Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the chance to listen to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. 

First of all, full disclosure I only finished 60% of this book before DNFing. I understand there are mixed opinions on reviewing books not finished so just wanted to be transparent in case you rather not read further. If it’s helpful I guess you could call it an explanation of why I decided to put the book down. 

When I first started reading adult romance I was introduced to Katee Robert’s books through her Come Undone series. I enjoyed them immensely but took a huge break from reading and hadn’t kept up with her work. When I started posting about books again I would see her Wicked Villains series often on Instagram so I decided to pick them up. I loved the second and third book in the series. Every book I have read so far has packed a serious punch. When I saw Neon Gods I was so excited to give it a read. 

I feel like I should start with sharing that the narration on this was not for me. I wish I could better explain why but the narration of Hades just wasn’t pleasing to my ears. I started this back on June 20th trying to listen to a chapter here and there but wouldn’t leave it on long. I do have to wonder if my disconnect with the narration impacted my overall connection to what was happening. Would I have had a different experience with the physical copy?

Persephone wants to escape. Hades wants revenge. With a shared enemy Hades and Persephone enter a three month agreement to get back at Zeus. Step 1, fake dating and a very public fuck you to piss Zeus off. Step 2, Unclear. See step 1. 

I love me some fake dating and dark characters with marshmallow tendencies. That in combination with the revenge plot, power hungry politics, and the promise of it being an “unspeakably hot” read there was so much potential. It sadly didn’t work for me. 

Hades is often described as the boogey man and at one point the “Biggest, baddest, mother fucker…” Sure buddy, sure. Usually this wouldn’t bother me. Like I said I love soft dark characters but besides being told he was seen that way the only impression I got was he was a grumpy guy. I wasn’t sure what to think of Persephone. I liked that she was forward regarding her decisions and wants and clear that she would not be saying yes to anything she did not want to say yes to. I did however feel she was caught up in the three months and not making plans for what she would need to accomplish her goals of a new life afterwards. Throughout the story I didn’t feel like I was learning anything new about either of them as individuals or as a potential couple.

I’ve found that Katee Robert can usually make me blush and her steam level is 🔥x10 . I don’t know if I’ve become desensitized. Were the scenes bad? Not at all, it just seemed to be missing that extra oomph. Like with most rating scales I know heat level is going to be subjective so obviously keep in mind that what one person finds scorching another may see as fairly tame. On a Katee Robert scale I’d say this was on the tamer side. 

I was so intrigued by this concept of the Thirteen (the people in power), their decision making processes, and the role each play. I wanted to know the history and tension between the upper city/lower city and the perceived power of the thirteen vs everyone knowing Zeus held the power. There was a little at the beginning but then again I felt like I was getting no new information. It was definitely the case of what is written as rule/policy is not actually truth and I couldn’t help but wonder, Zeus never seems to truly follow the rules anyway why would he start now. At 60% there didn’t seem to be much effort on his part to retaliate. I thought there would be more action, more drama, a little more back and forth between the cities. It could have been right around the corner but i could have used some more build up if that was the case. 

Overall I just felt underwhelmed and couldn’t get invested in how the story would progress. I really wanted to give it a chance to pick up but I feel like 60% is a pretty solid try and had to call it quits.