Persephone

by Kaitlin Bevis

[Silvara]

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I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.



I was iffy on requesting this book. I usually really like fantasy books that have to do with mythology, but I wasn't sure if this would qualify for good or bad mythology retelling. I'm very happy to say, that from the first pages it was one of the good ones!

Persephone is a teenager, and was just smacked in the face with the fact that her life as she knew it was mostly a lie. She is a goddess as is her mother. However where some books would take this opportunity to throw in massive quantities of teenage angst, or brattiness, this book seems to skip a lot of that. There is a little bit of fear that her mother has gone insane, and she runs away a few times. But the way it's written makes it a pretty believable response.

I also quite liked the descriptions of the Underworld and it's inhabitants. Hades and Thanatos have always been some of my favorite of the Gods, and they had large parts in the book. I also really liked Cassandra, and the way that other characters from mythology were sprinkled into the book in mostly believable ways.

There is no insta-love in this book, and no love triangle either. The characters do eventually fall in love, but Hades is mostly a perfect gentleman. Telling her that she is too young and not doing anything more than a few very brief kisses. They don't fall in love quickly, but more in small amounts throughout the book. It was done in a very believable way, without ignoring the age difference between them or making it creepy.

The characters were well-written and not just caricatures. They had strengths and flaws, and the world was as fleshed-out as the characters. I really liked the descriptions of the Underworld and how it all worked, it wasn't over-detailed while still letting you know everything you needed to in order to understand. The way the Gods and Goddesses were portrayed in the modern setting was also really well handled.

I can hardly wait to get the next book. If you like fantasy books mixed with mythology you need to get this book.

This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon