I thought I knew the Persephone/Hades story, but this retelling knocked my socks off. Persephone has aged into a midlife goddess, comfortable in who she is and ready to burn the world down to get her revenge. The story unfolds with the chapters alternating between Persephone's and Hades' viewpoints, which gives you great insight into how their feels for one another blossom over the course of the book. The flashbacks provide the explanation for why Persephone is hellbent on getting back at those who hurt her before. I really loved how Hull once again made a middle-aged woman the centerpoint of the story - playing up her knowledge and experience as a weapon rather than a weakness. I cannot wait for the next book to come out!
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This is certainly the most original retelling I have read. But it is also so divorced from the story of the pair it is hard to tell if it is enjoyable or not. Persephone leaves a bad taste in the mouth that hopefully later books resolve
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An excellent retake on the hades Persephone story, I really enjoyed it!
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It's cathartic, which is why we have stories about gods. It's really so good to have a freshly current version of this story. It's impressive that perspectives from Persephone and Hades are pretty equally relatable, it starts out harsh but unfurls. I love the afterward, I was laughing; we have a right and responsibly to re-weave these stories, or else they'd fall apart. This version improved the story structurally for modern usage. A good, dark winter read. I think I'll like to re-read it in the sun this summer.
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Hmmm I think 3⭐️ is quite a compromise. The premise itself was intriguing, to focus on a retelling of Hades and Persephone in a similar vein as we saw with the Midlife series and I was totally here for it. The execution of this idea left a lot to be desired. The flashbacks were a nice touch, but poorly executed. We were never given enough information to truly get behind their love story (seriously, between the birth scene and the next Persephone just gave in and “loved” Hades? No turning point was given when she became all in). Nor did we get an inkling of her relationship with her mother Demeter (the few interactions described didn’t quite mesh with the lore of a mother so deep in sorrow that she blanketed the Earth in winter half the year nor her attitude about her grandchildren). The whole war thing was kinda stupid, even the explanation at the end made no real sense. Will I read book 2? Probably, but it’ll take some time and convincing.
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She makes the characters come alive with the telling of her tale. Worth each and every moment. I loved it.
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So rare for me not to finish a book. Half-way through I realized that I didn’t care for Persephone or Hades. I have no idea where this story lead and honestly I didn’t care. The constant back and forth chapters were annoying; and the back and forth time frames equally so. Difficult to digest.
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