why it wasnt clicking.
I think the dialogue in this book struggles with hitting in between the modern lexicon and some more antiquated expressions and sensibilities. It’s a purposeful choice and one thats not uncommon in the genre, but I don’t love it.
I’m about halfway through, so maybe things will turn out! I do like the story, I’m just not as impressed as i wanted to be haha.
update:
another pet peeve is when the characters cite “The Laws!!” as explanation for an injustice. Its used as the explanation for injustices faced by begging orphans, misogyny, etc. It just feels like a childish thing to say. even just “By law, the women may not seek employment.” is better than “The laws,” LMAO they do explain what the law is but it feels childish
also the physical descriptions get a little repetitive. it feels like it was missing an editor. lots of ebony hair shining and gleaming and dark curls. which, yeah, a lot of characters may share a hair colour or texture, but surely we can talk about more than their hair colour. i have heard about hyacinth and apollo’s jawlines like 6 times. some of the environment description gets reused too. flaxen light for instance. its a good one, but i just feel like... why didnt an editor see this?
STOP USING THE WORLD AMBLED LOL U CAN SAY WALK! why is everyone and their mother ambling. it might be appropriate for one character to amble but a whole royal family and all of their court? nobody learned to walk properly?? lol
at the beginning, apollo and his sister have a small discussion about a previous hookup. its implied that non binary people exist in this universe or at the very least, there are people who use they/them. Unless I missed something, we never actually see a non binary person. Why even mention it? Also how do these non binary people fit into the systematic oppression of women in the story? for it to be Normal enough that Apollo discusses it readily, its odd that it never comes up again. Its weird to throw it in at the beginning, when things are being established, and then just let nothing come of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
pagesofnay's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Cursing, Sexual content, and Misogyny
Moderate: Blood, Animal death, and Physical abuse
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