Member Reviews
when requesting this novel on netgalley, i instantly judged it by its cover. one of the most gorgeous covers I have ever seen, and after finishing the novel i see even more details in it that I missed on first glance.
in an effort to not spoil, this story was really well thought out with even the title being something incredibly imperative the entire story.
i feel like mythological retellings are easy to grasp peoples attention and have been doing a really good job within the reading community: i.e. The Song of Achilles, but this feels different? The original story is present but this novel in itself if you are not interested in greek mythology can stand up alone.
first, i would argue this is more focused on the story of Persephone x Demeter more than Hades x Persephone. the chapters split between the perspective of main character Cory (18yo) and her mother Emer. Cory who has strayed from the path that her mother with high expectations has always imagined for her, finds vulnerable and coerced by a seemingly unassuming man to care for his children. the complex mother daughter relationship was painful to read, in a way that you know as a reader that these are two women processing the same trauma. i loved the concept of the invisible string between mother and daughter and reminded me that my parents, our parents, every parent is living life for the first time too.
without going too much into this plot, he is by todays definition a monster, being what he refers to as the “scapegoat”, but realistically the business mogul behind the opioid epidemic. Rachel pulled this villain out of my brain. losing my father to a battle with addiction, there is no greater monster in my life than an overly prescribed pain medication. if you know me, you know i do not shut up about it because i feel that is hardly discussed, despite a lot of us being touched by it. the entire personification of with that said, Rachel somehow made me sympathize for him, at times he was just as directionless as Cory. the age different between Rolo and Cory made me cringe through out but the writing of the relationship between them is an amazing call back to Hades x Persephone.
this novel also touched on so many other topics that I feel so passionately about but are not discussed often: food scarcity/deserts, colonization, generational trauma, and so on.
i really did love this book, the four stars rating was towards the end there were some TW elements that i think could have been left out.
thank you so much netgalley and Scribner for the ARC!
Fruit of the Dead is a trendy reimaging of the story of Demeter, Persephone, and Hades. Set on a private island, Cory once a camp counselor, is hired as a nanny for a wealthy pharma king. She has a strained relationship with her mother, which grows as the summer continues. To think that this is a reimaging is a stretch. Some high-level themes from the original story are displayed, but that's about it. The style of the book is outrageous. The dual POVs are told from two different perspectives (one chapter in 1st person and the next in 3rd person. Sometimes both in one chapter!) The lack of quotation seemed unnecessary, especially in how it was formatted (maybe this will be better in the final publication vs the ARC). For such an overly wordy book, everything important felt surface level. Cory seemed to have two functioning brain cells, even before the drugs were introduced. Her mother still felt like a mystery at the end of the book. And our male main character was as gross as they come (not to mention a disturbing age gap). Also, please check your CW before reading. Thank you Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the eARC.
This is probably my favorite Persephone retelling, and it's definitely because of the mother daughter focus in this book. I also loved the writing! It was chill yet ominous which was very fun and made it a fast read. I loved all the little nods at greek mythology too.
But as much as I loved how chill this story was, I think it was almost too steady and it felt like a twist or pace change or something was lacking. But what do I know, it could have just been me lol.
My absolute favorite thing about this was how every one was very flawed. This author did such a great job at writing nuanced characters!
Overall this was well worth the read, a fun time, with great writing. Can't wait to read more from this author!
I will be reviewing this in an upcoming reading wrap up, I will link once I upload.
I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I am very thankful that I was given the opportunity to read this book early! I enjoy Greek mythology retellings and had yet to find a contemporary one that interested me.
Overall this was a solid book, maybe not for me. When I'm reading, I want to love the characters. While I think the characters here were well written and captivating I did not like them all that much. This book reads somewhere between prose and a fever dream, and I personally struggle with that writing style. I think it was quite a captivating style and matched the vibes of the story, but not my preferred reading experience.
I believe there are many people who will enjoy this book to its full potential, I just don't think I am one of them.
Thank you NetGallery for the ARC. The book is about a young woman trying to make her way in the world and separating herself from her single mother. After working at a summer camp, she is approached by a divorced father of a camper to become his children's nanny. The man is rich and offers her the finer things in life. This comes with a cost. She cannot disclose where she or who she is working for. Her mother launches into finding her daughter.
My takeaway is an older man using his wealth to influence a young naive woman. Him trying to regain his youth through her. Her mother worrying trying to regain a daughter gone missing. This can be to heavy for some people to read.
Well this was an ambitious undertaking and a strong reimagination of the myth of Persephone, Demeter and Hades. The devil is all in the details - coins are needed to travel via boat to Rolo’s house. Rolo has three dogs named Serita, Bertie and Ursula (get it, Ser/Ber/Us?) Emer, the mother, runs an agricultural nonprofit (RHEA Seeds). Cory was a realistic eighteen year old - aimless, unsure of herself and willing to be manipulated. I found myself so protective of her yet also unable to look away from the trainwreck that was becoming her life. If you are a fan of Greek myths, messy relationships or stories about addiction then this is for you!
In the depths of winter, I love a book set on an island. This is not quite the romantic island setting, but rather a story of drugs and money and a loss of innocence. The dual perspectives of Cory and her mother added depth, even though they both were not particularly likable. I did enjoy, but the stream-of-consciousness writing style is not my favorite and would probably warn friends to know that is what the style is before picking up.
This book was very interesting. I've never read a book of this genre so this was new to me. I really liked the authors writing but I will say I think the chapters were a bit too long. I found myself putting off reading this at times because I knew I wouldn't have time to read even one chapter in a sitting. If you can do that though, I think it could be worth the read. Make sure to check trigger warnings!!
3.5 stars. Thank you Scribner for my free ARC of Fruit of the Dead by Rachel Lyon — available Mar 5!
Read this if you:
🏛️ love Greek mythology and unconventional retellings
🤬 need a book and a character to scream at
🏝️ think that living on a private luxury island is worth any sacrifice
Cory is eighteen and adrift. Her camp counselor gig is coming to an end, and she's dreading going home to her overbearing, high-achieving mother. So when a camp kid's magnetic father offers her an ambiguous alternative, she jumps on it. Cory quickly finds herself on a private island with no cell signal, nannying for this incredibly wealthy man and drowsing in the luxurious feeling provided by his high-end pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, her mother is frantic at the disappearance of her daughter.
You guys. This one is a gut punch, and it made me want to shake Cory at like a dozen points in the story. I love the multi-POV we get, switching between Cory and her mother Emer. I think this retelling of Persephone and Demeter is pretty freaking genius, it's ultra-contemporary but still with so many touches of the original gothic myth. It dragged for me a bit in the middle, but man is it worth your time if you're intrigued by a "new" version of a classic myth!
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Don't worry if you don't remember or haven't read the myth of Persephone. In fact, not knowing that story might actually make this tale of Cory, her mother Emer, and Rolo more interesting because you won't be looking for the parallels. Cory and Emer, in alternating chapeters tell this story of a woman who realizes too late that she's lost her daughter. Cory is impressionable and naive about what's happening until she isn't. Rolo is just- awful. The writing seems to shift with the characters but it's often quite beautiful. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction.
not exactly what i thought it would be but still very good!!! the story was very engrossing and i read it in one sitting. however, sometimes the style of writing could be a little grating, but it’s probably just because i binged this novel.
Fruit of the Dead presented a unique reading experience for me. Initially, I encountered challenges with the writing style, given the absence of quotations and the abrupt switches in perspectives between chapters. However, as I acclimated to the unconventional style, I became thoroughly captivated by the narrative. It struck me as a skillfully crafted contemporary reinterpretation of a Greek mythology tale, seamlessly breathing life into the timeless messages embedded in Greek myths in a relatable and current manner.
hades being an opioid pharmaceutical CEO bro.... scary!
thanks to scriber and netgalley for the arc!
I really enjoyed this - I thought it was such a smart way of adapting a greek myth for modern day. It exceeded my expectations tenfold - I definitely thought it was going to be a very loose adaptation but I loved the attention to detail. The boat carrying them to this island, the three dogs, the demeter/farming NGO characterization. It was so well thought out.
The structure was fun too - the alternating chapters between mother and daughter was very effective and I loved seeing one conversation/incident from two POV's - it made each character so much more well rounded and layered.
Cory was a great protagonist - untethered at 18 with the paralyzing realization that her entire life is ahead of her. It made me grateful that I was no longer that age. Her recklessness and her avoidance with real life was both frustrating and relatable at once.
I definitely think some of the mom's chapters got a bit rushed - maybe I just found her a really compelling character, but I didn't want time to jump so much as she makes a transformation in her search of her daughter.
All in all, a wonderful modern adaptation of the hades/persephone/demeter story. It doesn't lean too heavily on violence and shock, it has a great dual-POV story where you feel really deeply for the mother/daughter relationship, and it perfectly captured the overwhelming openness of being 18.
Fruit of the Dead was such an amazing read. Extremely well written, excellent pacing and details. Cory is a camp counselor who just graduated high school without any big plans for college or a big job. She lives with her single mother who has great expectations for her and micro manages her quite a lot. At the camp, she meets the dad of one of the kids under her care and he offers a job offer too good to be true. She accepts on the spot and barely tells her mom, so obviously she freaks out when she tries to reach her daughter and she doesn't respond. This story is narrated on both Cory and her mom's POV. The vibes were extremely creepy but sexy at the same time. You really want to root for Cory but she's just stupid sometimes, and you can't really blame her since she's a teenager. This book is supposed to be a retelling of the myth of Persephone and Demeter, which I've never heard of before but definitely will check out to look for similarities.
I enjoyed this very much, it's very worth the read.
Thank you netgalley and the publishers for the eARC.
Cory is 18 and working as a camp counselor when the alluring father of one of her camper’s offers her a lucrative nanny position for the summer. Rolo is a divorced, middle-aged CEO of a controversial pharmaceutical company and once Cory signs an NDA, he whisks her off to his private island and cuts off her communication with the outside world. Under Rolo’s thrall, Cory is lost in a haze of opiates, opulence, and shamed into submission. Meanwhile, Cory’s mother, Emer, feels that something isn’t right and sets out to bring her daughter home.
Fruit of the Dead is a haunting contemporary reimagining of the myth of Persephone and Demeter. The story is told from both Cory and Emer’s perspectives and largely focuses on their strained mother-daughter relationship. Cory’s character is incredibly complex—she’s adrift, smart but ignores her instincts, and behaves unexpectedly which adds so much tension to the story. This brilliant retelling explores coming-of-age and the mother/daughter bond while touching on sex, addiction, power dynamics, and trauma. I was completely captivated from start to finish.
I had really high hopes for this book. From the cover to the modern retelling of one of my favorite mythology. This book was so slow paced and no plot. The characters were so unlikeable. This had so much potential but fell flat.
I had high hopes for this book based I. the description and the cover. Overall the idea of this was enticing to me, I love modern retellings of ancient mythology, but this fell flat to me. The storyline was very slow, and I didn’t have very much passion or compassion for any of the characters. The main woman is lazy and has little to no work ethic, so when her life doesn’t go perfectly while having her every need careered to, I didn’t really care. I also was completely unmotivated by the mother figure, who took up 1/2 or the narrative. Overall, not for me.
thank you netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to this book for a review!
since i read the synopsis of this book, i knew i was going to enjoy. i absoleulty love greek mythology and any retelling of hades and persephone is something i know that i am going to enjoy.
this story was a pretty solid story, and very easy to follow. i also loved how i was able to pinpoint out certain parts of the story that correlated with the myth.
now for the bad things.
there was absolutely no speech marks. it drove me insane, im not sure if this is due to the fact that this is an arc or if it's meant to be a part of the book and was simply a creative choice. another thing is that even though it is a dual pov, there is no reference at the beginning of the chapter whose pov it is.
otherwise, this is a pretty solid read and i would recommend it to any greek mythology lover.
A fever dream of a book about a high school graduate who is swept off to nanny for a billionaire and her uptight workaholic mom who goes on a journey to find her.
Split up by the POVs of the mother and daughter, this story focuses on the different emotions felt by young women and their mothers as they grow apart, and try deal with their own life struggles.
I thoroughly enjoyed Corey’s storyline getting hypnotized by the toxic billionaire and his offer to nanny his kids on their private island filled with everything she wants including attention, pills, and what seems like freedom. Her struggle to figure out how she felt about him was intriguing from start to finish, and I felt for her by the end.
On the other end, Corey’s mom’s story was alright. I understood the critiques on company owners and the politics of unfulfilled promises, but I felt like her POV was overall less impactful for me.
In the end, I really enjoyed this modern retelling and the strange and indulgent fog I felt like I was in while reading. I’ll definitely be picking up a physical copy when it comes out!
Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC :)
Absolutely mesmerizing! Rachel Lyons has masterfully crafted a hauntingly beautiful retelling of a Greek myth in 'Fruit of the Dead.' It’s a dark and atmospheric experience that's impossible to forget. The relatable coming-of-age themes add depth and resonance, making this book an absolute gem. Prepare to be captivated from start to finish – it's just that good!!!!