Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
The first time reading was 4 stars, this last time was about a 2. Very disappointed but slightly happier that my critical reading skills are getting better
It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.
Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.
(This review contains spoilers)
I had been wanting to read this book for a while now... I’ve seen it everywhere all over the blog world and thought it sounded like it would be a great book. And it does sounds like a great book. Unfortunately it was just an okay book.
I love Greek mythology, and understand that every author is entitled to have a creative license in their writing. With that being said I think this author took her creative license a bit too far. There are just some things that you should not change, ever! Greek mythology is one of them.
To take Hades, the God of the Underworld, and turn him into Henry, a depressed, “tortured”, person who sulks around is a crime! Hades is supposed to be this big bad scary guy that you would never want to mess with. I mean come on he kidnapped Persephone and made her his wife for God’s sake. He was not a sullen 20 something feeling sorry for himself over a girl not loving him back who answers to a “council”.
I felt the plot was a bit predictable and cheesy. Giving Kate 7 test to decide if she is worthy to become Henry’s wife and immortal is one thing, but to test her on the 7 sins (wrath, greed, pride, lust, envy, gluttony, and sloth) is just silly. Why would the Greek Gods care about any of that? They were chock full of wrath, greed, pride, lust, envy, gluttony and slothfulness! They should of tested her on things like intelligence, judgment, strength, and courage. Send her on a quest to slay a dragon or behead Medusa or something equally challenging!
The author had great potential with the idea behind her book. She just needed to do more research on the Greek Gods. I also felt that Kate did nothing. She was waited on and handed everything she wanted/needed while pinning over a guy who was in love with another woman. The “tests” happened without any, well, action. All of a sudden the tests were done.
The only redeeming quality in this book was Kate’s relationship with her dying mother. In the beginning of the book all Kate wanted to do was take care of her mother. To spend every minute possible with her, before she dies. Sadly the author chose to screw with this as well when she revealed that Kate’s mom was the Goddess Demeter. This makes Kate, Persephone’s sister. This brings on a whole other level of weird...
Over all if you’re looking for a quick light read this is the book for you. Like I said, the author had a good concept and I did enjoy parts of this book. I do wish the mythology wasn’t messed with. Hopefully the next book in this series will be better!
Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.
(This review contains spoilers)
I had been wanting to read this book for a while now... I’ve seen it everywhere all over the blog world and thought it sounded like it would be a great book. And it does sounds like a great book. Unfortunately it was just an okay book.
I love Greek mythology, and understand that every author is entitled to have a creative license in their writing. With that being said I think this author took her creative license a bit too far. There are just some things that you should not change, ever! Greek mythology is one of them.
To take Hades, the God of the Underworld, and turn him into Henry, a depressed, “tortured”, person who sulks around is a crime! Hades is supposed to be this big bad scary guy that you would never want to mess with. I mean come on he kidnapped Persephone and made her his wife for God’s sake. He was not a sullen 20 something feeling sorry for himself over a girl not loving him back who answers to a “council”.
I felt the plot was a bit predictable and cheesy. Giving Kate 7 test to decide if she is worthy to become Henry’s wife and immortal is one thing, but to test her on the 7 sins (wrath, greed, pride, lust, envy, gluttony, and sloth) is just silly. Why would the Greek Gods care about any of that? They were chock full of wrath, greed, pride, lust, envy, gluttony and slothfulness! They should of tested her on things like intelligence, judgment, strength, and courage. Send her on a quest to slay a dragon or behead Medusa or something equally challenging!
The author had great potential with the idea behind her book. She just needed to do more research on the Greek Gods. I also felt that Kate did nothing. She was waited on and handed everything she wanted/needed while pinning over a guy who was in love with another woman. The “tests” happened without any, well, action. All of a sudden the tests were done.
The only redeeming quality in this book was Kate’s relationship with her dying mother. In the beginning of the book all Kate wanted to do was take care of her mother. To spend every minute possible with her, before she dies. Sadly the author chose to screw with this as well when she revealed that Kate’s mom was the Goddess Demeter. This makes Kate, Persephone’s sister. This brings on a whole other level of weird...
Over all if you’re looking for a quick light read this is the book for you. Like I said, the author had a good concept and I did enjoy parts of this book. I do wish the mythology wasn’t messed with. Hopefully the next book in this series will be better!
Hmm, I liked the book and didn't like it at the same time. I feel like there are huge missing chunks of the story and Kate accepts a lot of things with very little fight. But I love the idea of the story still. Better execution would have given this higher marks. Oh and I forgot - I wish more of the Gods/Goddesses showed themselves. There is a reason Kate can't figure out who some of them were - they just aren't recognizable. That I hope is fixed as the series goes on.
1st read: 3 stars. Not bad...it was enjoyable, but not quality work. I think the beginning could have been better...it felt glazed over and needed to be deeper. Kate didn't react to most situations as I would have (blind, unquestioning acceptance) which bugged me. I also think it should have had the characters a little closer to the Greek myths.
2nd read: 4 stars. I don't know why I was more into it this time.
2nd read: 4 stars. I don't know why I was more into it this time.
Wowza. If you are a fan of Greek mythology-read this book!
medium-paced
Couldn't get pass page 50. The plot holes were too enormous. It had potential. But then this strange thing happens, which causes the main character to automatically assume that Hades must be involved and that Greek mythology is real... and tell her friends. Ummm too big a leap. Terrible.
always lovely to see a book where a girl's boyfriend tells her "not to eat" and then she stops eating. also, then having sex with him ~before marriage~ and being punished. Oh yeah, love that.
Take everything interesting about Greek mythology then fuck it up completely. Bullshit judgemental, Christianity and internalised misogyny round out this horrible mess. Poor writing, character development, plot & storyline a given.