Joined in 2023 
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She spends the majority of the novel talking about how she doesn't want to get married and how she doesn't want a man to touch her. Again, that's fair, I'm all for body autonimity. But. She voices this on multiple occasion, takes offence at the slightest implication, at the first chance a man even looks in her direction - but then! she is utterly confused and hurt even that when she actually wants it, a man is scared she's gonna call r3pe on him. I mean girllll! How is he supposed to know you now want it if you don't explicitly consent? Or even better, how is he supposed to know when all she does is lie to everyone and be proud of it, but the first instance she doesn't get told something, she is outraged and threatens to burn the world down. Boys/men, if you ever read this, and find a woman who fits this description irl, do not walk, RUN! This is a huge red flag and Hades should have ran too. He deserved better.
Well,’ I feign consideration, the naïve little girl role I slip into for self-preservation. ‘If they did then no one would want to marry me. Maybe I would like that freedom.’ Loose?’ Mother sneers, as expected. ‘What would that imply about her? No, a traditional look is best. She will look beautiful but still virginal, precisely what is needed.’ However, I would also think that the author has more potential for her books to come. Her writing had definitely caught my heart at certain scenes. I would def read her next book. Overall, it was an okay read for me. I think I was just sad that I didn't like it as much because I had high hopes for it. But for those who is a first timer to read a Hades and Persephone retelling, this book might work out for you. Essentially all of these changes (plus many more) made me incredibly curious as to how the older myths have now changed as a result of the author’s world building. I’d love for her to write some books that explore the earlier myths, so that I can see how these new myths will unfold for myself. Hades and Persephone exasperated me so much with how absolutely dense they both are, I kept thinking just kiss already!! So now I'm fairly certain Styx is my kindred spirit. Also I got all warm and fuzzy inside and I can't remember the last time a book did that.
Books Multibuys
This book was incredible! What an amazing debut by Bea Fitzgerald, I already want to read her next ten books. Yes, because if I don’t look virginal how will the fine suitors know that the girl whose name literally means chastity and who has lived her entire life alone on an island is pure?’ I wonder if her lessons will ever sink in or if they’ll forever ring through my mind in her voice, oil on water, condemning my actions without ever helping me stop doing the things that so annoy her. That apparently make me undesirable. Persephone's hang-up over sex = rape might be slightly justified (thanks Demeter etc) but it's boring as hell to read. Persephone wasn't taken to hell: she jumped. There was no way she was going to be married off to some smug god more in love with himself than her.
The pace was fast, the scenes cute and I found myself engaged in the will they - won't they shenanigans you'd expect from a romance book. So why 3*?The brooding male, the woman determined to be something greater than her father expects, the fake marriage. I just loved it all. Marriage is protection, Kore. A ring on your finger binds you to one man and that’s all the gods respect.’ Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments I went in kinda blind as my only knowledge of Persephone and Hades story was from watching Hadestown on Broadway last year!
There’s so much more to YA than vampires and love triangles – not that there’s anything wrong with those. Put aside your snobbery and leap in, says Amy Jones. Persephone wasn't taken to hell: she jumped. There was no way she was going to be married off to some smug god more in love with himself than her. Now all she has to do is convince the Underworld's annoyingly sexy, arrogant and frankly rude ruler, Hades, to fall in line with her plan. A plan that will shake Mount Olympus to its very core. But consequences can be deadly, especially when you're already in hell . . . Het is een heerlijk vlot geschreven verhaal met personages die je in je hart sluit, met ze meelacht en huilt. Een geweldige slowburn romance waar je vlinders van krijgt!Fitzgerald’s story retells the myth of Persephone and Hades, in which Hades ensnares Persephone in the Underworld by making the ground split beneath her feet. In Fitzgerald’s version, our heroine is less easily fooled. We meet her as a young child: “When they asked me what I wanted, I said: ‘The world.’” But her father, Zeus, decides instead that she should be ‘Goddess of the flowers’, and she senses “all my hopes, all my lofty ambitions crumbling away… This felt like a punishment.”
Her parents want her to follow convention, and her father is not used to dissent. “Father likes to be loud – everything about him is thunderous. He likes it best when his voice is loud enough to have people cowering.” But for Persephone, the threat of an arranged marriage is the final straw: “Safety isn’t enough for me. I’d rather perish, rather be another tragic tale for a mother to use in warning than become a long drawn-out sigh in a hymn, an immortal life spent in misery.” Mother swats my fingers away and straightens the bow that ties it instead. ‘You should always look your best for your husband.’Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - The mythological aspects were so much fun and I loved the direction Bea took the story and the way she explored and unravelled so much of the awfulness of the original stories and individuals, whilst still holding onto their essence and inspiration. Sometimes with fantasy, especially Greek myth, it can be easy to dive into a book and immediately lose your footing. I don’t think this was the case with this one, and I think Fitzgerald did a really great job of making the world, the characters, the politics etc really easy to digest and follow along with. I think the writing was well done, and suited to the audience. It was quite ‘YA’ in tone at times for me, but then again that’s literally the point of the book. It was an easy read, it was fast paced, I stayed engaged throughout, and it made the mythology very accessible. Girl, Goddess, Queen is a fantasy rom-com retelling that weaves the classic story with snarky banter, slow burn romance and a feminist slant that sees the legendary goddess discovering her agency, desires and inherent power. As a child, Persephone’s father asked her what she wanted. ‘The world’ was her reply. A good answer for a girl with the world quite literally at her feet. But to her father, Zeus, a wrathful god terrified of having his power usurped, it was the worst possible answer she could have given. Zeus sought to belittle his daughter, but jumping into hell gives Persephone the courage to finally stand up for herself. To say no, when she doesn’t want something. To be unafraid of taking ownership of her own life. Her journey of self-discovery is an empowering fist pump in the air, a massive FU in the face of her father and all the other gods who’d seek to keep her small and subdued. It’s a beautiful thing to read. What a fresh take on the Hades and Persephone myth. Gone is the dark, broody, night-club-owner/gambler Hades, and here is the new and artistically inclined god of the dead. I adored how fearless Fitzgerald was in creating a whole new profile for Hades and think she succeeded in bringing him to life in such a believable way. As for Persephone, we really saw a woman find her footing in HER realm - the fact the underworld also belonged to her in key to that statement. Where we are used to seeing Persephone fill in the gaps of the Underworld for Hades, THIS Persephone created new lands, reorganised her court and stepped into her public facing political role with effortless flair.
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