Review: Review - Persephone
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 11 20, 2012
Persephone isn't an easily relatable narrator. I understand that being told she's a goddess must be shocking--I'd also think that my mom was crazy. However, it doesn't justify running away from everyone, especially when whacky things have been going on around her recently and her life is in danger. When she does finally accept that she's a goddess among other immortals and legends, she still tries to impose her narrow views on her mother and Hades,  trying to guilt trip her mother for hiding the truth from her for so long even if her mother believed it was for her own good. She doesn't seem to take everything seriously and constantly misjudges people. She also talks back at Hades even though he saved her life and is the only protection she has from Boreas. Any time her life gets in danger, it is because of her naivety, and some greater power saves her.She's an extremely naive character. Honestly, I don't know why Hades calls her brave and everything. Mostly, she bull heads her way through things without thinking about the consequences. She's overly optimistic and wants to save the world; however, it feels mostly like a moral principle she learned from her time with humans. She hasn't attempted to try and see things from the point of view of the gods. Even then, he doesn't really know about human sufferings. Her mom has given her an overly sheltered life. And if she really cared about human suffering, why doesn't she think about having those sent to Tartarus drink from the Lethe to give them a blank slate?Hades too is not relatable. He does have a grip on reality and accepts suffering as a part of life. As a ruler, he looks after his people as best as he can and honestly does a good job of it. It's his relationship with Persephone that I find lacking. He's alternately hot and cold towards Persephone, and I don't understand how he could have fallen in love with her at first sight. Personality-wise, they don't match up, and she's like a child compared to the years he has on him. My favorite character is Cassandra. She has quite the personality and is a bundle of sharp wit and joy.Writing-wise, some things are overelaborated while others don't have enough context backing them up. The whole Persephone thing is overdone. Everything she owns is described as wildflower-patterened. It's quaint the first couple times, but afterwards it gets annoying. (Fortunately, this only happens in the beginning.) On the other hand, it takes a while for names of several characters to be introduced and I still don't know much about their relationship to Persephone. There are also an overwhelming number of characters named after Greek legends while others like Melissa are given ordinary names, but the characters don't think anything of them.The plot is the typical heroine discovers her abilities and gets into trouble. I don't mind reading this kind of book as long as it's done well, but for this one, the characters weren't relatable and Persephone's abilities were too overdone. Maybe I would have liked this one if the context was better developed and Persephone not so whiny and self-righteous. As it is, this book wasn't for me.