Title: Dead Beautiful
Review:
Persephone
is a head strong teenager who enjoys living on earth more than living with the
Gods on Olympus. She tires very hard to
fit into the lifestyle her mom has given her but she finds she is looking for
something different and that is when she meets Hades. Persephone is attractive
to his darker side and feels a connection to Hades. The story revolves around Persephone desire
to with Hades but there is a catch he will not be with her until she knows what
she wants. Demeter, Persephone's mother, is a bit controlling but its only
because she wants her Daughter to become a lever 1 Goddess and fulfill her duties. Cyane is Persephone's best friend and the
only witness to the "abduction" of Persephone. I found the author portrayal of Cyane a bit
disappointing. She creates Cyane as a teenager who is annoying and seems to only be Persephone friend because
Persephone is popular. The story of
Cyane is one of true friendship because she was Persephone childhood friend and
she tires everything to keep Hades from taking Persephone to the point she
loses her life. I don't think the author
needed to go as far to kill off a character but the author had opportunity to
bring a little more to the character Cyane than making her a ditzy friend who
wanted to date Persephone potential boyfriends.
The Author humanizes the Gods. Zeus is the
head God who is tired of dealing with everyone's problems on earth and Olympus
and just wants some time alone with his wife Hara. The stress of life as a Head
God has gotten to him and that is why he is unaware of what Hades has
done. The author writes Hades as a
people person, someone who is looking for a lasting relationship even though he
is the God of the underworld. I applaud
the authors decision on writing Hades as a caring, overworked people person and
not the revengefully God that he is known to be. The authors modern tone made
it difficult for me to enjoy the story.
I would have enjoyed the story more had the author left out references
to Jesus, stocks, retirement plans, Beckham, Uggs, books and S&M. I feel since the story is about why we have
seasons the modern language takes away from the simplicity of the story.
The authors’
writing was well written and she kept true to her writing style from the
beginning of the book to the end. Which I feel is difficult to do when writing
in first person when you have several different characters and each with their
own version of the "abducation". Dead Beautiful is a decent young
adult novel that is appropriate for the per-teen\teen audience. There is no sex or language in the book and
it gives the young read enough romance without going into detail.
Thanks goes to Heidi for this review.
Publisher: Published May 2012 by Upstart Press
Copyright: 2012
Pages: 165
ISBN: 9780978377472
Quick Review: 3 Stars out of 5.
Why I Read It: Sent by the publisher for review – TLC Tours
Synopsis: Dead Beautiful is a
contemporary retelling of the classic Greek myth of Persephone. This was the
myth the Greeks used to explain how we came to have the change of seasons. In
the traditional version of the myth, Persephone – the daughter of Demeter,
Goddess of agriculture and fertility, and Zeus, the top god on Olympus – is
abducted one day by Hades, God of the Underworld (which is also called Hades).
Demeter refuses to do her job until her daughter is returned
to her, and the earth is plunged into the first winter: no crops grow, cold
settles on the earth. It turns out that while in Hades, Persephone has eaten
six pomegranate seeds. As a result, for six months of the year, she must live
with Hades; this is when it is fall and winter on earth. For six months she
lives with her mother – then we have spring and summer.
Dead Beautiful asks, what if Persephone, like many adolescent
girls, didn’t tell her mother the whole truth? What if Hades didn’t abduct her?
What if she made the decision to go with him? (She is, after all, 18 millennia
old.)
The result is a novel that examines the complex dynamics
between mothers and daughters, and explores the challenges faced by young women
as they move from childhood into adulthood and independence. It is smart,
fast-paced, funny and profound; a book that will appeal to women young and old,
to mothers and daughters.
Author Biography: I was born in the U.S. and now live with my family in
Canada. My third novel, Dead Beautiful, will be published 12 May 2012 by
UpStart Press.
Other Reviews: Into the Hall of Books
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Thanks for noting that there is no sex in here - that makes it easier to recommend to my friends' young teens!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed this one. Thanks for being on the tour.