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A review by mollyringle
Aphrodite by Kaitlin Bevis
5.0
While the first three books focused mainly on the Persephone/Hades relationship (and a lovely ride that is, too), this one embarks on new territory by sticking exclusively to the point of view of Aphrodite. It’d be easy to dislike the “Barbie Goddess,” as one character calls her—she’s physically perfect, she’s occasionally clueless, she may often come off as shallow and self-serving…she’s, well, Aphrodite. But I thought Kaitlin Bevis did a marvelous job with the character, showing us her suffering and fears, all of which are inseparable from her recent origin as a creation of Zeus’, made specifically to do his bidding. Now Zeus is gone, but Aphrodite’s left with the nightmares. She’s unbalanced, and unsure what to do with her freedom.
To get the other gods to trust and like her a little better, which they haven’t entirely so far, she volunteers to help solve the latest divine mystery: namely, why some demigods have been disappearing. The mission takes her onto a cruise ship, where she winds up sharing a room with the demigod Adonis, and as you can guess, there the fun begins!
Part of the fun is that Adonis doesn’t even seem to like her, at first. He’s a model, on board for a traveling photo shoot, but he’s no fluffy pretty face; he’s responsible and intelligent, and disapproves of Aphrodite’s intrusion and doesn’t hesitate to tell her so. So when she finds her powers mysteriously weakening on the cruise, and leans on him for help more and more, their emerging feelings for each other are that much more delicious. Also, they do a stint of photo shoots together, which just feels like the perfect occupation for Aphrodite and Adonis in the modern age, and I SO would love to see those resulting clothing ads, featuring the two of them scantily clad on a Caribbean beach. Sounds gorgeous!
I didn’t guess at all who was really behind the disappearances and attacks, so kudos to Kaitlin for a plot well constructed. Also, Ares turned out to be much more of a sweetheart than I expected, which was an endearing surprise.
Though we get a satisfying ending, the series is clearly not over and the adventure will be continuing in another installment. Hurray! Stay tuned.
To get the other gods to trust and like her a little better, which they haven’t entirely so far, she volunteers to help solve the latest divine mystery: namely, why some demigods have been disappearing. The mission takes her onto a cruise ship, where she winds up sharing a room with the demigod Adonis, and as you can guess, there the fun begins!
Part of the fun is that Adonis doesn’t even seem to like her, at first. He’s a model, on board for a traveling photo shoot, but he’s no fluffy pretty face; he’s responsible and intelligent, and disapproves of Aphrodite’s intrusion and doesn’t hesitate to tell her so. So when she finds her powers mysteriously weakening on the cruise, and leans on him for help more and more, their emerging feelings for each other are that much more delicious. Also, they do a stint of photo shoots together, which just feels like the perfect occupation for Aphrodite and Adonis in the modern age, and I SO would love to see those resulting clothing ads, featuring the two of them scantily clad on a Caribbean beach. Sounds gorgeous!
I didn’t guess at all who was really behind the disappearances and attacks, so kudos to Kaitlin for a plot well constructed. Also, Ares turned out to be much more of a sweetheart than I expected, which was an endearing surprise.
Though we get a satisfying ending, the series is clearly not over and the adventure will be continuing in another installment. Hurray! Stay tuned.