Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Neon Gods

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

txikimandy's review

dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I read this for a “Rated-R” book club, and I have to say I’m pretty disappointed. The worldbuilding is awful and the writing is subpar at best. It’s full of grammatical errors and “I don’t think this word means what you think it means” errors. The characters are great and I liked the plot well enough, however everything was just not done well enough for me. Particularly in the beginning, the reasons for characters disliking one another were not explored/explained enough, nor was the governmental structure or the rest of the world. We are evidently in a universe where California and Ohio exist (and according to other reviews about this book, Disney villains), but we don’t get any information about how this seemingly magical world fits into our mundane one. If you’re reading for plot or a well-written, fleshed-out story, I do not recommend this book.

The one good thing I can say about Robert’s writing is the characterization. Some of it left more to be desired, like Hades’s perception of what his constituents think of him and why it doesn’t line up with how they actually feel. But overall, Hades and Persephone each had really big character arcs that I felt were well-developed.

Further, to Robert’s credit, she is a really good smut and romance writer. There were some sex scenes that I felt were described unrealistically (for example, a mere two paragraphs until Persephone finishes) or were not long enough, but the vast majority were descriptive, hot, and steamy. The fluffy romance scenes between Hades and Persephone were amazing. I melted every time there was anything romantic happening. I liked the development of both characters and their relationship. If you read purely for smut and romance, I would recommend this book.

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oakleylynch's review

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challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious medium-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

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agnesbebon's review

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4.0

This is a banger of a Persephone Hades retelling. It’s well written, the banter is top tier, the characters all have chemistry, the world is well built but still loose, and I’m in love with Persephone and Hades. But it did take me longer to get into than I would’ve liked and the climax of the story and ending felt fast. I love love love the way Katee Robert writes about consent and pleasure and the spice in this book is not what I was expecting in a very good way. I also loved the epilogue and I’m not usually an epilogue girlie. The mythology was rewritten in a way that makes sense and I love the different ways Robert included aspects and people from the original myths. Super solid 4 stars, would recommend.

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