Hades and Persephone: The Golden Blade Paperback – 1 Mar. 2024

I loved the first book and I loved this one. As expected with Greek mythology it's very dark so tred with caution. I also wish there was more images. This Ince didn't have as many as book one.

Headlines:Angst oozing from the pagesDestructive loveWho really is the villiain?What a sweeping read of an experience the finale of this duology was. I was glad I re-read book one so that I had the details straight in my mind, but even so, I did not expect the underworld to be as it was on Persephone's return. The hardest thing...what had become of the people there.I'm going to be vague in this review because the plot is both complex and delicious. It messed with my head and expectations numerous times and neither Persephone nor me reading through her eyes couldn't comprehend the changes in the underworld. It was incredibly hard to understand who the villians were outside of the obvious contenders of Zeus and Minthe. Talking of Zeus, I don't think there's been a retelling where I've hated this god as much; he was so well written in his wickedness.What was perplexing and sometimes stressful to read were the changes to characters I had formed assumptions about from book one, especially Ares and Hades. I had to do some pondering, side-eyeing and backpeddling with these two. The side characters were rich and I really enjoyed Hecate, Nyx, Cronus (yes, really) and others. I did not know where this plot was heading about a quarter of the way in but it was so engrossing that riding along with the story was great reading amongst the angst. Once a specific reveal came, the angst lessened a bit.I cannot talk about this book without paying homage to the wonderful artwork. The frequency and quality of this original art that leads you through the story lifts the visualisation of this book to the highest levels. I could picture all the characters quite literally because I'd turn a page and there they were.This was a heated romantasy-type of greek mythology retelling. But this was Greek mythology so expect the heinous acts those original tales depict as they understandably appear on these pages; there may be triggers for some.What a beloved duology this has been and one I will be recommending to all around me.