You need not know the story of Persephone and Hades or Salvador Dali to enjoy this gothic novel set largely in 1948 Italy but I'd recommend a quick zip through wikipedia to most fully appreciate it. Julia, who can not remember her past, is working as a muse for Dali under the watchful eye of Ignazio- sort of. There's a garden with statues, there's odd happenings and you'll question whether Julia is fully sane but keep reading because it's quite a journey. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Very different from King's earlier work but a very good read.

Italy, 1948. Salvador Dali, a model/artist named Julia who cannot remember her past, and a garden full of monstrous statues that may be of another world.

This book was a STRUGGLE to finish. I’m honestly shocked I made it the whole way through. The dialogue was so odd (and not just from Dali, which was to be expected), the plot was repetitive, and parts just didn’t even make sense, even for a mythological/fantastical storyline. Great concept, poor execution. The best parts of the book were the meals, which is to be expected given King's background.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A wonderful mix of historical fiction, fantasy and mystery!

"A woman with no past. A man who seems to know her. And a monstrous garden that could be the border between their worlds…"

Julia doesn't remember her past and when she is invited by Salvador Dali to model for him, it presents an opportunity to learn more about herself. She is his muse, his Persephone, in the Sacro Bosco—Italy’s Garden of Monsters (I fell down a wikipedia hole! this is a real place he painted at and even made a short film) but their host, Ignazio is dark, mysterious, and seems to know her.

I really enjoyed the totally different concept of this book! It was engaging and mysterious but also fantastical and romantic. Highly recommend to people who love Hades x Persephone stories, historical fiction, food, and art.

A great mix of ancient myth, modern history, and classic mystery. This book keeps you in place and in suspense for most of the story but in a way that gives bread crumbs and very slowly opens to new characters or connections between them.

The author does a great job painting a picture of the villa and the woods, keeping the model story and the lost past in perfect balance.

She is clearly inspired by the source myth material but not afraid to reinterpret and make smart changes to fit the story and our time.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So, I had to dnf this one about 20% in. It supposedly takes place in 1948 but it reads like a 2014-era social justice tumblr post, with modern language, modern culture, etc. I think it’s more than fair to go into historical fiction expecting not to find rampant, unabashed racism and homophobia, but I think it needs to at least stick to how people spoke and thought back then. This…does not. She could have set this in 2020 and I wouldn’t bat an eye.

I’m also not interested in Greek mythology so the Hades and Persephone was more than a little lost on me lol. I requested this ARC because it sounded like a book I might enjoy, lack of interest in mythology notwithstanding, but it’s so heavy-handed and out of place that I couldn’t immerse myself in the story at all. Not a fan, will not be continuing.

DNF at 40%

As a mythology enthusiast I am willing to give new interpretations and adaptations of classical myths always a try, however, this was not the book for me. It kept dragging in ways I did not think it was possible, and although I got through most of the book quite fast in terms of how long I was reading vs how fast I got through it, to me it felt like I was spending HOURS in each chapter.

The formatting and layout of each chapter is odd, the story repeats itself a lot of times, and the inclusion of Dali feels so odd and arbitrary, in a lot of ways the author could have used a fictional painter and it would have been the same, having a historical character in your historical fiction does not legitimize the story more. The romance was stale at best, and there is no way to just not make Ignazio the obvious endgame love interest and there is no teasing or convincing the author would have written to make him seem like a better option, even if after the 40% mark he gets better, I hate the way he is depicted. Julia feels like a basic female MC at times, not a lot of substance other than her vaguely "revolutionary ideas" and stances on women and art, and how the seemingly good characters are all in love with her, where Dali and Gala seem to only see her as an object

In the Garden of Monsters had a fascinating premise. There are many books based on ancient myths these days, but this one was certainly unique in its approach. The descriptive passages were atmospheric and much was made of the food that was served throughout the story. The inclusion of real figures gave the book a distinctive flavour; although, I sometimes wondered if they took over events a little too much. The story made some fairly drastic revisions to the original myth. That didn't worry me; however, I would have liked a little more romance between the Persephone and Hades characters. There was attraction, but I felt the pull between them was too weak to drive the story the way it needed too, and that may be because Dalí ended up taking over the narrative more than he should have. Nonetheless, for fans of myth retold, this book offers a very original take that is worth checking out. I am giving it four stars.

(Review on blog will go public at the link provided below on 23 Sep 24)

The story was captivating, both dark and hopeful at times. It probably could have used a tighter edit because really, how many times can we be told that someone is the most handsome man ever? And some of the phrases that were used just felt like they wouldn’t have been used in 1948. But with all that said, I did enjoy the book and it feels perfect that it’s coming out a little over a month before Halloween since it is spooky at times. If fantasy/mythology/surrealism is your thing, I think you’ll enjoy it. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advance copy.

Really, this is probably more a 3.5. It’s probably great for someone who likes historical fiction with a slight fantasy/gothic twist. I just couldn’t get into it. I probably went into it with the wrong understanding of it…when I hear “Persephone and hades retelling” I want a twist on the original myth not just nods to it. I prefer my retellings with more fantasy elements.

This gothic novel is beautifully and hauntingly written, with ample descriptions of food, as you'd expect from a King novel. It’s an incredibly inventive retelling of Hades and Persephone that I truly enjoyed. The twists and turns kept me hooked, making it nearly impossible to predict what would happen next. I especially appreciated the parts where the author seemed lost in the writing—it felt natural and immersive.

I am so thankful I was able to receive this book as an
ARC! I love a Hades and Persephone retelling. I'm a little torn on this review because I think I went into this one in the wrong headspace. I was expecting romance and swooning mixed with a gothic setting. What you really get is a wonderful atmospheric gothic setting with a lot of historical fiction aspects as well as art history and mythology. If you love art history or reading epic food descriptions this one l'd definitely for you! I just wanted more time with the Hades and Persephone characters and less time with the food. (Even though the food and setting descriptions are wonderfully done and the setting is a real place with lots of history according to the authors note)

Thank you for the opportunity to read In the Garden of Monsters by Crystal King
This was a great gothic retelling of Hades and Persophone in ITaly!

Loved all the imagery and the terror.

Pretty torn on this one.
Here’s the things I liked: the cover is gorgeous. A unique hades x Persephone retelling.
The things I didn’t like: the pacing. So so so slow to get started. Really wish the ending was more spread out, but it kind of just ended and that was that. Didn’t feel worth pushing through.
All in all, it was fine. But not my favorite

ty to netgalley & harlequin trade publishing for the arc • 3.25 ☆

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i am once again conflicted.. the premise was very promising because 1. i love greek mythology, 2. i will read anything about persephone and hades, and 3. i am a sl*t for fantasies. but with that said, it all felt.. just okay to me. it was slow to get going and the end (literally ch. 22) pulled me out of the entire experience. YES, i know it’s the ending but it seemed like a weird info dump that could have probably been peppered in throughout the story instead.

i had every intention of rating this higher but the more that i read, the more it seemed to really slow down. but i did still enjoy it for the most part! if you’re a fan of persephone and hades retellings, this could be a good read for you.

The gorgeous cover is what first got my attention, but the story is what kept it. I loved absolutely everything about this book. With its atmosphere, art, and great characters, I found this retelling of Persephone to be - perfect.

2.5

The author seems knowledgeable about art history and mythology which made me enjoy getting through this book. The twist on the Persephone and Hades story was actually very original and intriguing.

What made this book a miss was the writing. It was more tell then show, repetitive. The feelings and situations were overly described, where a one sentence explanation would suffice. Context clues is more than enough. I could tell when the author got lost in the writing because I actually enjoyed those parts. It didn't feel forced and unbelievable.

Dali was her best written character. I loved how she brought him to life. He was so believable and I could tell she had fun writing him.

Saying this book is surreal is a cop-out because what can you expect with a book that features Salvador Dali as one of the characters? But it is surreal in the most wonderful ways. This retelling of the story of the goddess of the underworld, Persephone, takes place in 1948 in the Garden of Monsters, which is a real locale in Italy. Julia, an art student, is hired for a ridiculous amount of money to model for Dali. They go off to Sacro Bosco where strange things happen. Julia is drawn to the house's host, but in a dangerous way. Lots of twists. Lots of hallucinogenic happenings. This gothic novel is beautifully and hauntingly written. And, as in all of King's books, there are ample descriptions of food. An incredibly inventive novel that I truly enjoyed.

NetGalley provided me with the eARC of In the Garden of Monsters.
This is a gothic historical romance retelling of Persephone and Hades (Proserpina and Pluto in the book) set in post WWII Italy and includes the famous artist Salvador Dali and his wife Gala.

Julia is an art school graduate living in Rome that is works as a model to supplement her income. She is hired by the eccentric Salvador Dali to spend a week as his Persephone muse in an old estate in Bromarzo. Julia has a form of amnesia that no one can figure out. She doesn’t remember her past and where she came from. When she arrives at Bromarzo, she has a sense of familiarity that frightens her and she can’t quite understand.

Dali is obsessed with Julia believing she is the real Persephone and keeps trying to get her to eat pomegranates that the estate host Ignazio keeps adding to the food. Julia feels a connection to Ignazio that scares her and causes her to not trust him.

Throughout the book, Julia sees ghosts and has visions that she can’t make sense of, and Dali’s decent into the madness of his art continues to unsettle her.

Food is a major component of this story as each meal is painstakingly detailed. The meals definitely fit with Dali’s surrealist and eccentric behaviors.

I feel like there was more time spent into the scenes with the meals and less time spent on character development. At times I felt like the book would never end, but there were just enough elements of suspense that kept me pushing through. The ending felt rushed and a little disjointed. In regards to the Ceres subplot, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. I feel like that subplot was not fully teased out and lacked a little more backstory.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with this arc.

This book was fascinating, one woman supposed decent into madness at the hands of an artist and his pose while staying at an Italian château created the perfect twists and turns that make a good fantasy "psychological horror". While I understand that this is not a horror book, Julia seeing visions of a past that isn't hers, the strange events at the house, the mysterious deaths that had previously occurred in the gardens and finally the too real comparisons to Persephone. As a reader, I always have a hard time actually believing a book when it is advertised as "hades x persephone" as usually that is never an accurate description of the mmc and fmc.
While I am not an expert by any means on Dali and his wife, Gala, I do know enough to know that this was not that much of an exaggerated persona for him. Again I am unfamiliar with Gala and her behaviors, she was horrible the entire book to Julia, she acted as the perfect antagonist towards Julia. I think this was a really well done book in terms of hades x persephone, as well as incorporating history into a fantasy novel.

3.5 rounded up This is a gothic twist on mythology, reimagining the story of Persephone. Throw in ghosts, Salvador Dali and an equally bizarre setting. Then add gorgeous descriptions of exotic food. The characters were either mundane or ridiculously eccentric, but there was something here that kept me reading.