Having my book become our book has been an incredible experience and I couldn't ask for a better team behind it than agent extraordinaire Hannah, editorial genius Naomi and everyone else at Penguin whose enthusiasm, passion and support have been boundless. I liked how Persephone was shown as a young girl who was trying to find her way into the world and mostly to discover herself as a person. Ergo three stars because it was mostly quite readable and I'm not really the target audience for a lot of YA fantasy anymore. Bea is passionate about stories and fascinated by the way they endure and resonate through centuries and generations.

If you know a lot about Greek myth and having the original context and meaning drained out annoys you, give this a miss. I'd also like to do a little shoutout to Bea for putting up with me and my updates while reading and for letting me talk about my own personal life too, you're a gem, Bea and I have throughly enjoyed talking with you.I did like the writing and I would pick something up from this author again which is why I gave this two stars.

All this time, pretending I’m fine with this arrangement so she’ll lower her guard and give me the opportunity to escape, and here I am, pushing her barriers back up at the last moment for the sake of an argument I’ll never win. So Persephone needs to get married because apparently that's all that matters to gods (why have we gone down this road? Hair aside, I try to see myself the way a stranger might, the way my future husband might – smooth olive skin and long straight nose, thick eyebrows and hollowed cheeks. Even as their alliance dissolves into friendship, friendship blurring into something deeper, she stills struggles to understand that he’s not trying to trick or weaken her. Bring[s] to life timeless gods, the complex intimacy of family bonds, a fierce protagonist, and a passionate slow-burn romance.

I’d rather perish, rather be another tragic tale for a mother to use in warning than become a long drawn-out sigh in a hymn, an immortal life spent in misery.

We at Penguin Random House Australia acknowledge that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the Traditional Custodians and the first storytellers of the lands on which we live and work. The fashion now is much looser,’ Cyane asks from the doorway, the only space left with mother and I both crammed into my tiny bedroom. Rivers of Hell, I might not like Hera but at least she gained power somehow, made marriage mean something to bind even her own husband.I feel that whilst their friendship was explored well, the pining didn't really work out for me, which really made me dissapointed as I wanted to love it so much but I just couldn't.

I also loved river goddess Styx (one of the supporting characters) the best and sassiest wing woman a Goddess (or God) could ask for! THE WRITING, THE HUMOUR, THE GREEK GODS AND THE PURE VIBES, KORE <3 Stay tuned for when I meet Hades. And you’re wonderful, so accomplished, normally so obedient and gentle, so easy to love,’ she says pointedly. I literally find it impossible to choose just one quote to share, so [insert 100 favourite and memorable quotes] here. There were parts where Persephone and Hades was just sweet but the slow-burn that I feel the author was aiming for.While this is a romance, it's mostly Persephone's story of taking her life into her own hands, empowering herself, and taking agency. I seem to be in the minority with this review but I didn’t really enjoy this book and I at times, found it quite dull.