For Review: Persephone (Daughters of Zeus) (Kaitlin Bevis)

 

(Goodreads Summary/Link)

There are worse things than death, worse people too

The “talk” was bad enough, but how many teens get told that they’re a goddess? When her mom tells her, Persephone is sure her mother has lost her mind. It isn’t until Boreas, the god of winter, tries to abduct her that she realizes her mother was telling the truth. Hades rescues her, and in order to safely bring Persephone to the Underworld he marks her as his bride. But Boreas will stop at nothing to get Persephone. Despite her growing feelings for Hades, Persephone wants to return to the living realm. Persephone must find a way to defeat Boreas and reclaim her life.





Source: E-copy from Musa Publishing
Genre: Young Adult

Why I wanted to read it: Greek mythology retelling

My Thoughts:

This is the 3rd Persephone and Hades retelling I've read. Let's face it, the others sucked royally and I had all but given up hope for this particular myth retelling.  BUT I've heard that the third time's the charm..right???

RIGHT! FINALLY! A myth retelling done well. Very well. I loved it. I read it in a couple hours. You should read it too. 

Like I already said, this is a retelling of the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades. The author did a fantastic job of putting her own unique spin on a classic story.

I found the characters easy to connect to and they have a clear voice. Persephone as a main character is independent and brave and strong-willed. I LOVE that she talked back to Hades and didn't just accept things without question.  Hades. Oh man. I likey mucho. He's definitely a strong male character. He shows his care for Persephone but also makes it very clear that he has a dark side.  I mean, he is the God of the Underworld after all. And he's all sorts of hot.

Speaking of...the Underworld was explained and described so well that I had no problem imagining it. I also liked the uniqueness and the details of the different areas of the afterlife.  A vivid picture was very well painted and just helped pull me into the story more.

As I was reading this book I was thinking to myself...ahhhhh. How refreshing. For once I have a retelling that is not fully based around an insta-love crappy romance. I love romance as much as the next person but I've read a lot of books recently where this was its downfall.  Don't get me wrong, there is a romance aspect in this story (it IS based on the Persephone & Hades myth afterall) and I foresee it coming more in to play in the next book. The difference is, in this case it was done WELL. The romance didn't take over and it wasn't overdone which made it all the more believable and accepting.

The writing is well-paced, developed and flows. There's also a lot of humor infused into this story which I LOVED.  Humor shows that the characters and story doesn't take itself too seriously and only helped add to its awesomeness.

Persephone is a must read for fans of Greek mythology retellings done right.


Favorite Quotes:
"People fear death, but in reality what they fear is the uncertainty of their afterlife."

"Reality has teeth and claws. It's rarely pretty and never fair."

Bottom Line: What else can I say? I was impressed. Well done! 4/5
I can't wait to read the second book!

My Thoughts: The Goddess Test (Aimee Carter)

EVERY GIRL WHO HAS TAKEN THE TEST HAS DIED.

NOW IT'S KATE'S TURN.

It's always been just Kate and her mom--and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear that her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld--and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy--until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she suceeds, she'll become Henry's future bride and a goddess. (Goodreads blurb)



My Thoughts:
Okay so maybe it's time I just give up on Greek mythology re-tellings. (Other than the already established awesome by Rick Riordan).  The previously read Abandon by Meg Cabot left a horrible taste in my mouth and I was hoping to be refreshed by The Goddess Test.
Boy oh boy was I wrong. And disappointed. And frustrated. And bored.

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter definitely helped me perfect my eye rolling technique. I came THIS close to not finishing, but managed to skim through to the end. I hatehatehate giving up on books in case there's the slightest chance of things turning around. Things, however,  only continued to go down hill until the torture finally let up and the book came to an end.
This is probably one of the worst young adult books I've ever read.
For everyone who liked it, I'm glad. Their shining reviews will help outshine my negative one.

Okay....where to start. I guess I'll start with the story itself. This was another retelling of the Greek mythology story of Hades and Persephone, greatly re-imagined. The book starts off confusing, which is never a good thing. We meet Henry and Diana and there's all these dead girls and Henry wants to give up and blahblahblah.
Then there's Kate, her mom's dying. She sees her un-friend friend Ava die. Then be brought back to life. Then die again. Then as a human again, oh i mean a ghost. And then they're instant besties. hooray. Henry tells Kate he will keep her mother alive if she lives with him. It's perfectly easy for Kate to believe and accept that Henry brought Ava back to life and then killed her again, but that he's a God..well that's just too ludicrous. 

The final actual premise of this book is this: Henry is Hades, and ruler of the in between.  Henry needs (wants) someone to be by his side, if not, he's going to give up his job to his relatives and fade into nothingness. So he keeps finding girls he thinks are "THE ONE" to take 7 tests. If they pass them all it means they are worthy of becoming immortal and staying by Henry's side. Wait, no that's wrong. Even if she passes, it's still up to his family to determine if she's worthy. Every girl has died up to this point. Kate is Henry's last hope. Oh, all the while Henry is still devastated and puppy-dog hung up on the death of his beloved, Persephone who actually didn't love him and chose to love a human and then subsequently died herself. 

A lot of people hate insta-love.  In this book, there was insta-friendships that made absolutely no sense, were not believable and had me acting crazy. All the characters were just surface characters, no depth, no life, no soul.  Kate was annoying. Ava was annoying.  The romance between Henry and Kate was tepid.  There was a lot of hypocrisy going on in things characters said or events that transpired.  I felt like the story was just BAMBAMBAM. No build-ups, no intensity, just this is the way it is and this is what happened next. I wasn't TAKEN ON a journey, I was told a story in a matter-of-fact voice.

This book was a definite struggle all the way through. It was boring and predictable and blah. Which makes me sad. Because I bought book 2 already and am never going to read it. EVER.

If you liked Abandon by Meg Cabot, there's a good chance you'll like this book. Otherwise, I would give it a pass.

Favorite Quotes:
"His eyes were the color of moonlight."

"I expected death to be cold. Instead the first thing I felt was warmth-incredible warmth that filled my body, or at least what was left of it, and spread through me like honey."

Bottom Line: The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter was a Greek mythology retelling gone wrong.  1.5/5