Review: Katee Robert's NEON GODS.

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

🪑 Q: do you have a fave Hades & Persephone romance re-telling?

I was expecting Katee Robert’s Neon Gods—a Hades & Persephone re-telling—to be H O T. I wasn’t expecting it to be so sweet & romantic. (Waves at Hades hiiiii.)

Olympus is ruled by the 13 gods. In theory. In actuality, the last Hera is suspected to have been murdered by her husband Zeus—who rules the Upper City—& they say that Hades—once ruler of the Lower City—died some time ago.

The River Styx divides the two cities & no one crosses it.

Until the night “obedient” Persephone Dimitriou runs across the bridge, desperate to escape the forced engagement her mother Demeter has arranged between her & Zeus.

A man is on the other side. He’s frightening in some ways, seems safe in others, & after he doctors her wounds he’s revealed to be Hades.

Persephone strikes an arrangement between them: if he harbors her for the winter & keeps her safe from Zeus she’ll sleep with him (something she wants to do regardless) & facilitate his revenge against Zeus, who murdered Hades’s parents years earlier.

Wow 🤩. This book is a cheek-flushing, butterfly-swooping confection. Greek mythology is re-worked in a fascinating way; I cannot tell you how much sexy potential I see in every character in this book .

Hades is absolutely delicious: he is a scarred, forbidding presence who starts to occasionally laugh around Persephone; he worries about her; & the emotional intimacy he is willing to wade into with her is beautiful.

Robert complicates Persephone in a stunning way: I love how Miss Sunshine has teeth & daggers when she travels to the Lower City.

Their sex scenes—both the private ones & the public ones in his dungeon—are stupendous. The discussions of comfort & consent, the way they look out for each other, is just another hot part of this romance.

I can’t wait to read the next book in this series!

5 ⭐️. Neon Gods is out on 06/01.