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mkwreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Death, Gun violence, Stalking, Death of parent, and War
anwhitebooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
First, what I loved: focus on consent (and enthusiastic, continuing consent), character agency, communication about what they want and don't want, diversity.
As for what I didn't love: They fell in love really fast. Also, I think this book probably could've been a hundred pages shorter. In between the action and the "action" (wink) was a lot of internal monologuing that slowed everything down. Soooo much telling instead of showing. So much of it was the characters interrupting scenes to tell the reader what was happening and how they felt about it--over and over and over. There was about a hundred pages in the middle where they kept on being like, "Zeus is gonna retaliate" constantly and he NEVER DOES. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and instead I was reading about them going on cutesy dates and buying puppies, and other stuff I just could not care less about. By the end I didn't care at all about them or their circumstances and got no great satisfaction from the ending.
Also, just a pet peeve: there were some really damn good sentences...that were later cheapened when they were basically repeated. And not just repeated, but used by the other POV. For example, I loved when Persephone was running and said "My fear gave me wings." I could really envision her practically "flying" down the street because she's running so fast. But then later, Hades said, "Her screaming gave me wings." UGH. So much for distinctive character voices.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing and Violence
Minor: Death of parent and War
erikalv97's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
But DEFINITELY check the content warnings before reading this book
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence and War
venetiana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Minor: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Misogyny, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
amme's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death
Minor: Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
georgiaisreading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: War
zivaxreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
literary_lyette's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Gun violence and War
emilysreadingbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Physical abuse and Blood
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
- Very steamy
- Hades
- Not sure what this trope is called but the one where the character thinks they’re a bad person but everyone can see they’re selfless and perfect
- The trope where both characters love each other but they won’t say so because they’re trying to protect the other
- Consent queens!!!
- Safe sex queens!!!
- Aftercare queens!!!
- Audiobook is available on Spotify
What I didn’t love:
- I’m not sure if this is necessarily the book’s fault, but I feel a bit mislead that it is tagged as LGBTQ+ on StoryGraph. Both main characters are implied to be bi based on their brief mention of same-gender past partners, but there is no queer plot. Don’t get me wrong, I was into Hades and Persephone, I just felt a little queer bated.
- At times the spice seemed a bit ridiculous in the context of the plot
- I listened to this as an audiobook and I really enjoyed most of it, with the exception of the way the two narrators portrayed the other character’s voice (Narrator from Hades’ POV reading Persephone’s dialogue and vice versa) - it was a bit cringry
- Perhaps unavoidable, but the spice had some language that I find somewhat cringey. At times it read like a porn manuscript
Bottom line:
If you want a spicy read, it’s definitely worth it!!
Spice level: 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶/5
Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual violence, Alcohol, and War