Hardcover, 274 pages
Published April 28th 2009 by HarperTeen
(first published April 17th 2009)
Even paradise can be a prison
Persephone is immortal. Her mother is Demeter, all-powerful goddess of the harvest. Her friends are nymphs and dryads. She lives in a valley of eternal springtime, where everything is always blooming and nothing ever changes. And she wants out. She wants to grow and change, make mistakes, fall in love . . .
When a dark stranger arrives in her vale--all skin and breath and power--she may finally have her chance to do it all. But can the world survive a love so forbidden?
Radiant Darkness is a book I picked up and was completely unsure about, but a few pages is I was hooked! A Great Twist on the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone. In the original Myth Persephone was Kidnapped by Hades and forced to become his queen. Emily Whitman tells her story from the perspective of Persephone, a girl who only wants to explore the world outside, but is forced to live a sheltered life by her overprotective mother. When Persephone meets Hades her world is flipped upside down. This is where the twist comes in, Persephone falls in love with Hades and WILLINGLY runs away to become his queen in the Underworld.
Full of Romance, fantasy, and mythology, this books was a great Young adult story, more than that, it is simply a great story overall. I highly recommend this book and look forward to seeing more from the Author!
Rating: 4/5
Very interesting idea. Wished there had been some better/deeper character development. I liked the idea enough I wanted more and the author just seems to skim the surface of what really happened. Would love to see someone like Sherrilyn Kenyon take this novel idea and blossom it out into a bigger, more mature picture. But it was fast paced enough anyone can read it and respect the different take on an "original" myth.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Sherrilyn Kenyon will write about them sometime :) she touches on them every now and again, and eventually she will run out of Dark hunter Novel ideas!. I do agree that the author just skimmed the surface, but I also wonder if it would hold most YA's interest if there had been too much more? I suppose this should be considered a "light read" rather than something "meaty" that will take more focus. I am glad you gave it a chance though :) Hopefully some of my other recommends will really hit a home run for you !
ReplyDeleteThis is always how I imagined the myth of Persephone for some reason, that Hades and Persephone were in love and that the only reason she came back to the surface was to save the mortals being hurt by Demeter's wrath. I've always loved Greek mythology and any new twist on it (just like with regular fairy tales) intrigues me. It was a great read, though I wished it could have been more in-depth. I felt like I didn't really get to know any of the characters except for Persephone, so it was harder to empathize why she was falling in love with Hades...
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