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A review by mlboyd20
Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman
4.0
For those that love mythology, this is right up your alley. For those that could care less about mythology, but like a good story, this is also for you. First, you have to be willing to get through the authors need to jump here and there and cut out of sequences quickly. I found at least the first half of the book to be quite choppy. You get used to it while reading, but it still drove me a bit crazy.
To the story....Persephone is the only child of Demeter. Demeter is the Goddess of the harvest. She insures the fertility of the Earth, brings rain when needed, provided the health of the crops. Demeter has sworn off men. They are not allowed in her kingdom. In turn, she has babied her daughter, who is well into her marrying years, and refuses to let her experience life outside of the kingdom. Persephone is unhappy about this, she wants to experience life. She feels that she serves no purpose.
In comes Hades, King of the Underworld, God of the dead. They meet, secretly, fall in love, secretly, and he asks her to be his Queen. She leaves her mothers kingdom behind, again secrelty, no note saying Goodbye, nothing to let her mother know where she's gone, etc.
Now the author has done something really exquisite with the Underworld. She has made it to be a land of fertile ground, a land where Shades (the dead) can live and still feel somewhat like a person. When I think of Hades, I think of hell and fire. This is a land of rivers, warmth, a sun, fertile land, etc.
As time goes, there are more and more Shades appearing. Persephone realizes, after quite some time, what is happening on Earth. She finds a way to fix it all and keep her promise to a Shade. She also finds her purpose and it is an eye opening event for her. I won't go on about who, what, why, and how, because than it would all be SPOILERS.
I will say that I was hoping that Hermes would find some romance. It felt that the author was going to link Persephone with him, but that didn't happen.
Other than the choppiness, this is a good twist on what is known in Greek mythology as the Rape of Persephone. Which I do suggest you read up on after finishing this book.
To the story....Persephone is the only child of Demeter. Demeter is the Goddess of the harvest. She insures the fertility of the Earth, brings rain when needed, provided the health of the crops. Demeter has sworn off men. They are not allowed in her kingdom. In turn, she has babied her daughter, who is well into her marrying years, and refuses to let her experience life outside of the kingdom. Persephone is unhappy about this, she wants to experience life. She feels that she serves no purpose.
In comes Hades, King of the Underworld, God of the dead. They meet, secretly, fall in love, secretly, and he asks her to be his Queen. She leaves her mothers kingdom behind, again secrelty, no note saying Goodbye, nothing to let her mother know where she's gone, etc.
Now the author has done something really exquisite with the Underworld. She has made it to be a land of fertile ground, a land where Shades (the dead) can live and still feel somewhat like a person. When I think of Hades, I think of hell and fire. This is a land of rivers, warmth, a sun, fertile land, etc.
As time goes, there are more and more Shades appearing. Persephone realizes, after quite some time, what is happening on Earth. She finds a way to fix it all and keep her promise to a Shade. She also finds her purpose and it is an eye opening event for her. I won't go on about who, what, why, and how, because than it would all be SPOILERS.
I will say that I was hoping that Hermes would find some romance. It felt that the author was going to link Persephone with him, but that didn't happen.
Other than the choppiness, this is a good twist on what is known in Greek mythology as the Rape of Persephone. Which I do suggest you read up on after finishing this book.