Warning: Contains minor spoilers. Check out my Reading Ranting page for more.
Another Hades and Persephone adaptation. That’s like the 5th I’ve read this year. But that’s not a criticism of this book, purely a comment that I clearly have a type. Lol. Anyway, I generally liked this book for the magic and its characters and interesting places, but I got confused a bit too often. Maybe it was just me.
What I liked…
Firstly, I absolutely love that it’s set in alternative historical Sicily with lots of Italian names and… Love me some limoncello. I found myself getting hungry in virtually every other scene because Emilia’s parents owned a restaurant, which was based on a real restaurant in the author’s life. Extra fun.
Also, Emilia… My name. I never see my name in books I like, so this was fun. Not that it matters. Just a personal thing.
I loved that the main parts of the magic system weren’t particularly complicated. Witches can cast spells and demons can be summoned. With some variations and specific rules here and there, that was the gist of it. Also, gates to Hell and Hell Princes… again nothing complicated to wrap my head around.
What I did/didn’t like…
Wrath was a confusing fellow, especially at the end (no spoilers on that). I think that made him even more interesting, but I would have liked some of his and Emilia’s nicer moments to last a little longer. I didn’t feel the excitement of a pending romance with these two. Still, it worked on the whole. I dunno. Maybe m
What I didn’t like…
The existence of Hades confused me (even though it’s a Hades and Persephone story) since I thought it was more Christianity with some pagan goddesses for the witches. But Hades didn’t seem to fit into it except for one artifact.
The story felt slow to start and got a bit confusing along the way. I found it hard to keep track of why random Princes were showing up because Emilia didn’t question it. I think that would have helped me more if she had mused, even if she was wrong. It was just all a bit too random until the last moment, by then, I’d forgotten the earlier events because I was trying so hard to make sense of the current ones.
Final thoughts…
I would recommend this book to readers who like Hades and Persephone adaptations, witches and spells, demons, and limoncello. And I will definitely be reading book 2. That’s going to be on December’s TBR list. Or sooner, since I’m really curious to know what happens next.
Love Fantasy Novels 