All fans of Greek mythology, originals and retelling, experience the patriarchal and misogynistic frustration of these men and their rule. This story gives us authenticity but with feminism that grows and spreads. Hades was one of the best feminists of all and I loved him for it. I especially loved what was revealed about Hades talents and loves; take that, toxic masculinity! Very well,’ Father said, rising from his throne. The laughing strangers fell silent at once. ‘Let it be so,’ he paused, the corners of his lips twitching as he took in the concerned expressions of the other gods, particularly the other members of the council who sat either side of him. They were his advisors, and now they nudged each other and whispered, keen to see his judgement. Essentially all of these changes (plus many more) made me incredibly curious as to how the older myths have now changed as a result of the author’s world building. I’d love for her to write some books that explore the earlier myths, so that I can see how these new myths will unfold for myself.

I had such a fun time with this book. If you enjoyed Lore Olympus, this would be the perfect read for you! It's equal parts rom-com and fantasy while effortlessly weaving in Greek mythology elements and characters. Sadly, this book is not for me. This book has all the right ideas. It's a fun retelling of Hades and Persephone, and the author tries to put a fresh new spin on the myth. It's evident the author has done her research and I applaud her for that. I am on the edge with anticipation for the second book as this ending was somewhat of a cliffhanger. The ending is bittersweet, but I won't be spoiling it ;) I read this book as part of a readalong and had so much fun discussing each chapter and sharing quotes. We received a plantable bookmark with this book and I'm excited to see which plant will grow. :)You’re a woman now.’ What an arbitrary word. I don’t remember much of a transformation on my birthday but apparently the whole world saw one. ‘You’re too old for these tantrums. Promise me you won’t be like this when your father gets here.’ I know you’re scared,’ she says, anger cooling with the opportunity for a lecture. ‘I know if you had your way you’d go off exploring the world, planting flowers, probably wearing a vastly inappropriate outfit and no shoes. But you can’t. The world is too dangerous.’

Thousands of years ago, the gods told a lie: how Persephone was a pawn in the politics of other gods. How Hades kidnapped Persephone to be his bride. How her mother, Demeter, was so distraught she caused the Earth to start dying. Kore. I’m only going to say this once and you need to listen to me.’ she steps towards me again and strokes my cheek. ‘I love you, my dear, but you are not powerful. There are gods out there with untold powers and Zeus gave you flowers. How do you plan on keeping yourself safe with petals? Our lives are not the same. I’m one of the first gods, goddess of sacred law, nature, the harvest – all powerful domains. Even then it’s not powerful enough to protect you, because Zeus gave all the more powerful things to men. By the Fates, when the war ended he awarded whole realms to the boys and one of them was ten years old.’ What I can say is that, I equally hate and love this book in equal parts... So.... That's something I will need to think about if I were to write my thoughts on it. A fierce, fresh and enormously fun YA fantasy re-imagining from a growing TikTok superstar. About This Edition ISBN: Talking of these two MCs, they were a delight in their slow dance towards friendship and the even slower dance to more. Styx and Tempest were feisty side characters and I enjoyed the development of the underworld at the hands of Persephone and Hades. I feel like we got a lot of story but equally, there's so much potential here for more. I'm excited to see this will be a series.stars. I have mixed feelings about this book. While I enjoyed the setting and the idea of the reimagining of the greek gods, the execution left me feeling disappointed. I felt frustrated with the storyline itself and its characters. Hades and Persephone just felt too different from what we associate them with, and the main focus of the story revolved around marriage for some ungodly reason. Portrayed as a romance with a sexy love interest, this book was supposed to be romantic with dreamy characters but my god was it slow and none of the characters riveting. Never mind a slow burn, more like trying to coax a fire to life during a rainstorm.