Girl, Goddess, Queen

First off, thank you so much to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for the advance copy. As always, all opinions shared below are 100% my own.

I've always been fascinated by the Hades and Persephone myth. Not necessarily to romanticize it (though I've enjoyed that at times) but also for the darker natures of everyone involved as well as the ripple effects across Greek mythology as a whole. It's a mix of beauty and horror that makes it such a compelling tale for me.

And well, you know me, I love a good feminist retelling.

"Girl, Goddess, Queen" by Bea Fitzgerald is a YA retelling of the tale that promised more agency for Persephone. She isn't taken to hell, she jumps. That sounded like such a fresh and fun take.

Unfortunately, the execution show more didn’t really land for me.

The biggest issue is with the characters. This book falls into the common YA trap of confusing strong lead with rude and self-centered. Persephone spends so much of the story belittling, accusing, or threatening Hades that I couldn’t buy into the romance later on. And it felt so one-sided, too. Hades is constantly apologizing or appeasing to her, while she never really takes responsibility for the hurt she causes. The book tries to balance this out by giving her moments of insecurity, but those mostly come across as whining and repetitive self-doubt that drags down the pacing.

The enemies-to-lovers arc doesn’t work either. It feels more like forced tension that skips straight from hostility (on her behalf) to 'romantic vibes and attraction' using a variation of the 'fake dating' trope.

What bothered me even more, though, is how the story gives Persephone 'agency' by flattening everyone else. In this retelling, Kore/Persephone is described as so beautiful she could make Aphrodite jealous and definitely enough for Ares to promise to give Aphrodite up for her hand in marriage. She can weave almost as well as Athena or better (but she doesn't want to meet the same fate as Arachne). She's a pacifist (despite wishing to see Hades burn in the early chapters for not trusting her and listening to her demands) but she invented the sickle to protect humanity.

Not to mention that she becomes the brains behind how the underworld is run since Hades apparently can't be bothered and would rather be left alone to his hobbies. Meanwhile, the rest of the gods are shallow, antagonistic caricatures, or just there to admire, desire or control her. It ended up making the whole story feel unbalanced and, honestly, kind of dull.

Between the character development issues, the overly used miscommunication trope and the unnecessary length of the book, it made for an unenjoyable read.

I went in really wanting to love this book, but in the end it left me disappointed. show less

I read this a while back. That's about all I remember. It did not stay with me.

Für mich ein gutes Buch, dass Lust auf mehr macht.
Die Charaktere sind mir über den Lauf der 490 Seiten wirklich ans Herz gewachsen, vor allem natürlich die zwei Hauptcharaktere. Insgesamt hat mir dieser Blickwinkel auf die Geschichte Persephones sehr gut gefallen. Denn sie ist eine starke Person die ihr Ideale und Prinzipien hat nach denen sie versucht zu Leben, die Männer in ihrem Umfeld machen ihr das aber durchaus schwer. Während Persephone einige klassisch männlichen Eigenschaften verkörpert, findet man bei Hades einige eher weiblich gelesene Eigenschaften was eine interessante Dynamik zwischen beiden und ihrer teils sehr toxischen Umwelt bildet. Am Ende hätte ich mir ein bisschen mehr Zug zum Finale gewünscht, einen show more größeren Knall doch auch ohne ist ein sehr gelungenes Buch geworden, das mich fast zu Tränen gerührt hat. show less