A review by just_one_more_paige
Neon Gods by Katee Robert

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

3.0

 
Remember a few years ago when I started the Psy-Changeling series while on vacation and the proceeded to read through all 15 books of the first wave of that series/world? Well, the time was again ripe for a steamy, escapist vacation series. Enter Dark Olympus. This one has been on the back burner for this exact situation for a bit now. And since this vacay included a lot of time in Greece, a hot romance series based on Greek mythology seemed *just right.* 
 
As these books are exactly as advertised, I am not going to waste my time (or yours) with long or in-depth reviews. Rather, I’ll just jump right into a couple major notes and thoughts about each and we’ll move along. 
 
This first book, Neon Gods, focused on Hades and Persephone. I have read a couple retellings of this story, it’s currently really popular for romance retellings especially (check out my review for St. Clair’s A Touch of Darkness as well). Anyways, in this one, Persephone escapes from a surprise and deeply unwanted engagement to Zeus and, pursued by his enforcers, flees across the River Styx, where she runs straight into the arms of Hades (who has been so long out of the public eye, everyone thinks he’s just a story). And thus begins their “fake dating to save Persephone and stick it to Zeus” plan that turns into something much deeper and more electric. 
 
This was a very solid retelling, for me (in context of it being a steamy romance situation at base, of course). I liked the set-up of the court of thirteen gods and goddesses that rule the city as a more “real life” situation. Still just as manipulating and dramatic and violent, but without an overabundance of magic or the other paranormal accoutrements of folklore/mythical life. The plot moved steadily and was reasonably complex. The emotions were all there. And the dialogue was solid enough that I didn’t cringe. I also loved some of the side characters (Hermes, in particular, is stellar and Persephone’s family details were nicely done). The overall reworking of relationships and backstories to be something more developed here, not leaning too heavily into popular mythology knowledge to fill gaps (and thus leaving the readers, in this case, annoyed by the lack of depth and/or plot holes).  
 
The main event, the romance, was as steamy as promised. There was so much sex. And it mostly leaned hot, as opposed to cringy, with the language Roberts used, which is a major selling point for me and mostly the reason I will be continuing the series (as the kink, in this case, was mostly exhibitionism and voyeurism based - with some incredibly light nods to BDSM - and I’m not usually have interest in the “watching” vibes, so I’m glad I liked this one anyways; it’s a good sign for the rest).  And there were some very sweet moments of connection built in as well, which gave it enough depth to be believable and to get me emotionally invested in the couple (important for me, as a reader). 
 
So yup, this delivered as advertised. And on to the next one. 
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