A Reader's Guide to Books and Reviews

Title: The Eighth House: Hades & Persephone (Flames of Olympos #1)
Author: Eris Adderly
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.95/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: September 23, 2017
Book Summary: Catch me, Darkness. Again and again.
The life of a virgin goddess might suit Artemis or Athena, but Persephone, daughter of Zeus, wants no part of it. While the rest of the immortals cavort, she grows restless in the shadow of Olympos.

Rules, rules. Always the rules. Her mother's edict forbids her the company of any male god. She can't speak to them, can't look at them. Can't even attend the Olympian feasts. As far as Demeter knows, her daughter remains a maiden.

But Persephone leads a double life. She finds her affection elsewhere, and in plentiful supply. If only the sons of Man made her happy. If only she could put a name to this need she feels. It grows by the day, dark and unfulfilled. An eternity of enforced loneliness looms, and Persephone contemplates a drastic choice to escape it.

Only one thing stands in her way.

Hades.

Where earthquakes rend hill and vale asunder, and the abyss yawns to devour falling screams, the black halls of the Underworld await. The Lord of the Dead follows only one set of rules: his own.

And he expects Persephone to obey.
Book Review: Real Rating: 4.95

This story is a retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth but with a bit of a twist.

I must say I am a huge fan of the Hades and Persephone myth and I always love coming across books written about it. I even love it when there are more twists to it than the original myth itself. Here Persephone is tired of not only the Sons of Man but also the immortals who are pursuing her (namely Apollo and Hermes). None of them hold anything she wants. She wants something wicked and dark but she knows that with her Mother standing in her way, that won't ever happen.

So along comes Aphrodite. You see the Goddess of Love and Lust is a bit jealous of Persephone. She has Hermes' affection at the moment and Aphrodite isn't having it. She wants it back. It was hers and she believes that all affection should be returned to her. Thus she turns to the dark God of the Underworld with a reminder of a favor - she can get Zeus to give his permission for Hades to court Persephone if Hades will remove her from the equation. Hades is a bit reluctant about this. He has been without a Consort for quite sometime and although lonely as he is, he seems to enjoy it. But with the reminder of the favor, he agrees to do so and lures Persephone with a flower she wants to give to the human woman who she adores.

Once below, Hades and Persephone begin a game (a game that would could be seen as a cat and mouse) before it grows into something deeper. Aphrodite returns once more to offer Hades the pomegranate. This fruit would bind Hades and Persephone together.

Demeter learns that her daughter has been taken by Hades and she goes to Zeus demanding that Persephone be returned to her. Zeus refuses at first but Demeter holds the cards for the moment - without food below, there would be no people to worship in the temples. This forces Zeus' hand and he sends Hermes down below to return Persephone to the above.

When Persephone returns, she lies telling them that she has eaten the fruit belonging to the Underworld and she has returned only bring back the Harvest. This, of course, sets her and Demeter against each other and the two have a fight over her choice.

In the end, she returns to Hades with the other Gods for her wedding.

This was an awesome version of the myth. I could not put the book down and found myself immersed into the mythological world of Hades and Persephone. I equally enjoyed the fact that Cerebrus had a voice! I found that was interesting. It added something to the three-headed guardian than anything and I loved it!

This book is the first in a series and I am interested in seeing the next one that comes along. I am hoping we do get to see more of Hades and Persephone. I would love to know what happens afterward with them.