ebookreview | [ 671 ]

Hades and Persephone - Keeper of Sins (Gods of Myth #1) by Alannah Carbonneau

Genre:
Second Chance Romance, Romantasy, Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, Contemporary, Hades and Persephone, Retellings, Greek Gods, Book Series, Academia, Dark Romance, Greek Mythology

Publication Date:
October 29, 2024

Page Numbers:
221

Read/Finished Date:
August 7th, 2025

Rating:
4

Premise:

What if the myth of Hades and Persephone isn’t just myth? And what if there is more to the story?

Hades
The story the world knows today is only a fraction of our truth. Mine and hers.
I took her, yes. I schemed and deceived to keep her.
I loved her wholly and completely. Selfishly.
She loved me…
Lore tells the tale of an eternity of love, and it’s not wrong. But the eternity has not been one of bliss. Betrayed in the worst way, my wife was stolen from me—and my eternity of love has been spent searching the world for her reborn soul.
The Underworld suffers in her absence. I suffer…
Now she is back. Just in time for an Olympian war.
The clock is ticking. Her human body makes her vulnerable to vengeful Gods.
I must find a way to possess her heart so that I may protect her eternal soul.
But the more time I spend with her, the more I come to think there is a darker truth to the story of our past. More to the story of her end.
For there are some secrets that are worth killing for.

Persephone
Since as far back as I can remember, I’ve heard a voice in my mind. A man’s voice. Filled with anguish and rage. The doctors threatened a personality disorder while my parents eyed me with horror. I learned to hide the voice, to fit in.
For years, I’ve kept the secret of the man who screams my name from everyone in my life.
With a name like Persephone, it’s no surprise I’m attracted to Greek lore, or to a career in unearthing the secrets of an ancient past. It’s because of this attraction that I’m on my way to Greece now.
Or am I chasing a voice only I can hear across the globe?

Review:

Nineteen-year-old Persephone is from Alberta, Canada, where her family owns a farm—her father is a farmer, and her mother is a florist. When she was younger, she kept hearing an anguished voice calling to her. Although she told her parents about it, they tried to "fix" this voice in her head to the point that Persephone told them she could no longer "hear" it, but it was still there... calling to her. Then, Persephone is given a chance to escape Alberta and go to the Greek world for an archaeological expedition, and she takes it.

Thirty-six-year-old Hades Pluton (yes, that's his last name) has been mourning the loss of his beloved queen, taken from him by her mother. His only comfort is the idea that her soul is out there, having been reborn. When Persephone appears, he wants to believe it's real, but he knows he can't force her to remember... she has to do that on her own.

I like this one. It’s unique in its retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth. Okay, not entirely original because we often see Demeter cast as the antagonist in many of these stories, but it does seem Demeter misjudged when she tried to remove her daughter from Hades and the Underworld. I can't say I’ve read the entire series to know the ending because I haven’t, but I plan to.

So, for now, I do recommend this book, especially if you're looking for a small, easy read focused on the Hades and Persephone myth.

Similar Books:

A Goddess of Spring and Shadow by Lena J. Castle
Dead of Spring: A Hades and Persephone Retelling by Colette Rhodes
Thief of Spring by Katherine Macdonald