Just a heads up for those thinking about buying the book or perhaps getting it for someone as a gift.
At the very start of the book, there is a content warning from the author Rachel Smythe: she warns of physical and mental abuse, sexual trauma, and toxic relationships.
How Hades and Persephone meet is a bit dubious—I take that back, it’s downright criminal. She’s clearly drugged while out at a party and put into the backseat of Hades’ car. She’s only discovered after he gets home.
While in her drug induced sleep, Persephone has a dream of her mother giving her a beautiful green house that has no doors. Once inside, Persephone cannot get out and pleads with her mother to let her out. Demeter defends this action as trying to keep her daughter safe. The art on this scene is striking in red and black tones.
Later on in the story, Apollo is hanging out with Artemis and Persephone (the two women live together) watching a movie and eating pizza. Persephone goes off to bed and after Artemis falls asleep on the sofa, Apollo goes to Persephone’s room and wakes her up. While Persephone doesn’t resist Apollo, she’s also not really into what’s about to happen. I was actually a touch heartbroken when the scene was over because it’s a thing we’ve seen far too many times in various forms of media—they didn’t say no, but they didn’t say yes either. That sick gray area I’m never comfortable with.
So do be aware of those things if you should purchase this book.
