"Life is hell for Persephone. Zeus will stop at nothing to gain access to the living realm and the Underworld, and as the only living god with a right to both, Persephone’s in trouble. Captured and tortured beyond the limits of her resolve, Persephone must find the power to stand against Zeus. But will she be strong enough?
Meanwhile, Hades contemplates desperate measures to rescue his queen. Persephone never thought of herself as dangerous, but there’s a reason gods never marry for love. A being with the power to destroy all of creation shouldn’t place more value in one individual than the rest of the planet. But Hades...Hades would break the world for her.
To save the world and stop both Hades and Zeus, Persephone must make a difficult choice. One that may cost her everything."
The Iron Queen is the final installment of the trilogy determined to depict the romance between Hades and Persephone. It isn't The Goddess Test, and for that, I'm thankful. But as I said before, it is not anything like Meg Cabot's Abandon. Still, it is pretty good for a retelling. And everyone knows, I love a good fairy tale, right?
Hades is a bit more annoying than usual (and he is certainly not Romeo). Still, he is an angsty teenager. Hello? He is like hundreds, thousands years old. I don't a guy that old should be acting like typical teenagers. Unless he is a child god like Persephone, which he isn't because he is already powerful and crazy. Well, he isn't crazy, but I think he should be crazy. I always imagine Hades as crazy and eccentric and blue. Thank you, Disney.
Persephone, on the other hand, is no longer just the goddess of flowers. Oh, snap. That is a spoiler already. Never mind, I won't say what other territories she possess. I shouldn't be talking about it unless I have a spoiler blog. Let just say that she is very good at undergoing torture under the wrong stick. Zeus tries to beat her up and force her to swear, but she is too good. She makes oath after oath to make sure she won't betray those she loves. I say it is very wise of her to make some security protection in case things go south.
The Iron Queen is a wrong title for a somewhat good book. Some of the gods are good. Others are bad. Take Aphrodite as an example. She is a terrible goddess. Zeus, on the other hand, is very good. And very disgusting. I'm not sure what to make of Hera. She seems to be fairly weak. And anti... Well, I'm not going there.
Told from many POVs, the Iron Queen is an okay last installment to an okay series. I don't like how the story is told in the modern times. I prefer it if it is long, long, long ago. Then things will make more sense than the story being told in the modern times. Anyway, I better stop before I start to repeat myself.
Overall, I think this book and its series is okay. It isn't too bad. It isn't anything outstanding. It is bearable unlike the Goddess Test where I wanted to throw up in some moments. It isn't anything like Abandon, where I have to yet again praise Meg Cabot's genius brain. Still, the overall story is that this book is okay and no one will blame you if you bother to read it. There is no shame in reading books. Got me?
Rating: Three out of Five
"Some vows can never be broken.
Persephone thought she could go back to her normal life after returning from the Underworld. She was wrong.
The goddess Aphrodite is born among the waves with more charm than she can control. Zeus is stalking Persephone and her loved ones, and Thanatos is no longer content with Persephone’s silence.
He wants her soul.
Persephone can’t tell anyone about Thanatos’ betrayal, and it drives a wedge between her and Hades. Her mother is still keeping secrets, and Melissa’s jealousy of Aphrodite threatens to tear their friendship apart.
Alone, Persephone turns to a human boy for comfort. But will their relationship put him in danger? Sacrifices must be made, and Persephone must choose between her human life and her responsibilities as a goddess. If she doesn’t, she could lose them both. But will either life be worth choosing once Zeus is through with her?"
Well, this is the second book in the tale about Hades and Persephone.
Daughter of the Earth and Sky refers to Persephone. This time the title is a bit more creative than the prequel (Persephone). Earth means Demeter, goddess of crops and everything in between. (Where's Gaia?) Sky means Zeus, who is a bit creepy. Thank goodness, gods aren't related to each other by blood. That would be a lot of incest. (Remember Zeus and Hera, who are siblings and spouses).
Okay, now we get to see that Hades sounds like an angsty teenage boy. I want to tell you I'm joking, but I can't. He truly is that bad. That bad, yes. I'm sorry, but that is the way it needs to be. So right now, I'm totally disappointed in Hades. And how old is he? Two thousand years old? He needs to be a bit more mature than that. So disappointing. Old people have to act like old people. Got it? Unless the god is Apollo, Hermes, Ares, or Aphrodite. Those are the only exception. Ares is on the list, because his toys always get broken by his sister, Athena who is the goddess of wisdom. Apollo and Hermes? Well, they are travelers. And they are... Never mind. Just blame Percy Jackson for my biases.
Persephone is certainly different. She is a bit clever, but not clever enough. She couldn't stop the plot from moving too fast, unfortunately. However, she does manage to find the secrets. Specifically, Zeus' secrets. And that is very important. After all, Zeus is the enemy behind all of this, remember? Oh, wait. You never read this book. But you can probably tell who is the enemy from the synopsis.
Anything else?
Why, yes. There are a few more things I need to talk about. First of all, the setting is a bit interesting. Everything is happening in the present instead of the past. The myths were technically taking place two thousand or three thousand years ago. Of course, that is only if it were real. It is a bit interesting that everything is in the present instead of the past. There are many characters that are familiar, from Aphrodite (who isn't into all that matchmaking, at least not yet) to Orpheus (who tried to get his wife from Hades' clutches). It is a bit interesting. I don't like it, yet I don't care about it. It is neutral territory.
Overall, I think Daughter of Earth and Sky is a bit long for a title, but the book is going downhill. I don't really like it, but I think there is a chance it will improve. The plot will improve. Sorry. The book, on the other hand, has opportunities to improve, but it is published. There is little the author can do now. The characters are a bit annoying, the plot is fine, the setting is alright, the dialogue is smooth enough, and the title is a little long.
Rating: Three out of Five
"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."
Well, this is obviously the retelling of Persephone and Hades. This time the author paints their story as a story of a slow growing love instead of the rape the Greek Mythology calls it. Still, it is another version of the tale. This time Kora/Persephone doesn't realize she is a goddess until she was attacked by a deity. Her mother, Demeter, isn't as powerful as Hades, who thankfully rescues Persephone before she is killed.
I can tell you that Persephone is really fun. There are a lot of little tingles here and there when you see Hades slowly falling for Persephone. Persephone, on the other hand, tries to hide it, but you can so obviously tell that she likes him too. And it is all so adorable. Don't you agree? Oh, wait. You haven't read this book yet so you can't really agree with me. Sorry. But just imagine the chemistry between Duval and Ismae (Grave Mercy) and half that. Yeah, it is half the amount, but it is gold. I mean, Duval and Ismae are meant to be. Like what Duval's half-sister, the Duchess, said, they are well suited together. And Hades and Persephone? Well, life and death go hand in hand together like war and death (Duval is for war; Ismae is for death).
It is an awesome retelling. I really like all the little allusions here and there. It is all very fun and awesome. I really enjoyed it. Persephone is a fast-paced tale about the love between Hades and Persephone. However, this being a book, it has to be a bit longer tale than what you read on Wikipedia.
Persephone is one strong girl. She doesn't change very much throughout the book, but who cares about that? I read worse books about Persephone and Hades (cough, cough, the Goddess Test, cough, cough). Compared to those certain books (cough!), Persephone looks well-developed (despite the cheesy factors in the book) and whole. However, it isn't as good as Meg Cabot's Abandon trilogy, which is much more fun than this series. So far.
And Hades. Well, he isn't as hot-tempered as Greek Mythology believes him to be. He is this bored god who plays video games to pass the time. But with this many people dying per day (about four thousand?), I don't know how he isn't bored.
Anyway, Persephone is certainly a fun book, if your kid can't get interested enough in Greek Mythology. However, I would recommend Percy Jackson for that problem.
Rating: Three out of Five
