I was originally very excited about a Hades-Persephone rendition. And even though I'm generally not interested in romantic plotlines, Hades and Persephone have a pretty screwy relationship in the Greek tradition; a modern retelling is welcome. In beginning, it was really interesting. For one, Pierce isn't a helpless damsel. She escapes from her version of Hades (a super emotional guy named John who helps run the Underworld), after nearly dying, and has difficulty recovering from her time with him. I'm not going to lie: John is a tad emo and extremely possessive. But if he's supposed to be an unbalanced king of the dead, he fits the bill. One issue I had with the book, and by that I mean something that made me almost throw the book against the wall, is the dysfunctional relationship between Pierce and John. I understand that John is not supposed to be a stable person, and he and Pierce are still getting to know one another; that said, John's controlling tendencies stretch his likeability a little far. I'm not a fan of that I-have-to-hurt-you-to-protect-you motif in books. Disclaimer: I am not ranting about Cabot here--this is a problem I've come across in other relationshippy books I've read recently--but the kiss-with-a-fist relationship is both creepy and gross. And even though Cabot provides great twists and an unexpected dose of humor to her story, Pierce and John's issues didn't impress me.
