Cover reviews! Daughters of Zeus Trilogy re-released!

Kaitlin Bevis recently re-released her Daughters of Zeus series — with new covers this time! If you’ve been following me for very long, you’ll know that I am head-over-heels in LOVE with this series. So when I heard that they would be available for paperback for the first time ever, and with new covers, I had a serious fangirl freak-out moment. So without further ado…. Cover review time!

Persephone — By Kaitlin Bevis

Check out my review of Persephone HERE!

Cover Image and summary from Goodreads.com. Image links to Amazon.

Summary: 

One day Persephone is an ordinary high school senior working at her mom’s flower shop in Athens, Georgia. The next she’s fighting off Boreas, the brutal god of Winter, and learning that she’s a bonafide goddess—a rare daughter of the now-dead Zeus. Her goddess mom whisks her off to the Underworld to hide until Spring.

There she finds herself under the protection of handsome Hades, the god of the dead, and she’s automatically married to him. It’s the only way he can keep her safe. Older, wiser, and far more powerful than she, Hades isn’t interested in becoming her lover, at least not anytime soon. But every time he rescues her from another of Zeus’s schemes, they fall in love a little more. Will Hades ever admit his feelings for her?

Can she escape the grasp of her powerful dad’s minions? The Underworld is a very cool place, but is it worth giving up her life in the realm of the living? Her goddess powers are developing some serious, kick-butt potential. She’s going to fight back

Thoughts: Yes, yes, YES! Persephone is one of my absolute favorite books EVER, and this cover is spectacular. I will always prefer real artwork on covers (painted artwork, not models or clipart), but even then… I must admit, this cover is stunning! I love the fancy title band, and that dress is gorgeous! Very Persephone. I can’t wait to buy my own physical copy for my bookshelf!

Image from Kaitlin Bevis’ Facebook page. Image links to Amazon.

Daughter of the Earth and Sky — By Kaitlin Bevis

Check out my review of Daughter of the Earth and Sky HERE!

Cover image and summary from Goodreads.com. Image links to Amazon.

Summary: 

Some vows can never be broken, especially with you’ve recently found out you’re a goddess.

In the flick of a eyelash Persephone has gone from being a high school junior in Athens, Georgia to the wife of Hades, god of the Underworld. Under his platonic protection, she’s waiting for springtime, when Boreas, the sinister god of winter, will stop stalking her.

But even Hades can’t keep Boreas and his minions from threatening her. Finally she escaped back to the world of the living. Maybe she can just go back to normal—and forget that she’s fallen in love with Hades.

She’s wrong.

Thanatos—a friend from the Underworld, has betrayed her. Persephone can’t tell anyone about Thanatos’ betrayal, and it drives a wedge between her and Hades.

And then there’s Aphrodite, the gorgeous goddess who was born among the ocean waves with more charm than she can control. Persephone’s dearest ally, Melissa, is furious and jealous when Aphrodite starts winning Persephone’s friendship. Persephone turns to a human boy for friendship. But will their relationship put him in danger?

Persephone must choose between her human life and her responsibilities as a goddess. If she doesn’t, she could lose that life and Hades, too.

But either way, she may not survive her father’s schemes. After all, she’s Zeus’s daughter.

Thoughts: Yes. Daughter of the Earth and Sky was an incredible book, and this cover is breathtaking! I am LOVING the continuity of these covers! Especially the title band and fonts. I definitely would prefer artwork, but this is a beautiful shot. I love the copper, earthy tones, and how they contrast with the bright red lips. (Also, I’m pretty sure that quote is me! Excuse me as I fangirl squee!) Make sure to buy your copy of Daughter of the Earth and Sky today!

Image from Kaitlin Bevis’ Facebook page. Image links to Amazon.

The Iron Queen — By Kaitlin Bevis

Check out my review of The Iron Queen HERE!

Cover image and summary from Goodreads.com. Image links to Amazon.

Summary:

 His love could destroy their world.

Life is hell for Persephone. Zeus will stop at nothing to gain access to the living realm and the Underworld. As the only living god with a right to both, Persephone’s in trouble. Captured and tortured beyond the limits of her resolve, Persephone must find the power to stand against Zeus. But will she be strong enough?

Meanwhile, Hades contemplates desperate measures to rescue his queen. Persephone never thought of herself as dangerous, but there’s a reason gods never marry for love. A being with the power to destroy all of creation shouldn’t place more value in one individual than the rest of the planet. But Hades . . . Hades would break the world for her.

To save the world and stop both Hades and Zeus, Persephone must make a difficult choice. One that may cost her everything.

Thoughts: No, No, NO. I HATE this cover. I loved The Iron Queen. And I adored the artwork on the original cover, so it was already going to be really hard to sell me on a new cover… but this one disappointed me. I really do love the continuity of the bottom half of the covers — and I think it’s beautiful! I love how the dress is flowing and in the clouds (which is a really great nod to the contents of the book itself), but I was quite disappointed with the figure in this one. It loses the continuity of having models, and as much as I prefer artwork, if you start with models, you should end with them.

The sensually stripping woman (because, let’s face it, no dress can actually stay up designed like that) combined with the one-line review from “Love Romance Passion Blog”, gives The Iron Queen the appearance of an erotica – which is a completely inaccurate presentation of this book. I hate that. I don’t see why on earth it was necessary. Agh. Why couldn’t the dress actually be covering her??? I really wanted to own a complete physical set of this trilogy – but I don’t want this on my bookshelf. NONE of this is saying anything bad about the author – I adore Kaitlin Bevis! – but this cover does not impress and in my opinion it does NOT properly portray the contents of the book. Don’t forget to get your (e-book or physical!) copy of The Iron Queen!

Image from Kaitlin Bevis’ Facebook Page. Links to Amazon.

And the next book in the series, publication date TBD:

Venus and Adonis — By Kaitlin Bevis

Audiobook cover!

Cover from KaitlinBevis.com. Image links to Goodreads book page.

Summary:

Being perfect isn’t easy, but Aphrodite is determined to live up to the ideal. So when Poseidon asks her to investigate strange happenings on several cruise ships, she jumps at the chance to prove herself. Demigods are going missing, and no one remembers them having been on board. Aphrodite charms herself into the best room on the ship, prepared to investigate in style. Unfortunately, the room belongs to the one man immune to her charm.
Adonis.
When Aphrodite realizes that he could be the next target, her investigation gets more complicated. Worse, whoever is responsible for the missing demigods charmed the passengers and armed them with long-forgotten weapons designed to kill gods. When the ship goes dark, Aphrodite and Adonis have to work together to discover who is behind the mayhem before Poseidon decides their ship, and every charmed and armed human on it, are more trouble than they’re worth.

Thoughts: Beautiful! For continuity’s sake, I hope this means that this new trilogy will be based in artwork. I really love this cover. I think the artist does a spectacular job at capturing the beauty of these two iconic mythological characters. I’m so excited for this book!

Overall, I love these new covers, and I’m so excited about them!

I Ask… Author of the Persephone trilogy, Kaitlin Bevis, Answers

I like interacting with people on Twitter. It’s fun! One day, I tweeted this image:

And then, one of my all time favorite authors, Kaitlin Bevis, responded, offering to answer those questions for her characters. Of course, I thought about the offer for a few minutes before calmly telling her that I would be interested in such a response (READ: I screamed, and immediately started frantically tweeting back about how unbelievably happy that would make me, all while hyperventilating.). Kaitlin Bevis is the author of the Daughters of Zeus series, a retelling of the Persephone myth in modern day. Read my reviews of her books here: Persephone, Daughter of the Earth and Sky, The Iron Queen. Her books star the most wonderful interpretations of the Persephone and Hades that I have ever read, and in fact I’m kinda in love with Hades. He’s freaking amazing.

Her responses are as follows (He/Him means Hades, She/Her means Persephone)

Needless to say, I was kinda overjoyed. I’m kinda really obsessed with her characters. (Fangirl moment: Did you catch that part about her maybe writing a short story about Persephone and Hades’ anniversary?!?!?!?!) If you haven’t yet read her books, I highly recommend you do. They’re fabulous. But, unfortunately, they’re only currently available in e-book format, which is sad.

So, that’s fabulous news! Because these books would do FABULOUS if sold in bookstores and at libraries. They already do quite well from what I can tell, but I think they could really get a major fanbase if they were more widely available.  I can’t wait! :D

Kaitlin was also the reason I fell in love with airplants. Persephone wears one on a necklace 24/7. I started out with one necklace. But now I have 20 little airplants all over my house. I love them. <3

My first airplant.

So, there you go! Make sure to buy Kaitlin’s kindle books HERE.

“There are worse things than death, worse people too The “talk” was bad enough, but how many teens get told that they’re a goddess? When her mom tells her, Persephone is sure her mother has lost her mind…”

“Some vows can never be broken.Persephone thought she could go back to her normal life after returning from the Underworld. She was wrong….”

“Life is hell for Persephone. Zeus will stop at nothing to gain access to the living realm and the Underworld, and as the only living god with a right to both, Persephone’s in trouble…”

Review: The Iron Queen – by Kaitlin Bevis

Cover image and summary from goodreads.com. Image links to Goodreads book page.

Title: The Iron Queen (Daughters of Zeus, #3)

Author: Kaitlin Bevis

Summary: Life is hell for Persephone. Zeus will stop at nothing to gain access to the living realm and the Underworld, and as the only living god with a right to both, Persephone’s in trouble. Captured and tortured beyond the limits of her resolve, Persephone must find the power to stand against Zeus. But will she be strong enough?

Meanwhile, Hades contemplates desperate measures to rescue his queen. Persephone never thought of herself as dangerous, but there’s a reason gods never marry for love. A being with the power to destroy all of creation shouldn’t place more value in one individual than the rest of the planet. But Hades…Hades would break the world for her.

To save the world and stop both Hades and Zeus, Persephone must make a difficult choice. One that may cost her everything.

Genre/Pages: Mythology/Sweet Romance/228

Rating: ★★★★★ (5 of 5)

WARNING: Brace yourself! My inner fangirl side may come through overwhelmingly heavy, potentially rambling, and undoubtebly long. You have been warned. It may also be grammatically incorrect at times.

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My Review: I was given a copy of this book from the author, in exchange for an honest review.

First Paragraph: “Watching my wife chase after a human boy was hell. The heavy rain drenched the thin fabric of her clothes in seconds, plastering them to her body in a way that would be appealing…if he wasn’t going to see her, too. I clenched my jaw. She just doesn’t want him to get hurt. It wasn’t as though I wanted any mortals caught in the crossfire when we faced Zeus either. Persephone was just going to charm the boy into leaving the park.”

So, if you remember, a LONG time ago, Kaitlin Bevis contacted me and sent me a copy of her first book, Persephone, which I promptly, read, fell in love with, and REVIEWED. A few weeks ago, I read Daughter of the Earth and Sky, fell in love with it, REVIEWED it, and promptly started The Iron Queen. I read both books in under 24 hours. I don’t know what I would have done if I had had to wait more than 2 minutes to start the final book. That was one KILLER cliffhanger!

Hero/Heroine: This book is narrated by 3 people, with your typical multiple POV approach to keeping track of three different subplots and courses of action promoting the overall story plot. It is narrated by the following:

Persephone: Well, this was kinda obvious, I suppose. Persephone’s character (as in the personality trait) grew tremendously over the course of this novel, not to mention her actual character. Being in her head was hard – and even empathically physically and emotionally painfully – at times, but it was incredible to see her character growth. In the last book she was only just starting her “coming of age,” her transition from teenage girl to goddess, but it wasn’t until The Iron Queen that that transformation is fully completed and Persephone becomes the QUEEN she was always destined to be. And what a queen she is! I was afraid, what with all the torture she is going through (both mental AND physical) that one of two things would happen. Either A) she would pull a Katniss, go completely crazy with PTSD and be completely useless for the rest of forever… or, B) She would have NO PTSD, and thus make the whole thing a completely unrealistic story. I know, I know, Catch 22. I’m impossible to please.

…But I was pleased. Quite pleased, in fact, with how this wonderful character reacts to her situations and circumstances. She is the PERFECT representation of a strong female lead. She has strength, integrity, resourcefulleness, yet she’s not afraid to lean on others for support – men and women alike. She has a strong and healthy relationship, and despite all her circumstances, retains the grace and compassion that make her such a wonderful woman and queen.

Hades: I was absolutely overjoyed at the news that Hades would be narrating a third of this story! Getting to be IN his head, getting to know his character on that level…! Let’s just say, I was psyched. About Hades. Let me put it this way: People say that

Photo Credit: Earth to Yogi: Perfection is a Myth. Check out the article here!

… Well, you know what else is a myth? HADES! Therefore, HADES IS PERFECTION! (Teenager fangirl logic. Don’t you just love it?)

I love him. So much. He is the perfect fictional boyfriend. He’s a little bit of everything. He’s got a dark side (Hello! Lord of the Underworld here!), but he never lets the dark overtake the light. In fact, he’s been known to spout psycho-babble to anyone who’ll listen about the 7 stages of grief, and how to help souls transition to their new life as deadmen. (Sorry, uneccessary fangirl fact. Where was I? Oh, yeah)… He doesn’t hide anything from her, and he doesn’t try to push her away “for her safety” (yawn! That plot gets old fast!). And, honestly, I could go on for HOURS about how he is the best boyfriend EVER, but…

Get this! He’s also a STUNNING (and gorgeous) character OUTSIDE OF HIS RELATIONSHIP. Go figure! He’s an excellent example of a strong male character. He’s flawed, but almost endearingly so. He can be a little headstrong, stubborn, and he likes to be in charge, tends to think he’s right (well, he is, generally), but he has a sweet side, too. A soft side. It may be hard to enter his inner circle, but once you do, he will do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to protect his loved ones. He is a perfect gentleman, with a great sense of humor, and a terrific personality.

Aphrodite: When I saw HER name at the top of the chapter heading. I was shocked. I couldn’t quite understand why Aphrodite had been chosen as our third narrator. I couldn’t see how being in her head would add to the plot at all. I was wrong. She was a confusing character. When you first discover her betrayal, that’s all you see to her. I can’t say anything else, except for: “BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!” Aphrodite is the kind of character I love. A bit naive, a bit helpless, and you can never truly be sure she’s working for your best interests. She’s quite the wild ride of a character, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing her story slowly unfold.

Long story short: Kaitlin Bevis’ characters? SPOT ON.

The Romantic Relationship: I’ve gotta say, their relationship just makes me think of the song Amazed – by Lonestar. Especially the whole “I can hear your thoughts, I can see your dreams” line. I think the whole song kinda sums up their relationship, in a way. I can’t say much, except that it is healthy. Perfect equality. Equilibrium. Two halves of a whole. Partners. Lovers. Best Friends. Trust.

Plot: I didn’t love this book quite as much as I did the previous two books, but I think that partially was because SO MUCH happened in book two! Bevis completely destroyed the Second Book Syndrome! A LOT happened, and it covered a long period of time. A few months, maybe longer. And then this book came along – just as stunning as the other’s in most every other way, but it covered such a brief period of time that it FELT like less happened, when in fact, it was the climax of the entire trilogy. After the heart pounding, edge of your seat events of book two, it seemed like book three had suddenly slowed down. Because of the brief time span and the large number of new characters, and regardless of the heart pounding suspense of the events, everything seemed to move slower. The character’s actions were more planned. More precise.  Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, just something I noticed. It was a drastic change.

WOW. This plot. I can’t say much without spoiling, so I’ll try to be brief. The gods all have to come together to meet their goals, but CAN they work together? Will they be in time to save Persephone and the entire mortal world? It was fantastic getting to dive into each of the gods and their specific stories, backgrounds, and getting to see what each of them contributed to the small army. Throughout this book you have the distinct sense of despair. That their is honestly no way to get out, no way to accomplish the mission, and even if they do find a way  that MANY will die in the process. You were feeling what the characters were feeling. For just a moment, you dropped the constant critique and analyzation of how the story was going to end, how it was going to resolve, and just were engrossed in the moment. Dragged along with the characters, unsure of what future laid ahead. You never saw anything coming. Until it hit you.

Content Advisory: A handful of minor cuss words (B-, D-, S-, and H- words). One F-bomb (completely unecessary). There is a lot of intense torture performed on a young woman. Mostly just hit by lightning a few thousand times. It was a disturbing few scenes. You were in her head, experiencing the – detailed – agony of a lightning strike on the human body. There is an implied threat of sexual violence, but it never pans out. It’s all VERY realistic and disturbing. Sort of an Elizabeth Smart type of experience. It’s horrifying, but strictly PG-13. Mentions of, and a few scenes of, making out. Just kissing. Mentions of a cult of surfer girls and guys, the girls in “various stages of undress” throughout the whole thing.

To Sum it Up: I LOVED THIS BOOK. THIS SERIES. Kaitlin Bevis created a masterpiece, a stunning finish to a spectacular series. The one thing that I adore the most about this book is definitely the characters. Bevis creates real people. Everything about the character’s, their emotions, and their story is just SO REAL. You cannot help but fall in love. The world is masterfully crafted, and once you have entered it, you will find yourself constantly wishing to go back.

Oh, and did I mention that l desperately want one of these?: a living, air plant, necklace. :D

Buy one from the Etsy seller, by clicking here!

I HIGHLY recommend The Iron Queen to readers ages 16+.

Have you heard of this book before? Have you read it? Did you like it?