Joined in 2023 
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I don’t think this was the case with this one, and I think Fitzgerald did a really great job of making the world, the characters, the politics etc really easy to digest and follow along with.
She barges in to Hell, forces Hades to give her food and shelter and is surprised that Hades is not so fond of this, and somehow he is the d*ck for not being excited about helping her. If you’re familiar with YA romantic comedies, you’ll know that they’re often built on a hefty dose of misunderstandings, jumping to conclusions and conflicted characters not voicing aloud how they really feel.Far from the unsympathetic, forbidding kidnapper he’s traditionally been portrayed to be, Hades is a loveable, endearing and creative soul, who eschews the typical bloodthirsty, narcissistic masculine traits of the gods. It's a fun retelling of Hades and Persephone, and the author tries to put a fresh new spin on the myth. There needed to be more of a foundation for Persephone to grow to love the place she escaped to and want to make it better.
The romance is perfectly paced, complementing rather than overriding the anxieties and expectations that both characters wrestle with throughout the book. Ie exposition heavy, circular, not really communicating anything, clearly there because the author wants to use a certain line. I can’t tell you exactly how much I laughed while reading this one, I mean I also swooned a fair bit, but mostly I was just laughing at the sheer audacity of our badass Persephone and the banter between her and Hades (and Styx). Persephone (or Kore) came over as quite immature and at times pretty annoying and Hades wasn’t much better. Our Persephone, traditionally portrayed as sweet tempered and kind, is transformed into a daring and fabulously fierce (Ancient Greek) Girl Boss, determined to seek out happiness by any means necessary—even if it means taking on the patriarchy in all its toxic, oppressive forms.If you enjoy pining and characters that try to hide their feelings even though everyone knows you both should be together, this is it!
His openness about his innermost thoughts/ vulnerabilities and the lighthearted banter he loves to partake in with Persephone (and his closest friends) was a surprisingly refreshing aspect that, when paired with the depth and emotion we see in (the brief exploration into) his backstory, really made this my favourite retelling of the Hades and Persephone Myth. As for Persephone, we really saw a woman find her footing in HER realm - the fact the underworld also belonged to her in key to that statement. Hades goes from absolutely wanting nothing to do with her, trying to trick her into breaking an oath that would have huge consequences… to then falling all over himself to apologise and grovel and make life long vows of the River Styx for her in the span of a few pages? Enter Hades who comes across quite intriguing at first - a brooding god of the Underworld who wants this flower-growing girl gone and resents her presence. Talking of these two MCs, they were a delight in their slow dance towards friendship and the even slower dance to more.I think that if the book didn't have too many fillers, I would actually bump the ratings to 4 stars.
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