Review: Great take on a Greek myth!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 3, 2013
Let it be known that I'm pretty sure I have never disliked Greek myth or retelling. Persephone is a modern retelling of just that, the story of Persephone and Hades and how she became the Queen of the Underworld, however give me a chance to tell you why I think you will love this story too. This isn't your ancient story about a grumpy old God who is just bitter that he doesn't rule Olympus. In fact at this point Olympus has fallen and I don't mean some B movie involving Gerard Butler, a lot of the gods died long before Persephone was born and even longer before she knows who she is really becoming.Surprised by her mother Demeter that she is, in fact, a goddess and going to be coming into her powers as she reaches the age of adulthood, you can imagine the roller coaster of emotions that she has to deal with and then she gets attacked, only to be saved by the Lord of Darkness himself, Hades. The only way to do that, however, is to marry her and make her the Queen. Goddess, powers, attack and now queen, happy birthday to you, Persephone. All of this can understandably by a little overwhelming for a 17 year old but she actually takes it very well, which surprisingly felt alright reading it. I guess that's what made me like her so much, the fact that she found things out, processed them like a normal person and then accepted what was going on and found a way to deal. That isn't easy to do with a character and in this case it is successful. She is a goddess but Persephone feels like you and me. She isn't over the top or unapproachable and that's what made this story great. However, aking a great lead and mixing them with an awesome ensemble makes a story even better.Hades for me was the greatest part of the other characters. He is so different than other recreations I have read of him that he was interesting from the start. As we get to know him more, however, is where he really shines. Really all of the Underworld characters where great from Cassandra, Thanatos and Charon to even just the structure of the place itself made for a great place for the main characters to interact and definitely helped the story. It had lots of action and fun just like some popular series like Percy Jackson but this brought an element of both romance and realness to the Gods themselves that it made it a complete package for me. I am really looking forward to book 2!