library_of_alexandra_'s reviews
366 reviews

Chapter 26 is way too late for a story to get interesting. I only keep reading because my friend insisted. It did improve in the last 150 pages, but it was work to get there. 

This book! If you want a fake dating, feminist, Persephone and Hades retelling, read this book! Persephone is slowly becoming my favorite Greek deity, and this book may have cemented it. The world-building, the character dynamics, and the central romance are so well designed.

Kore’s mother Demeter has kept her on the island of Sicily her whole life. She is the goddess of flowers, but when it comes to every other task her mother wants her to do, she’s terrible at it: needlework, painting, and being polite. When her father, Zeus, tells Demeter that it is time to get Kore married off, Kore knows she cannot let that happen to her. She hatches a plan to go to the only place she won’t be found. The Underworld.

When Kore arrives in The Underworld, she finds out that Hades is not who everyone has said he was, and The Underworld is not exclusively a dark and dismal place. As Kore starts to discover who she is, she learns that she is more than just the goddess of flowers and that maybe marriage is not the horrible life sentence that it was meant to be. Because Kore is not naive, she’s Persephone, the chaos bringer.

Throughout this story, the two main characters, Persephone and Hades are truly well fleshed out. They grow into themselves with the help of knowing each other, and it is beautiful to watch. There are some scenes in this book that just give the ultimate giggling and kicking-my-feet vibes. Hades is especially wonderful, because he has so many hidden depths to him that make his reputation fall apart. He is nothing like the creepy old man in the myths, yet the attention to detail of his holding that scary reputation is wonderful.

The world-building in this novel is also out of this world. Not only is the Underworld fantastic (which it absolutely is), but even the lesser visited places in the novel, like Sicily and Olympus are beautifully drawn. The attention to detail (like the Court of The Underworld and the Court of Olympus having the same layout with different decor) is impeccable. The world is lived in and vast. The side characters are fantastic and unique. Characters like Styx, as in the river, and Hermes, as in the god of messages, are fully realized and vital to the story. The world is rich and full of life, and I love it.

Fitzgerald shows off her knowledge of Greek myths with the sheer attention to detail in this novel. If you haven’t seen her TikToks, please go check out @chaosolympus because she is hilarious. It is clear that Fitzgerald loves this material and also bringing the stories into the 21st century. Giving Persephone agency without making it a takedown of the whole history of Greek myths is inspired. All fans of Madeline Miller and Jennifer Saint will love this book!

I definitely recommend this read to all readers of fantasy romance!