4.5 Stars

Persephone Dimitriou has a plan to escape the politics and toxicity of Olympus high society, and she only has a few short months left of biding her time until she can put her plan in motion. And then the unthinkable happens, an arranged engagement to the repulsive and dangerous, King of Olympus, Zeus.

With no time to think, and danger chasing her down, Persephone runs... right into the arms of the underworld, and it's mythical ruler, Hades.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neon Gods was an innovative and sultry take on the fabled Greek Gods of Olympus. Persephone and Hades' story has been told time and time again, but never with such a sexy, intriguing and suspenseful plot and storyline.

This book was the utterly addictive and incredibly alluring story of Persephone, a woman who wants to leave Olympus behind but is being forced into a dangerous situation in which she has no control. She finds herself at the mercy of Hades, a man who was believed to be a myth, but in reality was a reclusive yet honorable man. Their goal is the same, and their connection is undeniable, so Persephone and Hades set out on showing Olympus society just how far they'll go to thumb their nose at Zeus and his simpering followers...

I absolutely loved this first book in the Dark Olympus series, and I am so incredibly excited to see what is in store for the next Olympus couple. I was fascinated by the premise in which the roles of the Gods are filled with a new member upon the death of the previous representative, while at the same time, heartbroken for poor Hades and the way he inherited his position. The scorching hot relationship between Persephone and Hades pulled me in, but the acceptance and love they find with each other held me completely enamored with this unforgettable read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest and unbiased review.

This modern take on the classic story of Hades and Persephone with a sinful spin.
Persephone Dimitriou is the planner of the family, but when cornered and without options she runs into the unknown. And from the shadows emerges Hades. He's a myth to those that live in the Upper city, but he's the king of the lower city. With Persephone by his side he vows to protect her with his own brand of vengeance against those who seek to harm her. The time had finally come to deal with the power struggles within the Thirteen. And show everyone there are more legacies than Zeus.

Thanks so much to @netgalley and @sourcebookscasa for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!

Holy moly this Hades and Persephone retelling was simply amazing. In this rendition, Persephone flees the upper city of modern day Olympus when an engagement to the sleazy Zeus is sprung upon her. She runs and finds herself in the lower city and in the arms of the king of the underworld, Hades. They strike a deal that may end up bringing down all of Olympus if they aren’t careful.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes:
•Romance in a fictional setting
•Greek mythology
•Casual bisexual rep
•Grumpy + sunshine // Fake relationship tropes
•All of the steam (seriously this is NSFW)

If you like steamy romances, then I definitely recommend Neon Gods, which publishes this upcoming TUESDAY!

Katee Roberts is now one of my new fav romance authors. There’s going to be more in this series and I can’t wait to read them all. The next is apparently about Psyche and Eros.

As a huge Greek mythology fan, I'm always looking for great modern retellings of classic myths to pick up; as a romance reader, this was the Hades and Persephone retelling that I've been looking for. We have a mysterious modern setup that's light on magic but heavy on political machinations, with the thirteen main gods and goddesses of Greek mythology recast as the Thirteen, roles that are either lobbied for or inherited and that combine to rule and oversee different aspects of the city. Persephone is trying to avoid the drama and power struggles while planning her escape from it all when she's unexpectedly forced by her mother, Demeter, into an engagement with Zeus, who has rumored to have killed his previous few wives. Desperate, she flees across the River Styx into the territory of the one member of the Thirteen thought to be only a myth--Hades. The two develop instant, great chemistry, and I loved how they went from reluctant allies plotting against Zeus to much more. The book's premise is perfect, and it also sets up potential sequels featuring Persephone's sisters (in this world Psyche, Calliope, and Eurydice, who are traditionally from separate myths) and a whole cast of side characters (my personal favorite was Hermes, who I hope continues to be heavily featured in the series). I had a great time reading this book, and I'm very much looking forward to more Green mythology-inspired romance from Katee Robert.

I received an eARC of Neon Gods from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Katee Robert book and I now know why people obsess over her books. I am officially hooked and I need more! This book was HOT AF! I do love a good Hades & Persephone story and this book did not disappoint at all. Looking forward to rereading it again and again and for the continuation of this series. In the meantime, I am on my way to read more of her work and to try and find something to fan myself with.

Surprisingly, this is my first Katee Robert book. I own several of them on my kindle but I haven't dug into them. I was excited to get this book because Hades and Persephone is one of my FAVORITE retellings. I knew Katee's books are steamy but well thought out and it led to me devouring this book.

I liked the world-building. Persephone is the daughter of Demeter, an elected position in Olympus of the Thirteen gods who keep the government running. Before her mom's position, she lived in the country and she aches to leave the political world and live her own life. Her mom is conniving and powerful and orchestrates a surprise engagement to Zeus, a title passed along bloodlines. Hades has a bad reputation and his three previous wives have mysteriously gone missing so Persephone is stuck. She leaves her surprise engagement party and while being followed by Zeus's men, makes her way across the bridge over River Styx into the lower city.

Hades is used to the shadows. He is an orphan, his parents dying in a fire caused by Zeus when he was a teenager. He made it out with scarring all over his body and assumed his father's role of Hades. He's been protecting his city and people ever since, planning for the day he can have revenge on Zeus. It's his lucky day when Zeus's new fiancee willingly comes across the bridge into his territory.

I really enjoyed the dynamic between Hades and Persephone. She was smart and her actions were well thought. She knew she was put in a bad place and takes the opportunity of meeting Hades to strike up a deal: she'll stay with him until her birthday when she gets her trust fund, ruining her reputation and hopefully getting Zeus to lose interest in her, and she'll leave Olympus forever. Hades is hesitant to take her to bed because he values consent and mutual respect. They strike a bargain and their tumble into romantic feelings was a treat to watch. Also, this book is hot. Like, fan yourself steamy. It wasn't crass or overdone like other fetish scene books. The author's reputation for sexy books is well earned.

This was a perfect summer vacation read and it won't be my last Katee Roberts book. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

I saw "Hades x Persephone re-telling by Katee Robert" and RAN. You'd think that after reading as many Hades x Persephone books as I can, I'd find myself bored with another, but that was not the case. Set in a modern version of Olympus, I was ensnared by the concept of the Thirteen and the “myth” of Hades from the beginning.

Hades, God of the Underworld, is obviously a very specific character to portray and sometimes it can be repetitive in that sense, but this version of Hades is probably one of my favorites that I have ever read. His back story makes him relatable and his big heart makes you melt. The same goes for Persephone. A lot of the time she is portrayed as naive and kind of annoying about her lack of knowledge, but the Neon Gods Persephone absorbed new information in stride and was better off for it in the end. I especially loved how this Persephone has sisters!!! I enjoyed how they played a role in her story.

The spice was off the charts, as expected from Katee Robert, but I like the fact that it didn’t drive the story. The battle of power between Hades and Zeus and the way it was resolved felt like nothing I’ve ever read before in a Greek mythology re-telling.

I enjoyed this book so much, thank you NetGalley and SourceBooks Casablanca for sharing this eARC with me!

I am a sucker for any Hades/Persephone retellings and this was no exception. I am also a huge Katee Robert fan in general. So I was set up to love this book and I was not let down.

I am weak for Mr. Hades "I am tough and brooding and everyone fears me but I actually have an ooey gooey center." He is the perfect combination of protective and dominant man in charge who is also quick to drop to his knees and worship the woman he loves. The way he insists on making sure Persephone is taken care of while still giving her full autonomy and ensuring her complete consent was just wonderful. And I love how Persephone breaks through her sunshine facade to show that she is even more protective of him right back. These two really work together and I loved it.

This was sexy with a light dash of suspense that Robert always puts in her stories. Definitely recommend!

This review has also been posted to Goodreads and will be posted to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and my Instagram Review account after its release.

“You’re beautiful to me. The scars are part of that, part of you. They’re a mark of every thing you’ve survived, of how strong you are.’”

Neon Gods by Katee Robert, we get another great retelling of the Hades and Persephone story. When Persephone is ambushed into an arranged marriage to the all powerful Zeus, she flees and ends up in the hands of Hades, whom everyone believes is dead. Persephone asks for Hades help and part of that involves them being in a real relationship so that she will be less desirable to Zeus. But will she be able to have the type of relationship that everyone would expect with the dark character and games Hades is known for? And will either of them be able to avoid having real feelings for each other?

This book has lots of spice and lots of steam. It’s definitely for mature readers. I really enjoyed it. I liked how Persephone interacted with the gruff and grumpy Hades. I loved that we got to read it from both perspectives. The book gave me lots of feels and was a great escape read. I will definitely be looking for more from this author and I give it 4.5 stars.

Persephone Dimitriou is a society darling, living in the lap of luxury in a stylish highrise in the city of Olympus. Her mother is Demeter, head of one of the thirteen ruling houses and while she seems to care for her four daughters, she clearly cares for ambition and power all the more. Persephone puts on a sunny and glamorous front and counts the days until she turns twenty-five, when she will access her trust fund and bribe someone to get her out of Olympus forever. Imagine her shock when she is ambushed at a big society party with a public proposal from Zeus, heads of the thirteen houses himself (and a widower whose three previous wives all disappeared without a trace). Zeus makes Persephone's skin crawl and she leaves the party as soon as she's able, running away into the night to get away.

She finds herself chased by two of Zeus' henchmen towards the river Styx, the almost impossible to cross border between the glamourous upper city and the dark and neglected undercity. Utterly terrified, she forces herself to run across one of the few bridges, even as her feet are bleeding and her lungs are running out of air. A dark, mysterious stranger catches her and warns away her assailants, then bundles her up and literally carries her away to his home. The mystery man turns out to be none other than Hades, the believed to be dead scion of the thirteenth house. It's in the interest of the rulers of the other eleven houses (Hera doesn't rule her own house, that is the courtesy title that Zeus' wife holds) that Hades is kept as a shadowy sort of boogeyman, who only a few know of. He doesn't ever cross the river Styx to get to the upper city, they stay away from the lower city and his territory.

Hades already hates Zeus with every fiber of his scarred being. The only survivor of a horrible fire that killed his parents when he was a child, Hades has been a ruler of his house since he was very young, and he's spent most of his time making sure that the inhabitants of the undercity are safe and protected, and that he has contingency plans for whatever the other members of the Thirteen might come up with to mess with his people. He never expected to bring pretty princess Persephone half frozen to death with bleeding feet into his kitchen, furious about being abducted one minute and proposing an alliance and a very tempting bargain the next morning. Persephone has figured out that Hades hates Zeus, and what better way to stay safe from him (and provoke him massively in the process) than by offering herself to Hades as his lover. If she makes sure she is publically associated with Hades for the last three months of winter until she turns twenty-five, she's pretty sure Zeus will consider her damaged goods and no longer wish to marry her. Hades gets a chance to thumb his nose at his greatest enemy by "stealing" that which Zeus considers his by right.

While Zeus always made Persephone feel deeply uncomfortable, Hades makes her feel safe and clearly means to protect her, even from her own worst impulses. He's not at all impressed with her refusal to rest and wait for her feet to heal or her tendency to go for days without proper meals when she's stressed or processing things. While Hades may have the public persona of some dark lord of the seedy underworld, he's clearly a deeply lonely, physically and emotionally scarred man who protects all those he feels responsible for be they the various inhabitants in lower Olympus, his loyal staff...or Persephone.

Having had to make sure to hide her observant nature and sharp intelligence behind a facade of a beautiful, vacuous socialite in the years since her mother ascended to the position of Demeter, Persephone is both surprised and delighted to be able to be herself around Hades, even when that means being intentionally provoking and baiting him. She was drawn to him from the moment she first fell into his arms and rather eager at the chance to share his passions, even the darker, more public expressions of his desires. She agrees to his dominance when they are in public, but finds herself treated fully as a valued equal when they are alone together. With each passing week, the time they have left together becomes shorter and both Persephone and Hades fall more and more hopelessly for one another. Persephone has risked everything, including possibly the safety of her three beloved sisters, to find freedom away from Olympus - there is no future for her and Hades long term. Or is there?

I'd heard positive buzz about Neon Gods on various romance review sites, so jumped at the chance to get an ARC from Netgalley. As readers of my reviews know, while I probably still read more than most people I know (outside the Cannonballers, a huge amount of people who read WAY more than me), I am reading so much less than I have in previous years. I've already abandoned several reading challenges because I'm just never going to be able to keep up with them. I certainly wasn't expecting to pretty much devour this book in the space of less than 24 hours. The first few chapters are a bit slow and set up Persephone's desperate situation. Once she flees across the river Styx, however, I was utterly hooked and read far longer into the night than planned, and then ignored pretty much everything except seeing to the well-being of my child the following day. Luckily, at three and a quarter now, he is perfectly able to entertain himself for some amount of time, both inside and outside (I can read while he's building trains or digging in a sandbox) and since he doesn't usually get a lot of TV, an afternoon of Octonauts was a real treat for him. Sexy kissing book for Mummy, animated oceanography cartoon for him. Win-win.

I know that Katee Robert has written a series of erotica featuring a whole bunch of Disney characters and their smexy interactions. I read the first one, featuring Jasmine and Jafar, last year, but never really cared all that much, even if the levels of steam were rather higher than I tend to find in my novels. This new series, called Dark Olympus is apparently set in another part of the same world. It's a contemporary romance, with a dark edge, and as someone who has always loved the Hades and Persephone myth, it was a lot of fun to see how Robert retold it. It doesn't hurt that I loved both Hades and Persephone, as individual characters and as a couple. They compliment each other beautifully and their chemistry is off the charts.

The world-building that is established, with the glossy, celebrity-obsessed glitz of the upper Olympus, reminding me a bit of the description of the Capitol in The Hunger Games, without the televised fight to the death of a bunch of teenagers every year. There's still the ruthless, powerful rulers of the elite and a complete disconnect between the upper and lower city. In the lower city, Hades' domain, people seem to live much simpler, yet probably more rewarding lives, much of the old architecture is preserved and while the place is believed to be filled with thieves, bandits and sexual perversion, it's mostly just full of folks minding their own business, all worshipping the ground Hades walks on, since he's willing to do whatever it takes to keep them all safe. They all seem to welcome Persephone, since it's obvious that she is great for Hades.

While all of Demeter's daughters have separate fathers, they are incredibly close and have each chosen their own way to survive in the spotlight of being a scion of a ruling house. Taking some liberties with the actual mythology, Robert has made Callisto, Psyche, Persephone, and Eurydice sisters in this world. The four women adore each other and feel very protective towards one another, so Persephone obviously has to keep her sisters updated about her whereabouts and the truth of her situation. I liked the close bonds between the women and will be interested to see where the series goes next (seems to be the story of Psyche and Eros, which has a lot of elements of one of my favourite fairy tales East of the Sun, West of the Moon, so I'm pretty much one-clicking as soon as the book becomes available for pre-order).

This book has a compelling romance between a cheerful, sunshiny heroine who isn't always all that sunny and a seemingly very grumpy, but very caring and protective hero who both enjoy some kink as well as a lot of more regular smexy times. Both protagonists appear to be bi and think back to same-sex relationships they have had in the past. There are frolicking puppies and a secret greenhouse garden, a lot of banter and a compelling story surrounding the main romance as well.

If you like modern retellings in your romance, this is a really good one and worth checking out.

Judging a book by its cover: Very fitting for a book about the king of the underworld, the cover is in dark blue and purple tones, with a throne-like leather armchair front and centre. Hades does in fact have a throne of sorts, and it sees some pretty steamy action over the course of the story.

Neon Gods is the first in the Dark Olympus series, a modern-day, sexy and dark retelling of the infamous Persephone and Hades love story.

While I’m somewhat familiar with the story of Persephone and Hades, I mostly know about it from other retellings, since I never really read or even familiarized myself with the original Greek mythology. So my review won’t really be reflecting on her interpretations of the myth and modernization of it. That said, there were some parts that I found absolutely delightful, like the modern-day, non-magical interpretation of how Hermes, the messenger, gets her messages across.

Olympus is a modern-day city, separate from the rest of the world, where we know that places like California still exist. The Upper City and the Lower city are separated by the River Styx, which is painful to cross, so the citizens of Olympus rarely do so. The city is ruled by the Thirteen, and each of them controls a part of the city--for example: Poseidon runs the docks and “rules” the sea. Robert does a wonderful job of worldbuilding while never actually setting aside much time to do so. That said, I was a tad confused at times, since this is clearly a paranormal romance because of the magical barriers keeping Olympus apart from the rest of the world, and separating the Upper and Lower city, but aside from that, there weren’t any magical elements or superpowers. Olympus is filled with greedy and power-hungry men and women who will do whatever it takes to climb up the social ladder. 

When Zeus announces that he will be marrying Persephone at a soiree that turns out to be her engagement party, Persephone is beyond terrified. He has a reputation for killing his wives, and he can get away with it because he rules the Thirteen. Terrified, Persephone flees and is chased across the River Styx, where she meets Hades--a man she’d believed to be a myth. 

Hades isn’t the villain everyone says he is. Zeus is the true bad guy, and Hades wants revenge for his parents’ murder years ago. Persephone comes to him with a deal--Hades will protect Persephone until she comes into her trust fund in three months and she can finally finance her escape from Olympus. In return, she’ll pretend to be in a relationship with him, which would be the ultimate slap to the face of the egotistical, maniacal, cruel Zeus. Of course, it isn’t that simple, especially since Persephone had to leave her three sisters behind in the Upper City, and they’re vulnerable to whatever cruel schemes that Zeus comes up with. 

This book is chock full of political intrigue and high society shenanigans. There are plays for power, betrayals, court spies, revenge plots, and an undercurrent of fear that runs rampant throughout the city. Persephone and Hades have a fantastic chemistry, with a back and forth, a push and pull that’s so adorable and sexy at the same time. They’re extremely difficult with each other--Hades wanting to take care of Persephone and her injuries and Persephone will have none of that, though she secretly revels in the care and support that even her own mother has never given her. Perspehone is a strong heroine, unlike the persona she’s been putting on all these years while living in high society. Hades loves uncovering who Persephone truly is, revealing that she's not just who the tabloids make her out to be. She’s clever--fantastic at reading between the lines and manipulating those around her, traits that Hades admires. 

Hades is the “Boogeyman” of Olympus, at least, he is in the Upper City. He rules the Lower City, and their perceptions of him are a little… different. In his POV scenes, he actually comes across as a little soft, despite being devoid of love--or so he claims. 

Persephone is quite the match for Hades, and the Thirteen has no clue what has hit them.

In this book, we’re also introduced to Perspephone’s three sisters, including Psyche, who’ll be featured in the next instalment in this series. There are other characters that I adored as well, including Hermes and Dionysus, and I’m hoping they’ll get their stabs at love in subsequent books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the free ARC I received in exchange for my honest review.
Wow, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book, but did it ever deliver! A steamy, dark, paranormal spin on Greek Mythology with complex, flawed characters, and a captivating story. Robert spins an unforgettable, scorching tale that makes it impossible to put this book down! Get ready to devour this one in a single sitting.

I requested NEON GODS after months of hearing wonderful things, and I’m so glad it lived up to the hype! This book was hot and sweet and so much more.

When Persephone Dimitriou is engaged to Zeus against her will – by her mother, no less – she flees to the mysterious lower city. But despite what she’s been told, its ruler still exists – and Hades is nothing like she expected. Cue a revenge plot, off-the-charts chemistry and some adorable puppies.

Hades and Persephone retellings can be difficult to navigate, but Roberts nailed the dynamic. Allowing Persephone to explore her dark side through Hades? Frequent discussion of consent and boundaries? Amazing, show-stopping, breathtaking. It was kinkier than I expected, which was a surprise (though thankfully not one I minded).

The side characters were wonderful additions, from Dionysus and Hermes to Psyche, Callisto and Eurydice. I loved how much Hades and Persephone cared about their actions impacting others, whether it was their families and the Thirteen or the civilians they’re meant to serve.

I look forward to seeing the world of Olympus develop throughout the rest of the series, and I’ll be anxiously awaiting ELECTRIC IDOL. In the meantime, you can find me exploring Katee Roberts’ extensive backlist!

I gave this book 4.5 stars.

This book was a great time! The first couple chapters felt kind of slow, but I think it’s a bit expected of set up chapters. Hades also doesn’t show up right away, which again was expected given the synopsis we were given, but if you’re a die-hard Hades fan like me that first 10% you’re just about dying to see him.

That aside! I loved this. Hades was brooding and snarky, but also kind and so protective. Persephone was fun, witty and a little bratty, but in a good way. These characters get protraited in a lot of different ways and this might just be my favourite that I’ve encountered in my reading so far.

Story wise, absolutely love it! The relationship dynamic between Hades and Persephone was great, it left me wanting to see more of their story. I love the mother/daughter conflict that was in this. It’s a pretty constant theme in Hades/Persephone retellings, mostly because it’s fairly accurate to the original mythology, but I really enjoyed what the conflict was here instead of the way it’s usually presented.

I also enjoyed how Zeus was protraited, I find that most stories tend to overlook and/or slightly dismiss some of the original mythology, if he’s in them at all. Except here he’s definitely the bad guys and while generally in Olympus they turn a blind eye to his actions, he get’s what’s coming to him and it was great.

The bits we saw of other characters were really good. I want to see her sisters and Hermes stories, I want to know more about them. I’m definitely looking forward to more books from this series.

This book also really felt like it would fit right in with Katee Roberts Wicked Villains and Sabine Valley series as well. These retelling type series of hers give off this specific atmospheric vibe that make me think they’re all different cities in the same world and I am here for it!

Not only is Roberts a great spinner of sexy, angsty, enthralling stories, she’s taken the hot topic of romance mythology to new levels by modernizing the setting of perennial favorites Persephone and Hades in NEON GODS. I love the political parameters that define the ruling Thirteen, as well as the regenerative mythology perpetuated by the reigning leaders. No matter how advanced or antiquated a civilization is, there’s always a ruler and someone who is ruled, and the space in between is where truth and progress and loyalty and worthiness lie. Roberts has built a wholly fascinating world that works on every level. It doesn’t hurt that the ending is oh, so satisfying, and sets the stage for what promises to be a winning series.

*Originally published at Frolic: https://frolic.media/may-must-read-romantic-suspense/

3.5 stars

"Steamy, sexy, and original, Neon Gods will have you waiting with bated breath for the next installment!"

Full review will be posted on FreshFiction.com.

I didn't know exactly what to expect with this book, yet somehow it was EXACTLY what I needed. I loved it.

Persephone Dimitriou can't wait to be free. She plays the role of the sunshine girl, the perfect middle daughter of a very powerful mother. But, she's just been biding her time until she turns 25, her trust fund kicks in, and she can FLEE from Olympus as fast as she can. Unfortunately, her time runs out quicker than she planned, when her mother arranges her engagement to Zeus, the most powerful, and most feared, man in Olympus. It's rumored he killed his last 3 wives, and Persephone isn't sticking around to find out if she'll be next. She runs to a part of the city she's never traveled to before, across the River Styx, and into the territory of a man long thought dead, or only a myth. Out of the frying pan, into the fire, as they say...

Hades is the king of the Lower City of Olympus, ever since his parents' deaths 16 years earlier. Most people in the Upper City don't even know he actually exists. Zeus works hard to keep the mythology thick about Hades, so people doubt his very existence, but he's very much still a part of the Thirteen. Though a treaty deal has kept him and Zeus each on their own sides of the River Styx for many years, Hades' thirst for vengeance against Zeus has ruled his thoughts most of his life. When Persephone crosses the bridge to Hades' side, under her own power, she presents him with a fantastic avenue to finally seek his revenge. In exchange, he'll help her flee Olympus at the end of the winter, when she comes into her money. But, he could never have imagined how having her in his life would change everything.

Hades and Persephone had sparks flying like whoa, pretty much from the first moment they met. Even when all they were doing was verbally sparring. Their connection was ELECTRIC and jumped right off the page. They each did something for each other that no one else in their lives was capable of doing for them, and they came to care for each other so much. Even when they knew it would be better and easier for them to NOT care. I loved their bond, and how they took care of each other, in ways big and small, long before they could ever say their feelings out loud.

The side characters here were awesome, and were certainly setting up future stories! Persephone's sister Psyche's book is next, and I'm SO INTRIGUED by her story. Especially after glimpsing both her, and her hero, Eros, in this book. Pretty much everyone on the Thirteen that we met, seemed to be putting up some type of a front at best, or was just truly straight up TERRIBLE, at worst. Though, Hermes and Dionysus were a hysterical delight most of the time. Hades was so reluctant to call them "friends" but they SO WERE. I loved that whole dynamic. Persephone's mother, Demeter, was something else. I'm still not sure how I fully feel about her, but I do look forward to learning more about her in Psyche's book.

Hades and Persephone's bond was delicious, and I really loved their story. It was STEAMY, and heartfelt, and wonderful. I couldn't get enough. I highly recommend this one! Book #2 can't come fast enough!!

I am a sucker for Hades/Persephone retellings and this one was definitely an interesting and well done take on it. There was a good mix of story and steaminess. The character development was well done and left me wanting to read more about everybody in this world. I will definitely be recommending this.

I have a feeling this review is going to be a bit harsh, so I’d like to make some disclaimers beforehand. Firstly, I’ve read from Katee Robert before, and I’ve enjoyed everything that I picked up. That’s part of the reason why I was so excited to get my hands on a copy of this book for review. I was anticipating enjoying this book a lot more than I did. Secondly, I was admittedly in a reading slump when I read this, so I might have been a touch more critical when reading. However, I feel as though the critiques I’m going to make would have stood out to me regardless.

I was excited for this book because it was a Hades and Persephone retelling that I had only heard good things about. It sounded smutty and fun and different from what I was reading at the time, so I picked it up thinking it would be a fun little palette cleanser between all my typical contemporary reads.

From the very beginning the world building stood out to me. And not in a good way. I was confused exactly how the Olympians were chosen. Some are elected positions, such as Hermes and Demeter, and some are legacy positions, such as Zeus and Hades, but how this whole power structure came to be was never explained. In fact, most of the world building was never explained. A lot was glossed over or explained away by saying how that was just the way it was, with no one questioning anything. I don’t even tend to care about world building, especially not in a romance, but here I was just so confused that I couldn’t help but notice how poorly it was written.

I will say that there were some cute ways that mythology was woven into the story, but for the most part it just felt very planned and awkward, like the author was attempting to fit in a joke or a reference, even when it didn’t actually work with the story. Many times there were mythological allusions that would have worked well, but they either weren’t expanded upon enough or they were combined with another reference that made little sense. I guess the mythology just didn’t feel necessary to the story. With a change or two, it could have easily just been a mafia family romance, and I wouldn’t have known the difference.

Now onto the characters. I wish I could say that the characters saved the story, but that sadly was not the case. Most of the characters were super one-dimensional and had only one defining characteristic. Evil characters were evil for the sake of power. Good characters were naïve and righteous. There was very little nuance. Even the two main characters weren’t very fleshed out. They were written better than all of the side characters, but then again, that didn’t take much. This review was written immediately after finishing the book, and even so, I can’t describe either main character’s personality, because both of them were too flat. A lot of that had to do with the plot though, so let me move on to that aspect of the book.

I’m going to say it straight out. This book lacked a plot. I have mentioned in many posts that I would totally be okay with a plotless romance, and I stand by that statement. However, my fault with this book is that it tried to have a plot, but then ignored it in favor of romance and smut. It made no sense to me! Oh no, there might be a war! We should kiss to forget about it! There was no tension due to the plot because the main characters were so good at ignoring the fact that they should have been worried. There was lots of smut, but it didn’t necessarily make sense in the context of the plot, and became super rushed and repetitive, so even those plot points were lacking for me. I think if this book had focused on the plot a bit more I would have enjoyed my reading experience a lot more.

After listing so many negative aspects, I want to end on a more positive note. Something stood out to me is how readable this book is. I read the first half of it in one day, and the second half in less than 12 hours. The story flew by and kept me reading which was especially impressive given that I was in a reading slump at the time. I think this is especially impressive as there were so many reasons I could have put the book down, and yet I never wanted to. There was something that compelled me to keep reading despite the many flaws in this book.

This isn’t an awful book by any means, just not one that I particularly enjoyed. If after reading this review this book still sounds like something you’d like, I’d say go for it, just maybe lower your expectations a bit. It was a disappointing book, but not a terrible one. I honestly wish I could have enjoyed it more.

I love a good Hades/Persephone retelling so when I saw that Katee Robert wrote this one, I was extremely excited.

Persephone Dimitriou's mother is a member of the Thirteen, a faction of leaders ruling over the city of Olympus. All Persephone wants is to get out of Olympus and make a life for herself, but before she can, her mother forces her hand into an engagement with Zeus, she realizes how much danger she's really in. To escape the engagement and the danger of the Upper City, Persephone flees to the Lower City, domain of Hades. There, she sets a deal with Hades: Together, they can ruin Zeus. The more time they spend together, the more they let down their guards. Can they risk their chance at revenge to be together?

I really enjoyed this book. The Hades/Persephone modern retelling reworked the mythology really well. I loved the fake relationship/forced proximity was top notch. I also really enjoyed the sweet, domestic moments.

The side characters were also great! Hermes and Dionysus were hilarious and I really hope we get to see more of them in the next books.

There was some laughter, some stress, and a whole lot of smut. The worldbuilding left some questions for me at times, but overall this was a great romance. Also, there are puppies. So that just makes it even better.