Genre: YA Fantasy
Published: July 6, 2012 by Musa Publishing
Length: 237 pages
Source: author (review copy)
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“There are worse things than death, worse people too
The “talk” was bad enough, but how many teens get told that they’re a goddess? When her mom tells her, Persephone is sure her mother has lost her mind. It isn’t until Boreas, the god of winter, tries to abduct her that she realizes her mother was telling the truth. Hades rescues her, and in order to safely bring Persephone to the Underworld he marks her as his bride. But Boreas will stop at nothing to get Persephone. Despite her growing feelings for Hades, Persephone wants to return to the living realm. Persephone must find a way to defeat Boreas and reclaim her life.“
I’ve always been a big fan of Greek mythology ever since I studied and read stories about them in my English class during freshmen year high school. It fascinates and interests me so much so when the author was looking for reviewers, I just had to say yes! This book will not disappoint you, and you will literally keep turning the page until the very last. I brought this book everywhere! While I was shopping with my mom at Big Lots, having lunch at a restaurant, at school, during my classes, before I sleep, watching T.V., I would always be reading Persephone. Yes, those are all true.
Persephone by Kaitlin Bevis is obviously a retelling of Greek mythology focusing on Persephone. It is very well written, and plain amazing! I can’t say it’s the best Greek mythology re-telling story I’ve ever read because this is actually the first time I’ve read a retelling of Greek mythology, but I’m glad to say it’s the first. The book is basically about Persephone ( a.k.a Kora) not knowing she’s a goddess until Hades kidnaps her and brings her to the Underworld. As her 17th birthday draws near, Persephone starts having these “feelings” that someone is always watching her. Turns out one of the gods wants her and it’s up to Hades, her mother, and best friend Melissa to protect her.
When we think of Hades, we usually think of his wife Persephone too. But do we really get to see her perspective? That’s what I loved about this book, is that it was written 1st person point of view of Persephone. The best of all is the romance between Hades & Persephone! The author did a really great job. It was super interesting reading how they acted with one another, how Hades would be protective and concerned to Persephone, but at the same time it was such a cliff hanger! Because of their age difference, Hades felt his love for her wasn’t right.
The characters were all likable, but my favorite would have to be Hades. Hades is the Lord of the Underworld who’s supposed to be cruel, mean, unfair, scary etc. but in Kaitlin’s novel, he wasn’t always a monster. Here, Hades has a friendly side which totally shocked me especially when he shows his concern to Persephone. It makes me say “awww” and brings a smile to my face (: . He welcomes the new souls, and he treats the other gods in the Underworld like a family.
In this book, Persephone lived all her life on Earth. She’s your typical normal girl, went to high school, had “friends” who talked behind her back, and ran a flower business with her mom Demeter. Persephone is tough, independent, and of course beautiful (she has the power to charm anyone). I know she has a “kick-ass” attitude inside of her, but in this book, she just found out that she was a goddess so we couldn’t really see what she’s fully capable of. I can’t wait to read the sequel, and I feel like there’s going to be more action in that.
Like I said, it’s a very well written book. I love love love how Kaitlin pictured the Underworld. I felt like I was actually there, touching the River Styx, seeing the new souls begging Hades and Persephone to bring them back to Earth, etc. It took me 2 days to read it and I enjoyed every second of it. I 100% recommend Persephone go buy it now!!
My young adult fiction novel “Persephone,” will be released this summer. I also write for Athens Parent Magazine, and truuconfessions.com. I have also published several short stories, my latest, Siren Song, is available on amazon.com.
For up to the minute information on my future releases subscribe to my facebook or twitterpage!
Q: Welcome to Little Book Star Kaitlin! How long did it take you to write Persephone?
It took a little over a year to write but a whole year to revise and submit to different publishing houses. Once Persephone was picked up by Musa it was about seven months before publication, which is actually really fast!
Q: Of all the Greek gods, why did you choose to write about Persephone and Hades?
There’s just something about the myth of Persephone. It feels incomplete. Of all the myths it reads the most like a newspaper article in that you get NO emotional response or thoughts from the victim. We get Hades’ motives and Demeter’s reaction but what about Persephone? I just wanted to give her a voice and finish the story.
Q: Which Greek god do you think is the coolest and why?
Tough one! Ares seems pretty cool. You’ve got fire an warfare. Plus he’s so darn volatile that he’s involved with everything.
Q: What was the most challenging part in writing Persephone?
Establishing a universe where she didn’t yet exist. Seriously, the Persephone myth influenced our perception of seasons, and it’s one of the most frequently occurring plot lines. (beauty and the beast anyone?) I had to watch every reference to make sure they couldn’t have been influenced by something that hadn’t happened yet. It made working “Dusk” into the story hard! But I managed
Q: Are you currently working on a project, maybe a sequel to Persephone 
The sequel “Daughter of the Earth and Sky” comes out December 21, and the arcs should be available soon if you’re interested in a copy. I’m currently working on the conclusion of Persephone’s trilogy “The Iron Queen” and outlining the first book of a new trilogy in the Daughters of Zeus series called “Aphrodite.” You’ll meet her in the next book.
xxx
Thank you so much for your time! And I totally agree that it was always Hades and Demeter’s voice being heard, but not Persephone’s. I CAN’T wait for the sequel and I’m definitely interested in getting an ARC
